“This Is an Assault”: Downtown Residents Push Back on Canmore’s Plan to Add More Multi-Unit Homes

Sharon Wood has spent 45 years in her home on Riverview Place in Canmore, but lately, the quiet cul-de-sac feels more like a crowded parking lot. On one August long weekend, she watched 100 cars drive into her dead-end street, only to realize there was no exit and struggle to turn around. For neighbors like Eric Davage, the issues are even more fundamental: current underground pipes are so inadequate that residents must leave their water running 24 hours a day all winter just to keep the sewer lines from freezing.

These residents were part of a notably large turnout that filled the council gallery for a public hearing that Mayor Sean Krausert described as "the reason everyone’s here". At the heart of the debate is the "Connect Downtown" plan, a 25-year vision designed to guide how Canmore grows through the year 2050.

To achieve this vision, the town proposed rezoning several neighborhoods. In the world of city planning, rezoning is the process of changing the legal rules for what can be built on a specific piece of land. Canmore officials want to move many lots from "R1" (Residential Single Detached) to "R4" (Residential Medium Density).

R4 zoning shifts toward “medium density.” It allows property owners to replace a single house with three to five smaller homes, such as townhouses or fourplexes. It also permits accessory dwelling units, which are additional homes built within an existing house, above a garage, or in a separate small building on the same lot.

The town calls this "gentle density," a way to add housing for more people without building massive high-rise apartments.

However, for those living on the narrow, winding streets of the town center, the plan felt like an "assault".

Residents expressed deep fears that the new rules would destroy the very thing that makes Canmore iconic: its mountain vistas. Resident Daryl Tillro noted that the proposed changes would allow buildings to jump from 12 meters to 14 meters in height while sitting much closer to the sidewalk.

"Basically, you're left with an urban canyon," Tillro told the council. "Every pedestrian... is going to walk along there and they're just going to see a wall. I don't think that really fits with our plan to have mountain vistas".

The most visceral concerns involved public safety. Linda Evans shared photos with the council of a fire engine that became stuck on a narrow street packed with cars. "The poor guy was backing up all the way trying to get through the traffic," she said.

Mark Fritzler, who lives on Railway Court, described his street as a "precarious" shared space where cars must drive on what is essentially a pedestrian walkway. He argued that adding more units, and the 15 or more cars that could come with them, is simply "infallible" given the tight space.

Not everyone was opposed. Edmund Ong, representing the Bow Valley Climate Action Society, argued that Canmore cannot meet its 2050 goal of "net-zero" pollution without changing how it builds.

"Land use policy is climate policy," Ong told the council. The society argued that denser neighborhoods are more energy-efficient and make it easier for people to walk or bike instead of driving. Furthermore, they pointed out that R4 housing in other parts of Canmore has successfully created more primary homes at prices roughly half those of single-family houses.

Local designer Alistair Russell provided a reality check on the "gentle density" dream. He argued that many of the lots being rezoned are "sterilized" or unbuildable for multi-unit housing because of their odd shapes and new environmental rules. For instance, increasing the required distance from local creeks to 30 meters would leave many lots with no room to build anything larger than a single house anyway.

Other Proposed Changes

While housing density dominated the debate, the proposed zoning changes go beyond just adding more homes.

The plan would also allow small, neighbourhood-serving businesses in some R4 residential areas. That could mean a café, art studio, or small retail shop opening on blocks that are currently residential-only.

To maintain the residential feel, any commercial space would be limited to the ground floor and capped at 75 square metres. These businesses would also be discretionary, meaning the town would have to approve each one to ensure it fits with surrounding homes.

Nathan Grivell, Senior Development Planner for the Town of Canmore, said the goal is to support downtown vibrancy by making it easier for people to live and work in the same area.

He added that commercial uses are not meant to push deep into quiet residential streets, but instead act as a “relief valve” by allowing small services within walking distance.

Decision Postponed

Faced with 29 letters of opposition and only five in favor, the council chose to hit the brakes. Mayor Sean Krausert moved to postpone the decision until March 3, 2026.

The delay is intended to allow council members to create an "issues list" for town staff to address, ranging from the practicalities of fire truck access to the potential impact on wildlife like elk and bears that frequent these neighborhoods.

"We need to get this right," Mayor Krausert said. "It’s not about doing it fast. It’s about doing it right".