December 9 and 16 Council Notes: Final Updates for the Year

Last night, Langley City Council held its last meeting of the year. I wanted to post about the last few things addressed at the December 9th and 16th Council meetings.

Langley City Council gave final reading of bylaws to approve the 2025 water, sewer, and garbage/organics collection utility fees as well as other fee updates. You can learn more about this in a previous post.

Council also gave final reading to a rezoning bylaw and issued a development permit for a 6-storey, 283-unit apartment building at 5360 204 Street. This building will have 53 market-priced rental units. Langley City Council also gave final reading to a housing agreement which ensures those units will remain rental units for the life of the building.

Council gave final reading to approve an update to our 2024 – 2028 Financial Plan. You can learn more about what was updated in a previous post.

Council approved changes to the signing officers for banking and investments. You can learn more on the City's website, though this is a housekeeping item.

Council Presses Pause on 8 Lot Subdivision in Mossey Estates

At the Monday, December 9th Langley City Council meeting, Council considered a rezoning application to allow the subdivision of 20525 and 20541 46A Avenue into 8 smaller lots, which requires a change from our "estate" detached housing zoning to standard detached housing zoning. Usually, this wouldn't raise a red flag, but this application would impact an environmentally sensitive area of our community.

Langley City has mapped out environmentally sensitive areas in our community. The City ranks this sensitivity from low to high. Any development of moderate to highly sensitive areas is strictly prohibited. The City "strongly discourages" development in low to moderately low environmentally sensitive areas.

A map of environmentally sensitive areas in Langley City with the area impacted by this potential subdivision outlined in blue. Select the map to enlarge.

For the City and Council to consider development in low to moderately low environmentally sensitive areas, a proposal must consider maintaining ecological connectivity and function, and having no net loss of habitat area (if loss of habitat is unavoidable, replace the value of lost habitat at a ratio of 2:1.) A proposal must also consider natural features including topography, mature trees, creeks and ravines.

The 8-lot subdivision proposal includes completely flatting the environmentally sensitive areas within its boundary, which also includes a natural hazard area which requires further consideration. This proposal would result in the removal of over 80 trees.

All this led Council to refer this rezoning and subdivision proposal back to City staff as its current form is likely something that Council would not approve.

Langley City does not have many environmentally sensitive areas, so if a proposal impacts an environmentally sensitive area, the result must include a clear net benefit for the community.

Langley City Council Endorses Next Phase of Citizens' Assembly on Community Safety

If you've been following my posts over the last few years, you'll have read about Langley City's Citizens' Assembly.

In local governments, we have various degrees of engagement with the community. The degree or continuum of engagement is sometimes called the ladder of citizen participation. In the worst case, local governments can work to manipulate the community, but most of the time, local governments inform the community. Examples would be a notice of a public Council meeting so people can show up and observe the meeting or attend an open house to learn about what is going on at City Hall.

As you move along the continuum, there is consulting and involving the community. In Langley City, we do this when we ask you to provide feedback on a community plan such as the Urban Forest Management Strategy or Official Community Plan. With this level of engagement, local governments consider, address or incorporate community feedback, but Council and local government staff are still in the driver's seat. This type of engagement isn't bad as we live in a representative democracy, but to fully include the community as a partner in decision-making, we need to move towards the collaborate and empower part of the engagement continuum; this is where the Citizens' Assembly comes in.

Setting up a system where local governments collaborate and empower the community takes a lot of work to do right. Over the last two years, Langley City Council and staff have been laying the groundwork for our first Citizens' Assembly, which will focus on community safety and well-being. Being fully transparent, Langley City residents and business owners frequently tell us we must do better regarding community safety. This feedback has persisted for as long as I can remember, so what we've done to this point hasn't moved the needle. I believe, as does Council, that for this very complex challenge, we need to collaborate and empower our community. A Citizens' Assembly will hopefully move the needle by putting forward community-led solutions to create a city where people feel safer by addressing the root causes to improve community safety and well-being. Please read a previous blog post for more information on why and what the Citizens' Assembly will address.

