January 14, 2019 Council Meeting Notes: Redevelopment continues in Langley City including a proposed "stacked townhouse" project

Last night was the first public council meeting for a little over a month; the agenda was full. Over the next few days, I’ll be posting about the items that were covered at the first Langley City council meeting of 2019.

Redevelopment is continuing to occur at an accelerated pace in our community. There were two re-zoning and development permit bylaws that were given first and second reading. This will allow for a public hearing to be scheduled about these two applications.

The first re-zoning and development permit application will accommodate at 5-storey, 104-unit apartment building located in the 199A Street cul-de-sac off Brydon Crescent. The proposed project would be the final re-development occurring in that cul-dec-sac as over the last year another apartment building and two townhouse complexes were approved.

Renders of proposed apartment project at 5470, 5480, 5490, 5500, 5510 199A Street. Select image to enlarge.

Site plan of proposed apartment project at 5470, 5480, 5490, 5500, 5510 199A Street. Select image to enlarge.

There are two items from this proposed project that I wanted to highlight. If approved, the developer will contribute $200,000 towards the Baldi Creek Pedestrian/Cycling Bridge project which will connect Brydon Crescent with the trail that runs between Michaud Crescent and 53rd Avenue. Another developer contributed $200,000 to support this bridge in late 2018. The other item is that all parking access will be off the alley to the east of 199A Street.

The second proposed project is for a stacked townhouse complex which is something that hasn’t been done in Langley City before. This 4-storey, 14-unit project would have 7-units on the first/second floor and 7-units on the third/fourth floor. The project is also proposed to have underground parking. The property location is at the corner of 201A Street and 53A Avenue.

Renders of proposed stacked townhouse project at 20172 - 20178 53A Avenue. Select image to enlarge.

Council also gave first and second reading for a proposed discharge of a land-use contract for 5139 209A Street. If approved, this would permit an addition to be built onto the current house on that property.

Tomorrow, I will continue to be posting about the remaining items cover at last night’s meeting.

Some facts about 10 square kilometre municipalities in BC

When people think of Langley City, usually the size of our community comes to mind. When your neighbours are two of the largest municipalities in British Columbia (both in land area and population), it can lead to a distorted perception our community’s scale.

How does Langley City compare in land area to other municipalities in our province? How does our population and density compare?

Comparing population density and land area in square kilometres. Municipalities in BC. Select chart to enlarge.

There are six municipalities in BC that are around 10 square kilometres. The City of North Vancouver has the largest population and highest density of the group. Langley City has the second larger population and density.

Municipality	Land Area (Sq. Km)	Population	Density
Ladysmith	11.99	9,417	785
Nelson	11.95	11,313	947
City of North Vancouver	11.85	56,741	4,788
Oak Bay	10.53	19,228	1,826
Grand Forks	10.43	4,324	415
Langley City	10.22	27,577	2,698

The are 21 municipalities in BC that have a land area under 10 square kilometres.

Municipality	Land Area (Sq. Km)
Osoyoos	8.5
Creston	8.47
Clinton	8.19
Nakusp	8.05
Telkwa	7.04
Lumby	5.93
Belcarra	5.5
Oliver	5.5
Armstrong	5.22
White Rock	5.12
Sidney	5.1
Enderby	4.26
Chase	3.77
Fruitvale	2.7
Lions Bay	2.53
Duncan	2.07
Pouce Coupe	2.06
Warfield	1.89
Montrose	1.46
New Denver	0.87
Slocan	0.78

With Langley City’s recently adopted Nexus community vision and the eventual arrival of rail rapid transit, the population of our community will continue to increase. Looking at the City of North Vancouver, Langley City have room to growth, even within 10 square kilometres of land.

This weekend’s Rogers Hometown Hockey event schedule

Rogers Hometown Hockey is coming to Downtown Langley this weekend. There will be two days of family-friendly activities starting at noon on Saturday until the evening, and on Sunday starting at 11am until the evening. Nothing seems more Canadian than an outdoor hockey festival. Now if only we had some snow!

