As local officials anticipate the lifting of the Local State of Emergency in Jasper on Sunday, September 15, critical housing needs are being addressed by a cluster of planners and administrators. 

Lifting the LSOE signals Jasper’s transition from acute emergency response to the community’s longer-term recovery efforts, Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland told reporters at a September 13 media conference.

“Our community continues to face significant challenges in stabilizing the situation and leading into recovery and rebuild,” Ireland said.

Interim housing business plan being built

Among the most pressing of Jasper’s challenges is housing those displaced by the Jasper Wildfire Complex. The fire destroyed or damaged more than 800 dwelling units in the townsite when it roared into Jasper on the night of July 24. Nearly 2,000 residents have been displaced. 

“Housing has always been a critical challenge, but the issue is even more acute following the wildfire,” said Jasper’s Chief Administrative Officer, Bill Given.

Currently, planners with the Jasper Recovery Coordination Centre (JRCC) are evaluating 13 Expressions of Interest to provide modular interim housing in Jasper. However, the pre-fabricated housing will make up only part of the solution to Jasper’s interim housing needs, said Acting Director of Recovery, Andy Esarte (Esarte has been temporarily seconded to Jasper from his post in Canmore, where in 2013 he helped lead flood disaster recovery efforts).

Esarte added that planners are currently investigating the feasibility of repurposing visitor accommodations such as hotels and outlying commercial accommodations, as well as local AirBnBs/approved accommodations. Neighbouring communities may also be utilized to house Jasperites on an interim basis, administration explained.

“It’s important Jasperites explore solutions that might work for them,” Given noted on Friday.

In the meantime, JRCC planners are building their case for acquiring housing resources. Along with data gleaned from a community-wide housing needs assessment and application process,  housing suppliers’ expressions of interest will be used to inform the core of a business plan which will be submitted to the provincial government. Key factors of consideration include the suitability, expediency and cost of the pre-fabricated housing, Given said.

“We want to have it quick, we want it to fit the needs of Jasper residents and we need to have it as something that Jasper residents and all of us will be able to afford,” Given said. 

He noted that the interim housing will be rented at market rate.

Potential sites, qualifying jobs

The package that potential housing suppliers were provided with on the Alberta Purchasing Connection website included documents which suggest three potential sites where “ready to move,” rapidly-deployed housing might be located. 

Those sites include next to the Forest Park Hotel, at the future location of the Jasper RCMP detachment; at the Parks Canada workforce housing site along Sleepy Hollow Road; and at the west end of Jasper on Connaught Drive, next to the Jasper Park Cycling Association’s bike park. 

“Additional sites may be considered as part of a future RFP process,” the request for expression of interest document states. 

Interim housing will be prioritized for workers deemed essential to providing core services in Jasper. Broadly, that definition includes personnel working on Jasper’s recovery, included but not limited to healthcare workers, educators, emergency responders, utility staff, and pharmacists, for example.

Mayor Richard Ireland addressed the sensitive topic at council September 10. He said there is an important distinction between the nature of the work and the nature of the worker.

“I appreciate that people may feel slighted if they aren’t considered essential. They are. But we need to consider first the fundamental functions of the town…we’re focused on the core functions and services a municipality must provide to allow residents to have a safe and tenable experience back in the community.”

Poring over policy 

While investigating interim housing takes place, other planning work is also progressing. Director of Urban Design and Planning, Beth Sanders—whose first days on the job came in the wake of the community-wide evacuation—is working with Parks Canada to streamline the development renewal and approval process “in ways that align with Jasper’s values,” she said. 

Sanders’ newly-established team—including two full time municipal planners—is poring over Jasper National Park’s land use policy and the town’s architectural motif to come up with recommendations to tweak the rules to be more aligned to Jasper’s future housing needs. 

Simultaneously, the JRCC, in coordination the Insurance Bureau of Canada, is working to ensure debris removal of damaged and destroyed structures can be expedited.

Sanders recommended that Jasper property owners check with their insurance adjusters to find out if they are taking part in the planned mass debris removal program.

“This is not an obligatory process but it is readily available to you,” Sanders said.

Patience is a virtue

At council on September 10, CAO Bill Given was asked if residents who lost their homes and no longer plan to live in Jasper would be required to rebuild before they sell. Given said they have the right to sell, but advised that if they can exercise patience, leaseholders should wait until development conditions—which are likely to change—become more clear. 

“Things are going to be changing rapidly in Jasper,” Given said. “Residents and leaseholders should be aware that the value of their property may change as what they can do with their property changes.”

Discussions around density and zoning have yet to take place. Until they have, and Jasper’s new policies are approved and legislated, Given suggested that people do not rush into any unalterable decisions. 

“If you have the capability to allow some of these things to become more clear, you should let that happen. There’s the risk that outside parties could seek to benefit by buying up leases at a very low cost, then find out later that a higher density development becomes possible, which would increase the value of that leasehold.

“There could be a material increase in the value of the leasehold after some of the rules and regulations change.”

Esarte will update council with a high-level summary of the JRCC’s business plan on Tuesday, September 17.

Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com