On Monday, Langley City Council endorsed moving forward with the next stage of the Citizens' Assembly. The Assembly will consist of 29 members of the community who will be selected based on a demographically representative sample of our community, including people who historically do not engage with local government. The first meeting of the Citizens' Assembly will occur in February and wrap up in the summer.

The Assembly will present its recommendations to Council in the summer. Council will then work to action those recommendations. If Council chooses not to move forward with a recommendation, we will provide a very good explanation as to why. We will take these recommendations seriously. After that, Council will monitor the recommendations' implementation to ensure we are improving community safety and well-being.

Throughout the Citizens' Assembly process, the City will ensure the whole community is informed.

Langley City's New Urban Forest Management Strategy Approved

I posted about Langley City's draft Urban Forest Management Strategy in September. The strategy's overall goal is to expand and strengthen the existing tree canopy to increase its coverage from 17% today to 20% by 2046. I posted about the four main goals previously with added detail, though they are:

1. Protect and enhance trees, forests, and soils
2. Manage the urban forest for its health and resiliency
3. Support community partnership
4. Monitor progress and adapt to changing circumstances

The plan also includes some "quick wins," including:

• Adding tree canopy coverage targets and supporting requirements into all City planning and zoning bylaws and policies.
• Adding tree protection and tree planting requirements into the Subdivision and Development Servicing Bylaw (applied during redevelopment.)
• Adding policies to ensure that publicly managed trees are protected and maintained to a high level, ensuring the City is leading by example.
• Improving the process to ensure that developer-planted trees and other plantings survive beyond the initial few years.
• Updating the recommended tree species list for public and private planting to ensure survivability and ecosystem diversity even with climate change.
• Developing programs to help encourage City residents to be a part of protecting and growing our urban forest.
• Inventorying all street and park trees.

Council endorsed this strategy on Monday, and I look forward to the City starting to implement these quick wins.

You can read the complete Urban Forest Management Strategy on Langley City's website.

Langley City's New Housing Needs

This summer, like most municipalities in Metro Vancouver, the provincial government issued a housing order for Langley City. This order stated that Langley City must do what is within its power to ensure that 1,844 new homes are built and occupied in our community over the next five years. The market plays the most significant role these days in getting housing built, but we must ensure that our policies and processes don't lead to the City missing this target.

At the same time, each municipality must have a housing needs report. Langley City's last report was created and adopted by Council back in 2021. This 2021 report quantified the housing we needed based on number of bedrooms. The provincial government implemented laws and regulations standardizing housing needs reports in 2023. The province requires that all municipalities update their housing needs reports using this new standard format. Langley City Council approved a new interim housing needs report based on the new provincial standards.

The breakdown is as follows:

Type	5-Year Need	20-Year Need
Extreme Core Housing Need	221	885
Persons Experiencing Homelessness	66	122
Suppressed Household Formation	209	834
Anticipated Growth	2961	7702
Rental Vacancy Rate Adjustment	20	78
Additional Local Demand	219	876

We need 3,691 new homes over the next 5 years and 10,498 over the next 20 years.

There are some categories which need some explanation. Extreme Core Housing Need means building housing so that people who pay more than 50% of their income towards housing pay closer to 30%. Suppressed Household Formation means building housing that allows people who might still live with their parents or roommates due to affordability challenges to move out. Additional Local Demand is a "buffer."

Unlike the housing order, the housing needs report is used by municipalities to help with our Official Community Plan. We must show that our land-use plans can accommodate the number of units outlined in the housing needs report over the lifetime of the Official Community Plan. We wouldn't get in trouble with the province if we don't meet the housing needs targets.

The Extreme Core Housing Need, Persons Experiencing Homelessness, and Suppressed Household Formation categories will require funding from the provincial and federal governments as building these types of housing is outside of the mandates or financial capacities of municipalities.