There will be activities throughout the day including the following scheduled activities:

Saturday, January 12

Noon – Live Music: Brookswood Country Band
Noon – Stanley Cup Viewing
12:30 – Autograph Signing with Kirk McLean
12:45 – The Hockey Circus Show
1:30 – Rogers Hometown Hockey Trivia
2:00 – Dr. Oetker Find Giuseppe
2:30 – Scotiabank Legacy Cheque Presentation and Jersey Reveal
2:30 – Autograph Signing with Bo Horvat
2:45 – Live Music: Brookswood Country Band
3:30 – Rogers Hometown Hockey Trivia
3:45 – Playmobil Word Play
4:00 – Scotiabank Hotstove featuring Tara Slone with Kirk McLean
4:30 – The Hockey Circus Show
4:30 – Autograph Signing with Kirk McLean
5:15 - Live Music: Brookswood Country Band

Sunday, January 13

11:00 – Live Music: Jessica Barbour
11:00 – Autograph Signing with Kirk McLean
11:30 – Thank You Presentation to Langley City
11:45 – The Hockey Circus Show
12:30 – Dr. Oetker Find Giuseppe
12:45 – Dodge Family Face-Off
1:00 – Playmobil Word Play
1:15 – Live Music: Jessica Barbour
1:30 – Autograph Signing with Kirk McLean
2:00 – The Hockey Circus Show
3:00 – The Parade of Champions
3:00 – 50/50 Draw in Support of Minor Hockey
3:30 – Rogers Hometown Hockey Pre-Game Show with Ron MacLean and Tara Slone
4:00 – Rogers Hometown Hockey Game: Florida Panthers @ Vancouver Cancucks

The activities will be focused around Innes Plaza at Fraser Highway and Glover Road. The follow map shows the areas in Downtown Langley that will be closed to motor vehicle traffic.

Map of road closures in Downtown Langley. Select map to enlarge.

Results from fall public consultation on Fraser Highway One-Way redesign

The water and sewer lines that are under the one-way section of Fraser Highway between Glover Road and 206th Street are in need of replacement. Because this will require extensive roadwork, Langley City decided that it would make sense to upgrade the streetscape/public realm while the underground infrastructure is being renewed.

During the summer, Langley City reached out to business owners, residents, and people who visit our downtown to ask what they would like the public realm to look like along the renewed Fraser Highway One-Way. Based on that feedback, two preliminary options were presented:

Option 1: Angled parking on both sides with larger clusters of trees at key locations. Select image to enlarge.

Option 2: Angled parking on north side, parallel parking on south side, with continuous street tree corridor. Select image to enlarge.

In September, the city gathered feedback from people about these two options. Recently, the results of this feedback were made available.

Based on the responses received, 54% of people preferred option one. The primary reason was because people thought option one had more parking than option 2. Both options have the same amount of parking. When adjusted for this fact, option two became the preferred option. Neither option stood-out as the clear choice from people that provided feedback.

The top reasons why people liked the proposed designs were due to:

1. Parking Changes
2. Wider Sidewalks
3. Increased Patio Space
4. 206 Street Entrance to Parking
5. Catenary Lighting (Like in McBurney Plaza)
6. Raised Pedestrian Crossings
7. Columnar Trees
8. Curbless Design

The biggest concern for people was around the changes in parking proposed in the options. Some people were concerned about the removal of 40 parking spaces, and the proposed introduction of 1-hour parking along the one-way. Langley City commissioned a parking study that suggested with better wayfinding to point people to underutilized off-street, long-term public parking, this would not be a concern. I would like to see a parkade in Downtown Langley though this is out of the scope of this project.

Some people thought that all motor vehicle traffic should be banned from the one-way.

Another area of concern was around the reduction of accessible parking from the current 10 spaces to 8 spaces.

Finally, people were also concerned about how allowing westbound motor vehicle traffic from 206th Street to the one-way would function. This will require more education.

Based on the feedback received, more work will be done to develop a preferred option for the Fraser Highway One-Way public realm.