Officials with Sunshine Village Ski Resort agreed to the terms of Parks Canada’s new site guidelines ahead of a Parks Canada imposed deadline that threatened an extension of the resort’s lease.
On Friday, Parks Canada announced that the new site guidelines, ‘prioritizing ecological integrity in decision making’, had been approved for the ski resort in Banff National Park.
The guidelines will place restrictions on any future expansion of the resort’s boundaries until 2060 but permits the creation of additional commercial space, the construction of eight new lifts, and the development of 80 hectares of new ski terrain. The resort will return 61 hectares of land to Parks Canada that is considered to have high ecological value.
Sunshine Village’s maximum allowance of skiers at any given time will increase from the current 6,500 to 8,500.
Parks Canada has rejected a proposal by the operators of the ski resort to construct a new parking lot to accommodate an increase in visitors.
The site guidelines are available to the public at Parks Canada - Talks with Parks
