Township Council Update

At Monday afternoon’s Township council meeting, there was more talk about TransLink’s moving forward plan. Grant Ward supports this plan and it will be interesting to see how the vote for this goes regionally.

In other Township news, the Department of National Defence will be spending $7 million to build a skills training facility at the Aldergrove Base which I’m sure will be welcome news to that community. Also Langley Youth for the Fallen, an initiative set up by Langley students Michael and Elizabeth Pratt, wants to build a memorial to the 157 soldiers who died in World Wars I and II at the proposed Derek Doubleday Arbouretum. Speaking about parks, the new park in Willoughby is going to be named after a Willoughby pioneer. Finally, the old Willoughby hall on 208th has a leaky roof.

On a regional note, between 2012 and 2016 there will be a 33% increase in the tax we pay to Metro Vancouver to replace aging infrastructure. What people don’t know is that most of the infrastructure for water and sewer was installed in the mid-20th century. Back then, they only built things to last 50 years and its time is up. While not very “sexy” without water and sewer service our region would grind to a halt.

At Monday evening’s meeting, council gave finally reading to a very exciting 20-acre new mixed-use development for the Yorkson area in Willoughby at 208th Street and 80th Avenue.

Site concept plan. Click image to enlarge.

Primary land uses proposed for Phase One of the QC Holdings development include seven mixed commercial / residential buildings consisting of retail units at grade with three stories of residential apartments above, two larger format retail anchors (grocery store and pharmacy), a two story office building, a restaurant and a number of smaller retail units. In total, Phase One is proposed to have approximately 10,219 m2 (110, 000 ft2) of commercial floor space and 192 residential units over a gross site area of 4.98 ha (12.31 acres).

Phase Two of the project is envisioned to consist of higher density residential uses, including towers up to 12 storeys in height, (subject to design and engineering requirements outlined in the Yorkson Neighbourhood Plan,) with a combination of street fronting townhouse and commercial podiums. Phase Two will have approximately 750 residential units and a yet to be determined amount of commercial space. Staff supports the land uses proposed as they comply with the land use policies outlined in the Yorkson Neighbourhood Plan for the Town Centre area.