A major $8.5 billion development stretching from Three Sisters Mountain to Ha Ling receives unanimous approval in a closed-door meeting Wednesday night.
A large development firm out of Calgary has submitted the necessary ASP (Area Structure Plan) which has been approved in it’s entirety to build the massive new ski resort around the town of Canmore.
Three Sisters Ski Village (TSSV) is expected to compliment the Three Sisters Mountain Village (TSMV) development by allowing residents to ski-in and ski-out of their tourist homes while also developing the areas that were previously deemed undevelopable.
The project easily cleared hurdles recently witnessed with the TSMV project such as concerns with wildlife cooridors and lack of affordable housing.
“There is no concern at all about interrupting the free movement of wildlife because by clearing so many trees for the ski runs, we’re actually making it easier for them (the wildlife) to move.” the developer said in a statement.
Affordable housing will be a big part of the development with nearly unlimited dwellings being planned inside Three Sisters itself.
“I dont understand why nobody has ever thought of building inside the mountains. It drastically expands the developable area and because of the squalid living conditions, land values should stay low for generations. Not only will this completely solve the affordable housing crisis in Canmore, it will also provide all the necessary living arrangements for the estimated 1500 minimum-wage workers necessary to staff the resort.” said the developer.
“One thing that makes our development firm better than the rest is that we actually listen to the wildlife. For example, bears have experienced the hardships of living in the Bow Valley for much longer than humans and have adapted to living in dens or ‘caves’. We aim to emulate this successful stategy to support village staff and other essential workers with sustainable living arrangements at affordable prices.”
The new mega-project will be complete with a world-class nordic spa on the top of Charity peak, Over 250 marked runs, a mountain bike park, tube park, with over 35 various lifts and connecting gondolas.
“A large ski resort like this is necessary to compete with places like Whistler Blackcomb in neighboring British Columbia” said the developer. “We’re expecting the population of Alberta to grow substantially over the next 20 years and our current ski resorts are already hitting capacity. If nothing is done, where will all these people ski?”
Pushback against this plan is expected to be far less than what has been seen during the TSMV approval process due to the swift ASP approval with no public hearings being scheduled.
A local resident that works close to council but refused to be named out of fear for losing her job commented “Council took a different approach this time after sitting through countless hours of public hearings on zoom listening to how much residents disapprove of developments. They said their eyes are literally burning and they can’t take anymore zoom meetings so they are going to change the process as of April 1st to closed-door meetings for all future development approvals. This will likely continue until April 2nd or at least until election time when a completely new council is expected to be voted in.”
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