December 2 Council Notes: Housing Matters and Budget

Last Monday, Langley City Council gave third reading, otherwise known as approval in principle, for two zoning bylaw amendments. The first was for a proposed 6-storey, 80-unit apartment building near Nicomekl School at 20130-20150 53 Avenue & 20139-20153 52 Avenue. You can read more about this proposed apartment building in a previous post.

Rendering of proposed project at 5360 204 Street

The second was for an update of an original proposal for a 12-storey, 370-unit apartment, but it is now a 6-storey, 283-unit apartment at 5360 204 Street, otherwise known as the Pyramid Apartments. Council narrowly approved the third reading. As I noted previously, there was a robust discussion on which version of Langley City's Tenant Compensation and Relocation policy should apply. Langley City policy requires that if an existing market rental building is redeveloped, the new building must have at least the same number of market rental units. In this case, this proposed project would require 44 units, but the applicant proposes providing 53 rental units.

Council gave first, second, and third reading authorizing a housing agreement which will secure these 53 rental units for the life of the building.

Council also approved two motions presented by Councillors Mack and White.

This first motion asked that Council "conduct budget deliberations in Open Meetings of Council; AND that council consider Service Level Increments (increases) in Closed Meetings, as necessary, but only as strictly permitted under Section 90 of the Community Charter."

This motion aligns with our current practices, though we are adding more workshops for the 2025 budget. You can read more about this on the City's 2025 Financial Plan webpage.

The second motion asked City staff to "research and provide a report back to council on a local policy framework for inclusionary zoning; such that can further be considered by Council for adoption in the upcoming zoning bylaw update." Inclusionary zoning means that a certain number of units must be below market cost for a development project. Cities can also use something called density bonusing as well to achieve below-market units. Back in 2021, Council kicked off this process.

Without provincial or federal help, funding for below-market units and other Council priorities, such as three-bedroom apartment units, childcare space, and tenant compensation and relocation policies, plus funding to build local infrastructure to support new growth, must come from developer profits, sometimes known as "land lift." Langley City Council hired a land economist to understand how much we can ask from projects while ensuring projects can still be built. We must ensure projects are built as the provincial government requires that our policies ensure we meet our provincial regulated housing order targets.

The short of it is that City staff confirmed they are already working on an inclusionary zoning report for the Council, which they will have ready next year.

2024 Langley City Budget Amendment #2

From time to time, Langley City Council updates the current year's budget. The budget can change for several reasons, such as the City receiving new funding from a partner or other order of government. It can also happen when priorities change. Council gave first, second, and third reading to the second budget amendment this year. The changes are as follows.

Contingency for Future Land Acquisition - The City is acquiring land to accommodate the SkyTrain project. This provincial government is providing the City with the entire $2.5 million to purchase the land.

Transportation Safety Improvements - ICBC is providing $77,000 to fund various road safety projects.

Major Road Network Rehabilitation - $2.3 million from our TransLink-funded Major Road Network reserve account to fund additional improvement, primarily on 200th Street.

Fraser Highway One-Way Hydro Undergrounding - Adjustment to the funding sources resulting from BC Hydro reducing their contribution to the project.

Replacing the Douglas Park Lawn Bowling Club Mower - The Lawn Bowling Club will contribute $7,655, and the City will contribute $10,000.

New Economic Development Plan for Langley City: Be. Enterprising.

Most municipalities have an economic development plan. These plans help inform decision-making and policies within a municipality to help with economic growth. While the market, provincial, and federal governments hold most of the economic levers, municipalities still must do their part to enable a thriving local economy.

Langley City's current economic development plan was created in 2016. A lot has changed since then, including SkyTrain coming to town. On Monday, Langley City Council adopted our new economic development plan, Be. Enterprising. The plan is broken down as follows:

1. Innovation
   • Pursue a FoodTech innovation vision as a catalyst for the newly adopted Innovation District Plan (along Glover Road to KPU)
   • Implement intelligent community strategies
2. Enterprise
   • Grow the entrepreneur ecosystem by having Langley City help connect people to local and regional organizations that help enable home-grown enterprises
3. Downtown Destination
   • Continue to invest in our downtown, making it a regional destination
4. Land Matters
   • Ensure that Langley City's Official Community Plan, Zoning Bylaw, and other land-use policies support business growth
5. Investment Readiness
   • Establish an economic development office within Langley City
6. Enablers
   • Continue to work on City plans, policies, and advocacy to support a healthy and safe community, an improved public transit system, increased housing affordability and choice, and investments in cultural and recreation facilities and services.

