Overview of implementation plan for Langley City: Nexus of Community

Yesterday, I posted about the new comprehensive vision for our community called “Langley City: Nexus of Community” which was adopted by council on Monday. For a more high-level overview of the vision, please read my previous post. Today, I wanted to highlight the 24 recommended implementation tasks, grouped by the major themes in the vision.

It will take a lot of work by council, city staff, and the community to make this vision a reality. This is something that I'm excited to start working on.

Because we can’t do everything at once, the implementation plan includes suggested phasing. Some implementation tasks are to be completed in the next year, some in two-three years, and others in three-five years. Some tasks are on-going such as “Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting”. Other tasks can only be implemented as opportunities present themselves such as building a Community Health Centre.

Building a Strong Foundation

Official Community Plan: Update the Langley City Official Community Plan (OCP).

Zoning Bylaw: A Zoning Bylaw update should be considered in conjunction with OCP changes to address the Future Vision.

Capital Plan: Develop the City’s upcoming Capital Plan, or Financial Plan, in line with the Vision.

Expanding Development Services: Review staffing levels to ensure the City has sufficient resources to implement the Vision.

Advisory Design Panel: Create an ADP to review the design quality and integration of uses of major developments.

Community

Downtown and Transit Corridor Masterplan: Update the existing Downtown Masterplan and expand to include the Rapid Transit Corridor along Fraser Highway.

Neighbourhood Plans: Initiate a Neighbourhood Plan for the residential area south of the Nicomekl River that introduces gentle density and more housing options, undertaken with sensitive and inclusive community engagement.

Prosperity Fund: Establish a fund dedicated to projects that implement the Vision.

Development Cost Charges Review: Review the current City Development Cost Charges (DCCs) for opportunities to incentivize development within the Downtown core.

Pre-Zoning: Following a Zoning Bylaw update, the City should take a proactive approach by rezoning areas where it wants to encourage redevelopment.

Site Assembly: Explore opportunities for the City to provide large sites for large developers who can help transform the City and advocate positive change by leadership and special projects.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting: Develop an annual monitoring, evaluation and reporting system to record progress on the Vision Implementation.

Connected

Transit Hub: Develop a comprehensive plan for the Transit Hub, both to leverage from the improved rapid bus connection (2019) and to prepare for future fixed rail. This project could most effectively follow from the Downtown Master Plan and Transit Corridor update.

Review of Transportation Planning: Review the Transportation Master Plan to determine any conflicting objectives and use the Vision to establish future project priorities.

Economic Development: Consider an economic development function separate from the Development Services Department.

Education Partners: Initiate a partnered project, or series of projects with Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) and other local tertiary education providers.

Business Partnerships: Continue to work closely with the Urban Development Institute (UDI), the Downtown Langley Business Improvement Association and the Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce.

Experiences

Iconic Entertainment/Cultural Development: Provide an iconic entertainment or cultural development for the downtown.

Downtown Facade Program: Continue and expand the successful Downtown Façade Program.

Neighbourhood Matching Fund: Develop a neighbourhood matching fund that is public realm focused. Establish a set amount of funding to support projects that aim to activate public space. Conditions are that the local group financially matches the payment through volunteer hours, fundraising or in-kind donations.

Integration

Housing Partners: Langley City should work with housing partners to implement housing pilot projects that address the “missing middle”.

Healthcare Partners: Seek partnerships with healthcare providers to create an innovative Community Health Centre that co-locates Public Health, Home Health (i.e.outreach) and Mental Health facilities in a single location with Rapid Transit access.

The full implementation plan which includes further details about the tasks can be downloaded from Langley City’s website. Two tasks not listed here relate to public awareness and engagement around the vision.