JASPER – Officials are working to address the lengthy wait times in permitting as the town begins to rebuild following the 2024 wildfire.
During a council meeting on Tuesday (May 20), Coun. Scott Wilson brought up his concern about the “bottleneck” around permitting.
Wilson noted how it took 37 working days—nearly two months—to hear back about a development permit, and it would take even longer if the permit had variances or items that needed to be addressed.
“There really is going to be a challenge here, and I think the municipality has to take a larger role in permitting because we were granted that use of planning,” he said.
Since August, Parks Canada has issued 123 development permits and 34 building permits. Only 41 per cent of permit applications received since August are complete and conforming.
Michael Fark, director of recovery, explained how Parks Canada has experienced turnover and attrition post-wildfire and has been busy onboarding new staff.
“I think there is a recognition and understanding that the timelines are currently too long, and that we are trying to do the work to move towards improving that,” Fark said.
He added how while the municipality has not yet been granted land-use authority, its new urban design and standards department was already assisting Parks Canada with permitting.
The insurance industry recently announced the completion of its debris removal program for nearly all affected properties in Jasper.
Coun. Wendy Hall asked about the remaining three per cent of lots that still haven’t been cleared of debris.
Fark replied that they had been in contact with these property owners and understood the circumstances of each one.
“In the majority of cases, we are satisfied that they are moving towards trying to get the debris removed,” he said. “They just need some understanding and some support in terms of the difficult processes that they're navigating, in most cases with their individual insurance companies based on the specifics of their policies.”
Both the municipality and Parks Canada are exploring what regulatory tools are available in the event that debris removal needed to be expedited on a property to facilitate the overall rebuild.
“The strong preference is to take the case management approach and to facilitate rather than enforce the last remaining properties,” Fark said.
Soil sampling is underway to ensure sites are safe and ready for rebuilding. Out of the 56 submitted reports, 21 have been confirmed free of contamination, 10 were returned for more information and the rest are under review.
The Jasper Recovery Coordination Centre is also anticipating more dust within the townsite this summer and is exploring mitigation measures.