FoodTech sounds like a buzzword, but DigitalFoodLabs provides a good breakdown. KPU's Langley Campus has food and agriculture programs. One of the City's goals is to help support KPU's vision and enable research and learning from the university to grow within Langley City.

It is important to measure the performance of all City plans. The City is rolling out KPIs or Key Performance Indicators. The KPIs for this plan are:

• Positive Trending Net Promoter Score: Langley City performs a Community Survey every three years to get people's feedback on the state of our community. We want to see satisfaction increase.
• Increased Business Licenses Per Capita with a focus on food & beverage businesses
• Maintain our current non-residential to residential property tax assessment ratio

Please visit the Intelligent Community Forum for more information on intelligent community strategies.

You can learn more about Langley City's Be. Enterprising. Plan on Langley City's website.

December 2 Council Notes: Water, Sewer, Garbage, and Other Fee Changes

As I noted last week, Langley City Council is going through our 2025 Financial Plan and budget process. Part of that process includes setting the water, sewer, and garbage utility rates for 2025. Last night Council gave first, second, and third reading to approve the 2025 water, sewer, and garbage rates in principle. Final approval will occur at the next Council meeting.

The City charges for water per cubic metre (1,000 litres). To cover the increased cost of providing water, the City is proposing to increase the water rate by 10 cents per cubic metre to $1.89 per cubic metre.

For the average detached homeowner in Langley City, it works out to a $33.00 or 5% increase for an annual total of $698.70. For the average attached homeowner, it works out to a $19.00 or 4.6% increase over the 2024 rate for an annual total of $434.10.

The City is also increasing the charge for sewer by 45 cents per cubic metre or 23.7% compared to 2024 for a new rate of $2.27 per cubic metre. 75% of this increase is due to the tripling of costs related to the Metro Vancouver Regional District North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant, which has been in focus due to cost overruns, construction, and contract issues.

For the average detached homeowner in Langley City, it works out to a $119.00 or 21.4% increase for an annual total of $674.00. For the average attached homeowner, it works out to a $68.00 or 19.5% increase over the 2024 rate for an annual total of $420.00.

As I posted earlier, our 10-year-old contract with Emterra to provide garbage and organics collection ends this year, so Langley City needed to sign a new contract. This new contract means a significant increase in the collection fee, though the new fee and level of service are comparable to other municipalities in the South of Fraser. Langley City provides garbage and organics collection services to detached homes and very small townhouse complexes. If you receive this City service, your rate will increase by $120 or 44.3% compared to last year to $391.

Langley City Council also approved in principle other fee increases related to business licensing, building permits, and land use planning. You can see the complete list of changes on Langley City's website. I will note that the business licensing fees are increasing by 2%.

Magic of Christmas Festival - This Saturday

As is the tradition in Langley City, the official countdown to Christmas starts with the Magic of Christmas Festival.

This outdoor event includes free live music and entertainment, kids' activities, and fun for everyone.

I’m looking forward to seeing and hearing the professional snow sculpture and live music!

There will also be food trucks and the Greater Vancouver Beer Truck.

The event itself will run from Noon until 6:00 p.m. on December 7th outside Timms Community Centre.

For more information about the festival, please check out Langley City’s website.

Inside Timms will be the Langley Art Council’s two-day Holiday Artisan Market.

Saturday, December 7th, from 10:00 am until 5:00 pm
Sunday, December 8th, from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm

Please visit the Langley Arts Council’s website for information on the artisan market.

I look forward to seeing you this weekend!

