Published Nov 07, 2024 in The Sherwood Park News • 3 minute read
I had the opportunity to visit the town of Jasper this week, and I am happy to report that Jasper is open again to business. Go and visit!
Like many people in Sherwood Park, I have been waiting for the right time to go back. In July, the wildfires destroyed 30 percent of the townsite, burning down 348 structures, including 820 housing units. This required 25,000 people to evacuate their homes, and many multifamily buildings like the Pine Grove Seniors complex are gone.
More than 33,000 hectares, or roughly three percent of the forested area, burned in Jasper National Park this season. The fire was powerful enough to create thunderstorm clouds and generate winds powerful enough to lift a 20-foot sea can weighing 6,700 pounds from Wabasso Campground 100 metres away into the Athabasca River.
As the Shadow Minister of Municipal Affairs, I was given the opportunity to tour Jasper with two town councillors. I was prepared to be devastated by seeing a place I love, now gone and destroyed. Instead, I was delighted to discover that many parts of Jasper I used to visit are still standing, tall and unscathed. So much was lost to the Jasper fire, but so much remains.
As the community rebuilds, I remain optimistic for Jasper’s future. The area destroyed by the fire, known as the recovery zone, is marked by concrete foundations and filled with twisted metal, ashes and remnants. Jasperites who lost home here are already busy preparing their sites to rebuild and build back even better.
In a move supported by all parties, Ottawa was quick to help and passed legislation that transfers land-use planning and development authority from Parks Canada to the Municipality of Jasper. The legislation enables the Town of Jasper to manage and redevelop local spaces and places in a way that is more responsive to and better reflects and serves the needs of its residents while continuing to honour their environmental commitment to this special place.
People who lost their buildings in the wildfire now have up-to-date rules as they design their replacement buildings. They will be able to build back differently and increase housing options for a community that has historically suffered a housing shortage and now has lost 820 residential units during the wildfire. Imagine a single-house property that can now be built back as a duplex with legal basement suites and a garage suite if the lot allows it. With control of their land-use planning, Jasperites are hopeful they might finally get control of their housing shortage — a silver lining from a disaster.
New construction in Jasper will also need to be fire-smart. To increase community resilience to wildfire, builders will be required to use non-combustible materials on the exterior of new buildings. This means no new wood roofing or siding. Each home will also be required to have a 1.5-metre buffer zone of non-combustible materials, and new coniferous trees must be planted at least 10 metres away from a building.
I visited the Town of Jasper expecting to be devastated. Still, now I am optimistic about this incredible place that contributes so much to our quality of life in Alberta because we get to visit it.
Please let me know if you have any thoughts on this or other issues that are top of mind for you.
Quick tip: Before you visit Jasper, check here first to find out what’s open: www.jasper-alberta.ca/p/what-s-open.
Kyle Kasawski is the MLA for Sherwood Park. He would like to hear from you if you have questions about this column or any provincial issues. Find his contact information at www.kylekasawski.ca
Thanks for this report about the present state of Jasper. I hope this report also gets published in the Sherwood Park News. Others not necessarily on your mailing list should know this.