October 1991 - Three Sisters Resorts Incorporated (TSRI) submitted an application to the Natural Resources Conservation Board (NRCB) “To Construct a recreational and tourism project in the Town of Canmore.” This
proposal was located on the south side of the Bow Valley within almost 2,600 acres (1,036 ha) located on 13, 300 acres
(5,390ha) of land annexed by Canmore from the MD of Bighorn. The application included an environmental impact
assessment necessarily (EIA) completed prior to submission in 1991, making it (now) more than 20 years old. TSRI undertook in that EIA to not build on slopes greater than 25% and such undertakings were adopted in the 1992 NRCB Decision.
November 1992 – The NRCB issued a decision report that specifically listed items that TSRI could NOT do (i.e.,
development in the Wind Valley was NOT approved) but otherwise the NRCB approved what TSRI submitted. Peaks of
Grassi (PoG) was submitted as Pods 7 & 8 in the TSRI application and was approved at 45 acres. PoG has since been built to 45 acres - what the NRCB approved.
April to July 1996 – TSRI had applied on April 10, 1996 to redistrict Pods 7 & 8 from Conservation Forest (designation
from the MD of Bighorn) to begin residential development of Peaks of Grassi. Land Use Bylaw 13-96 approved 17. 45 acres as Phase I (small lot high density) on July 22, 1996. Land Use Bylaw 12(Z)96 approved only Phase II (mix of single family units and multi-unit condos) but denied TSRI request for redistricting a total of 44.08 acres. The combined total TSRI sought for Pods 7 & 8 was 61.52 acres, 16.5 acres more than the 45 acres approved by the NRCB.
July 22, 1996 – TSRI appealed the Canmore Council decision on ByLaw 12(Z)96 to the provincial Municipal Government
Board.
February 28, 1997 – The Municipal Government Board ordered the Town to amend ByLaw 12(Z)96 to satisfy the TSRI April 1996 application, effectively saying that more than 61 acres was not different than the 45 acres that the NRCB approved for Pods 7&8.
March 20, 1997 – The Town sought leave to appeal to the Alberta Court of Appeal, something that will only be granted if a Justice of this Court determines there are grounds worthy of being heard by Alberta’s highest court. Canmore was supported by the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association in this dispute with the Municipal Government Board which had ruled for TSRI that 61 = 45.
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KEY FACTS AND
CONSIDERATIONS
• Canmore invested major resources and energy to protect Quarry Lake from residential encroachment and visual impact.
• Canmore capped development in PoG by obtaining the 1998 Settlement Agreement.
• In June 1999 Three Sisters got UR zoning for these parcels after a direct threat to Council.
• Purchasers in PoG have relied upon a consistent message from all, based on the Settlement Agreement - PoG is fully built!
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April 9, 1997 – A Justice of the Alberta Court of Appeal granted the Town leave to appeal on various questions of law and jurisdiction.
April 1997 to April 7, 1998 – The success of the Town brought TSRI back to the negotiating table to avoid the prospects of losing at the Alberta Court of Appeal after further long delays and expense. Notwithstanding the motivation, the negotiations took a full year to complete in order to reach the 1998 Settlement Agreement. This comprehensive document includes an agreed statement of facts in the preamble describing the sequence of events leading to the legal agreement. With regard to the Development of Pods 7 and 8, the agreement states: “The Town and Developers agree that the Gross Developable Area for Pods 7 & 8 combined shall not exceed 45 acres and that the density of Pods 7 & 8
shall not exceed 404 Residential Units.”
April 7, 1998 – The Town also delivered Land Use ByLaw 1-98 in accordance with the Settlement Agreement. This was the Master Zoning By-Law that allowed TSRI to proceed with all the development that it has built in Canmore on the NRCB approved lands, so TSRI obtained substantial benefit from reaching the 1998 Settlement Agreement.