Langley City Still Has One of the Lowest Property Tax Bills in Metro Vancouver

Some misinformation has been spread online and in print that Langley City has high property taxes for homeowners, especially people who own detached houses (traditionally called single-family homes.) The fact is Langley City has some of the lowest property taxes in Metro Vancouver.

The provincial government compiles data for all municipalities in BC and produces a document called "Taxes & Charges on a Representative House - Schedule 704." This document looks at the bottom-line payment for people who own a representatively priced detached home. I say bottom line because it includes City-control property tax and fees (such as garbage, water, and sewer) and property tax from other governments, such as the regional district, provincial schools, and TransLink.

So, how does Langley City compare for this year's taxes to other Metro Vancouver municipalities this year?

Municipalities	Total 'Representative House' Property Taxes & Charges - 2024
Port Coquitlam	6,023
Pitt Meadows	6,244
Langley Township	6,363
Langley City	6,395
Delta	6,582
Maple Ridge	6,630
Surrey	7,080
Burnaby	7,327
Coquitlam	7,481
City of North Vancouver	7,914
Richmond	7,956
District of North Vancouver	8,634
Port Moody	8,681
White Rock	8,953
Belcarra	9,789
Vancouver	9,892
Lions Bay	10,021
Bowen Island	10,323
New Westminster	10,718
Anmore	11,292
West Vancouver	12,994

There are a few things to call out. New Westminster has higher taxes because it also operates an electric utility, whereas other municipalities in Metro Vancouver are on BC Hydro's network.

Another call-out is that only 20% of the homes in Langley City are detached. Only Burnaby has a lower average property tax than Langley City for all other housing types. Unfortunately, the provincial government does not compile "representative house" data for apartments and townhouses.

Finally, we must balance our budget because municipalities cannot run a deficit, unlike the provincial and federal governments. Some municipalities in Metro Vancouver have higher taxes because they provide additional services that their residents request.

So, if you live in Langley City and own a detached home, you aren't paying the lowest property taxes in Metro Vancouver but among the lowest. I believe Langley City is providing good value for money as we continue to work on the basics, investing in infrastructure and community safety.

TransLink's Big $810 Million Leap: Growing Transit Service in Metro Vancouver

As I've been posting and you've likely seen in the news, for a variety of factors, such as the continued drop in fuel tax revenue, TransLink needs a new stable funding source to help plug a $579 million budget shortfall. Fixing this shortfall will require the region's mayors and the provincial government to work hand-in-hand to ensure that transit service isn't cut by around 50% in our region starting in 2026.

Of course, we know we need to actually expand transit service (which is experiencing overcrowing) in our region, which is why the mayors created the "Access for Everyone" plan. This plan is to be delivered in three phases over the next decade.

Fixing the budget shortfall and implementing phase one of the Access for Everyone plan will require $810 million in new funding starting in 2026. This funding would be one of the biggest lifts in the history of TransLink, but it is achievable.

At a high level, phase one of the Access for Everyone plan includes:

• Increasing bus service by 15%, including three new Bus Rapid Transit routes (such as the Maple Ridge/Langley route.)
• Increasing SeaBus, West Coast Express, and SkyTrain frequency or railcars
• Expanding HandyDART service
• Building a Gondola to SFU Burnaby
• Expanding Bus Depots and Preparing for Battery Electrics Buses
• Buying Zero-Emission Buses
• Keeping the Transit System in a State of Good Repair
• Rolling Out Customer Washrooms in the Transit System
• Funding Local Bike and Walking Infrastructure
• Maintaining and Growing the Major Road Network
• Providing Funding to Improve Bus Speed and Reliability (such as by building more bus lanes.)
• Improving Golden Ears Way

Please check out the November 28 Mayors' Council agenda for more information. You will be hearing a lot more about phase one of the Access for Everyone plan in the coming months.

First Look at 2025 Langley City Budget: Status Quo and Proposed Changes

As I posted about last week, Langley City Council has kicked off the 2025 budget development process. City staff presented an overview of the 2025 budget yesterday.

