Langley City to provide comments on Gloucester Industrial Park Expansion. City's Role for Township's Booth, Fernridge, and Rinn Neighbourhood Plans.

As I posted about last month, the Township of Langley is seeking Metro Vancouver Regional District Board approval to expand Gloucester Industrial Park by 14.59 hectares, converting regionally designated agricultural land to industrial land and expanding the Urban Growth Boundary. This change requires updating Metro 2050, our region's growth strategy.

Location of the proposed expansion of Gloucester Industrial Park. Select the map to enlarge. Source: Township of Langley

As per provincial government law, the regional growth strategy amendment process requires a minimum 45-day notification period to allow all affected local governments and members of the public to provide comments on this proposed change.

Langley City Council received a letter from the Regional District and asked staff to prepare a response to be sent back to the Regional District board. Council will review Langley City staff's response at an upcoming meeting before sending it to the Regional District.

The Township of Langley is also updating the Booth, Fernridge, and Rinn Neighbourhood Plans. Again as required by provincial law, the Township of Langley is seeking feedback from Langley City on the proposed updates to these neighbourhood plans.

Township of Langley Neighbourhood Planning Areas South of Langley City. Select the map to enlarge. Source: Township of Langley

Langley City is in the process of updating our transportation plan. As 200th Street and 208th Street serve as regional roads, Langley City must consider the growth in the Brookswood, Booth, Fernridge, and Rinn neighbourhoods. To benefit both Langley City and Township residents and businesses, our communities must work together to ensure that the 200 Street and 208 Street corridors can effectively handle the people and good movement required for our growing communities.

As we share the same watershed, we also need to work with the Township of Langley to update water, sewer and stormwater modelling and ensure we have an updated Integrated Watershed Management Plan.

In the past, the Township of Langley and Langley City signed a Memorandum of Agreement as part of the original Willoughby planning work done decades ago.

For the mutual benefit of both communities, and following our long history of working together, the City will be asking the Township to sign a Memorandum of Agreement to create a game plan to ensure our transportation and transit infrastructure can support the population growth proposed in the Booth, Fernridge, and Rinn Neighbourhood Plans, that we have an Integrated Watershed Management Plan, and that we have identified any new water and sewer service that may require access through Langley City to support the proposed updated Booth, Fernridge, and Rinn Neighbourhood Plans.