Drive-Thrus in Downtown Langley - Update

Last summer I wrote a blog post about a drive-thru Wired Monk coffee shop that is being proposed to be built in Downtown Langley.

Red = Downtown Zoning

While coffees shops are great, like the nearby Starbucks, this proposed coffee shop will have a drive-thru. While I’d rather not see any drive-thrus in Langley as they promote idling and a non-pedestrian-friendly environment, they are not going to disappear from auto-oriented areas like the Langley Bypass. They should disappear from Downtown Langley though. It makes no sense to put new drive-thrus in the Downtown core if you are trying to make it pedestrian friendly. Apparently, many people on Langley’s Advisory Planning Committee don’t share my view if this recent motion is any indication. The motion seems to only be concerned about traffic.

MOVED BY Commission Member MacDonald
SECONDED BY Commission Member Gillis

THAT Development Permit Application DP 02-12 to accommodate a 153m2 (1,650 sq ft) coffee shop with drive-through facility at 20112 Fraser Highway be tabled and referred back to the Advisory Planning Commission after completion and acceptance of the applicant’s traffic study to finalize the circulation pattern and layout of the parking and drive-through lane to ensure that the proposed development does not adversely impact adjacent streets or properties.
CARRIED

This proposed drive-thru would be allowed with the current zoning in the area, but with the higher-density residential development that is being built that zoning doesn’t make sense anymore. We should be trying to promote active modes of transportation in Langley's core, not driving.