March 5 Public Information Event, Voices of Canmore and Canmore Staircase Lands Message
March 5th Public Information Event Follow-Up
We would like to extend a huge thank you to all of you who were able to attend our March 5th event. It was standing room only at the Bill Warren Centre, and we are extremely grateful for your support and overwhelmed by your positive feedback.
We’ve set up a new tab on our website at Protecting our Futures Events with links to the event videos, as well as the posters we used which show some of our key messages. Special thanks to Glen Crawford for videotaping the event.
We are also pleased that there was extensive coverage of the event by both the CBC and the Rocky Mountain Outlook:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/canmore-hotel-nordic-spa-rundleview-9.7124724
To help maintain our momentum, we encourage you to write a letter to the editor of the RMO (check out the most recent Letter to the RMO by Alice Daniel in our community drive), and visit our Take Action page to sign our petition, or donate to Protecting our Futures. Speak or write to a Council member and talk to your friends and neighbours about what you learned at the presentation!
Voices of Canmore on a Roll!
Since our last newsletter, we’ve added six new Voices of Canmore! Check them out on our website or on our Facebook page as they get posted. Each voice offers a unique and powerful perspective on the proposed development:
Retired geophysicist Kevin Williams andlong time Rundleview resident Greg Manktelow (Kevin and Greg) discuss the risks of building on undermined land and the sinkhole that occurred at the Evergreen Condominiums: “Risks of Undermining here are, to be frank, quite unavoidable. No amount of money or technical expertise will give you a hundred percent solution. No matter how much effort you put into it there will always be some residual risk that can’t be resolved.”
Guidebook co-author Bart Robinsonasks us to pause and embrace deeper values: “After decades of watching development gobble up one parcel of the valley after the other, I think we can all understand that every hectare that remains undeveloped is both precious and priceless … one development at a time, large or small, we're losing what's special about this place. To stop the loss, I say we need to pause long enough to reacquaint ourselves with our better angels, the non-greedy ones, and then begin to incorporate the deeper values of respect, restraint, responsibility, and reciprocity in the decisions we make regarding the land and all of its inhabitants.”
AuthorBob Sanfordlooks at broader development in the community over the past few decades: “I now fight every day against dispossession and blatant diminishment and loss of the natural character that inspired me to make our future here. In a way, it's the classic story of the West. Too much of what started out as being good for the community becomes its destructive opposite. It's not too late, but we need to value and cherish where we live and trust firmly in the sense of place we possess to guide us to a different future. The future we want and need.”
Former Olympic ski racer and longtime Canmore resident Sara Renner emphasizes the importance of preserving what makes Canmore special: “I'm standing on a really important piece of land … everyone can agree what makes this place special is that somehow we have managed to keep spaces wild. We still have grizzly bears. We have had wolverines in our town site. And we can all agree that this is the draw that makes this place incredibly unique. And what is required now is really careful planning … Does it serve the community of Canmore to have a spa, or does it serve the community of Canmore to have a place where we can keep what’s vital and unique about our community?”
Long-time Rundleview resident Len Gottselig discusses the impact of the development on a quiet residential neighbourhood: “The virtue of Rundleview has always been the fact that it is a little bit separated from some of the tourist madness that we run into downtown. And here …they're proposing to put in a hundred room hotel plus a spa. Well, that's going to dump several hundred people here on an overnight. I mean, probably as many or more people than live in the whole neighbourhood full-time.”
Climber, well-known guidebook author and climbing route-builder Chris Perry has lived and climbed in the Bow Valley for decades and discusses what is unique about the valley: “My main concern about the spa is that Canmore is becoming more and more like the Alps … A lot of European climbers come here and what they like about it, apart from the good climbing, is that it's a totally different experience from what they're used to…you can be walking to the cliff and see wildlife. You could even meet a grizzly bear walking along the trail. That's a unique experience … and you won't get that in very many other places … Canmore is unique and we should keep it that way. Keep the hotels down in the valley and leave the wild areas wild.”
If you’d like to add to our collection of Voices of Canmore, please contact us at protectingourfutures@gmail.com.
Finally, we are sharing an urgent message from our friends in the group opposing the Staircase Lands Glamping application:
Hello neighbours, we need your help!
As you may have seen in the Rocky Mountain Outlook recently, another development application (PL20250514) has been submitted a little ways down the road on the Staircase lands, this time for a glamping campground. This is the forested area between the Peaks of Grassi and the Homesteads neighbourhoods, and is adjacent to the highway between Quarry Lake and the WorldMark Hotel.
Unlike the Rundleview hotel/spa proposal, it is on privately owned land, however, similar to the Rundleview area, it is undermined and serves as valuable habitat for the wild animals that traverse our valley. While a campground is considered a Discretionary Use within the Land Use Bylaw (Section6.2.2), we would like the planners to use their discretion to decline the proposal based on some our key concerns. These include:
· Overuse and deterioration of nearby Quarry Lake
· Increased human-wildlife conflicts
· Fire risk and additional combustible materials in the forest (glamping platforms)
· Undermining and perpetual risk of sink holes
· Increased traffic load on the Peaks single-lane entrance/exit, particularly in the event of an emergency, such as a forest fire or steep creek event
· Incompatibility issues with the surrounding neighbourhoods
The planning department can receive our questions and concerns about application PL20250514 until March 20th, 2026, by calling 403.678.8943 or emailing anika.drost@canmore.ca
We are working steadily behind the scenes to gather information, raise awareness and collaborate with like-minded residents. If you’d like to get more involved, please join the Canmore Staircase Lands group on Facebook, fill out this google form Volunteer Form .
Thanks for all the great work you’ve done as you work towards preserving the natural area around Rundleview. The steady push towards development can be discouraging, but your group has been a role model for rallying together to protect what matters. We are with you and look forward to collaborating more to protect this valley we call home!