July 14, 1998 - Canmore passed Land Use ByLaw 22(Z)98 that effectively approved Phase III of Peaks of Grassi to be developed as it currently exists, fully built in accordance with the limits specified in the Settlement Agreement.
August 25, 1998 - TSRI began marketing this district as Quarry Pines, “a new secluded residential neighbourhood nestled in the pines above Quarry Lake”, clearly showing the UR parcels now proposed for development as “green space and natural areas”. Many of the “pines” in which Quarry Pines was“nestled” will have to be cut down if the QPD proposal is approved.
September 22, 1998 - Canmore passed ByLaw 30-98, which became the 1998 current Municipal Development Plan (MDP). Details of this MDP, which has not been substantially updated since 1998, are governing how the current application is treated. In particular, MDP Map 4 (habitat patches and wildlife corridors) uses the 1998 version of the BCEAG Grassi Lakes Habitat Patch (adopted in BCEAG 1999). Adopting that outdated Habitat Patch designation places the nearest Habitat Patch 202 m from the edge of the western-most UR parcel. If the current 2012 BCEAG Quarry Lake Local Habitat Patch, which is in the 2012 BCEAG guidelines that have been adopted by Canmore Council in June 2014, one UR parcel is immediately adjacent to the 2012 Quarry Lake Local Habitat Patch. The reliance of the Town on using its outdated 1998 MDP was cited as the grounds to exempt the QPD Application from doing a rigorous, thirdparty
reviewed Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
October 20, 1998 – TSRI placed a restrictive covenant on every property on the north side of Lawrence Grassi Ridge in Peaks of Grassi Phase III (Quarry Pines) stating that successive owners; “will not cause, maintain, suffer or permit any trees or vegetation to be removed or to be disturbed from the rear five meters of any of the Lots…without first obtaining written consent from the Town of Canmore, it being the intention of this restriction to minimize the visual impact of the development on the Lots on visitors to Quarry Lake.”
1999 – Canmore engaged in a major update of its Land Use ByLaw during 1999.
June 21, 1999 – In advance of the June 23-24 Public Hearing about the changes being contemplated in its Land Use ByLaw, TSRI wrote to Mayor and Council with a threat to appeal (to the MGB), the 250 page Land Use ByLaw if Council proceeded with 11 land use designations, including 3 for the subject parcels, that would have seen the westernmost parcel designated WC (wildlands conservation) and the other two as NP (natural park) unless these parcels were designated as urban reserve (UR).
July 12, 1999 – A staff memo prepared to support the red line version of Land Use ByLaw 99-09 included, for the first time in the Town’s accessible planning records a statement about these parcels that the: “LUB map should reflect the potential residential intent of the Municipal Development Plan by showing these lands as UR.” No mention of these parcels was found in a May 25, 1999 draft. The reference to “potential residential intent” from the MDP needs to be understood that its maps only depict conceptual land uses, so the entire district of Peaks of Grassi is colour-coded as “residential” including the public use and environmental reserve districts (i.e. green spaces). The meaning of that colour-coding of conceptual land use towards the QPD Application is only conceptual given how it has been applied to all land use districts within the subdivision.
November 2, 1999 to December 7, 1999 – Council adopts the red line version of Land Use ByLaw 99-09 with the hand-written notation of UR on map #3 of the September 1999 edition being the only mention in the entire 250 page Land Use ByLaw for second (November) and third reading (December). This matter was not a major consideration for the 1999 Council because it was satisfied that the 1998 Settlement Agreement was sufficient to ensure that additional development would not occur in Peaks of Grassi.
From 1998 to September 2014 – The consistent position of Canmore Administration in response to inquiries from prospective purchasers inquiring about the status of the forested parcels comprising
the 4 acres has been that Peaks of Grassi has been fully built out to maximum approved density. Information has been relied upon by purchasers to conclude that unless a future Council could be convinced that the foresight of the 1998 Canmore Council should be abandoned, Peaks of Grassi would not see an expansion
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