Notice to ACC Members
ATTEND PUBLIC HEARING/SUBMIT COMMENTS
ACC National Clubhouse Public Hearing to Direct Control rezoning
Tuesday, June 30, 2026 at 9am
Town of Canmore Council Chambers
WHAT YOU CAN DO – If you are in favour of the proposed DC District, please attend, speak and/or submit letters of support to [email protected] – Please reference “Indian Flats Road Direct Control District Bylaw”.
What is Proposed? – On June 30, 2026, the Town of Canmore is expected to hold a PUBLIC HEARING for an application by the Alpine Club of Canada on its lease lands for an amendment to the Land Use Bylaw from Conservation of Wildlands (CW) to a Direct Control District (DC). The purpose of the DC District is to allow the ACC to make significant improvements to the national clubhouse lands. This includes;
- Regrade the access road to improve vehicle access,
- Provide more on-site parking and as a trailhead for public users,
- Create new office space and build a new maintenance facility with secure, open storage to be located north of the Bell and Boswell cabins,
- Reconfigure visitor accommodation space and staying within the current 60 bed limit,
- Add 9 additional staff accommodation beds.
EIS accepted – The Town has accepted the ACC Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) as meeting the Town terms of reference. The EIS concluded that, with proposed mitigations, “…effects on undisturbed portions of the habitat patch are expected to be minimal, and changes to corridor permeability are anticipated to be negligible” (P.60).
Documents for your Review – The documents submitted to the Town are available to download.
Why the DC District? – For decades, ACC had plans to modernize its national office. Since locating to its current location in 1972 – when the National Office serviced 6 backcountry huts – it has grown to 26 huts (with more on the way!) and the maintenance facility and storage capacity is inadequate. The shortage of proper staff accommodation and office space must be addressed to retain staff. Finally, the access road and parking solutions improves emergency access/wildfire control and will be in line with the proposed 2025 Canmore Area Trails Strategy (CATMP). This will not happen all at once, but ACC is confident the DC District, if approved, will allow development permits to move ahead as budgets allow. The current zoning does not allow much of anything to improve.
