June 5 Council Notes: Development, $15 Million Loan, Bike Lane, Housekeeping

Yesterday, I posted about some of the matters addressed at Monday’s Langley City Council meeting, and I will be continuing today.

Council gave final reading to a rezoning bylaw and issued a development permit for a 6-storey, 113-unit apartment project on the southeast corner of Michaud Crescent and 200th Street. At the first and second reading of the rezoning bylaw in October 2021, Council stated that if the project continued to have synthetic turf (plastic grass) in the landscaping plan, the project would not receive final reading. As shown below, the landscaping plan no longer contains plastic grass.

The northern landscaping plan for the project at 5370 & 5380 200 Street, 5371 & 5381 200A Street, 20010 & 20020 Michaud Crescent, & 20031 53B Avenue. Select the image to enlarge.

The City plans to take out a $15 million loan to pay for purchasing property to support the SkyTrain project as per our 2023 budget. The City is starting an Alternative Approval Process, one of the two ways municipalities can get a loan authorized under BC law. The other way to get a loan authorized is through a referendum. The Alternative Approval Process is a more cost-effective option. More information about the Alternative Approval Process is available on the Government of BC’s website. The City will provide information about how people can participate in the Alternative Approval Process in the local newspaper, City Hall, and the City’s website.

Council gave first, second, and third readings to some housekeeping matters, including updating the Business License and Regulation Bylaw to change the spelling of “license” to “licence” and updating our Council procedure bylaw to codify certain practices such as including a land acknowledgement at the start of meetings, updating how we structure meeting agendas, and designating the Mayor as an ex officio member of all Council committees.

Council also approved an update to our “Policy CO-68 – Routine Correspondence Sent from Mayor on Behalf of Council” to clarify the types of official letters a Mayor can write on behalf of Council without seeking Council’s prior approval. Examples of letters that don’t require prior Council approval include sending letters of support to non-profits that help our community or sending birthday greetings.

Council also gave first, second, and third reading to update our Fees and Charges Bylaw to generally increase fees to keep up with inflation and clean up the bylaw to add and remove items. I want to highlight that property owners will receive a significant increase in fines for false alarms as it is costly to dispatch first responders. While the fines for responding to up to four false alarms are modest (starting at $60-150), by the fifth false alarm, the cost rises to ($265-$1065) depending on the property type.

Finally, Council awarded a tender for our Downtown Cycling Enhancements project to Lafarge Canada Inc. for $401,765.00 (excluding GST.)

Map of protected bike lane project in Downtown Langley. Select the map to enlarge.