To maintain current staffing and service delivery levels, Langley City Council would need to increase our property tax by about $2 million in 2025. This increase works out to 4.7% more property tax than in 2024. Inflation has cooled this year, but labour costs are still the main driver of the proposed increase. Policing consumes around 45% of property tax revenue, and in 2025, keeping policing at current levels contributes $1.2 million or 2.8% of the proposed 4.7% increase.

As our community grows, we must consider increasing staffing and services to meet demands. City staff prepared a list of proposed increases for Council to consider. This year, staff are proposing the following:

New staffing to keep up with our growing community - $936,260
Two Additional RCMP Members - $500,000
Increase Infrastructure Replacement Levy (For Renewal Projects) - $418,000
Two Additional Firefighters - $364,480
Expand Pool Season from the Beginning of March to the End of October - $168,530

Council usually does not agree to all staff proposals, and over the coming months, Council will refine the budget. This first look simply puts everything on the table for Council to consider.

To keep in the loop as we work through the 2025 budget process, please visit Langley City's 2025 Financial Plan page.

Moving Towards Net-Zero GHG Emissions at TransLink

In 2021, the TransLink Board approved the following timeline for moving TransLink towards a zero-emission bus fleet and that its operations would have zero greenhouse gas emissions.

• 45% GHG emission reduction by 2030 (compared to 2010)
• A zero-emissions bus fleet by 2040
• Net-zero GHG emissions by 2050

Net-zero does not mean that TransLink will produce zero GHG emissions in 2050, but that any emissions TransLink emits will be compensated (for example, by investing in renewable power or planting trees). Moving towards net zero is still a big lift. We've often heard about government organizations setting GHG emission reduction targets but never meeting those targets. Is TransLink's GHG emissions and zero-emissions bus fleet possible in the timeline given?

TransLink staff have prepared a report that shows the trolley bus network will be here to stay and that battery-electric buses will replace all other bus types in the medium and the long term. Over the next decade, TransLink will still need to purchase buses that can run on renewable natural gas and diesel, both to meet the 2030 emission reduction target and allow time to build the facilities and infrastructure to accommodate battery-electric buses.

TransLink is renovating the Port Coquitlam Transit Centre and building a new Marpole Transit Centre to accommodate battery election buses. TransLink has six transit centres (bus depots) in the region, so much more work will be needed.

Moving to a fully electric bus future will cost up to $14 billion over the next two decades. It is a big effort. There are two Canadian transit bus manufacturers, and as of this year, only one will continue to make buses with combustion engines. The future will be electric.

While aggressive and not without risk, it will be possible for TransLink to meet its zero-emission bus fleets and net-zero GHG emission goals.

For more information, please read the November 28th Mayors' Council package.

November 18 Council Notes, Upcoming Budget Workshops, Regional Affordable Rental Housing Targets

We are near the end of the year, meaning budget season for Langley City is starting. New for the 2025 budget development process, Council will hold a series of open workshops as we refine the 2025 budget, preparing it for community feedback, official consideration, and adoption early next year. Anyone can observe these budget workshops. The first workshop is on Monday, November 25th. For more information on the 2025 budget process and workshops, please visit the 2025 Financial Plan section of Langley City’s website.

Council also officially adopted our 2025 regular council meeting schedule. You can find out upcoming Council meeting dates on Langley City’s website. Everyone is free to observe these Council meetings.

One of our regional district’s goals is to ensure that 15% of new housing units in urban centres and transit corridors are affordable rentals by 2050. This goal is embedded into the Regional Growth Strategy that all municipalities in Metro Vancouver are subject to. Langley City has always been subject to this goal. The regional district is proposing to update the areas where the 15% target would apply and the definition of affordable rentals.

The following map shows the proposed areas where the target would apply.

Urban Centres, Frequent Transit Development Areas, and Major Transit Growth Corridors Subject to 15% Affordable Housing Target. Select the map to enlarge. Source: Metro Vancouver

The definition of affordable housing is proposed to be:

“Housing that is affordable to households earning up to 120% of the Regional Median Household Income. In Canada, a general measure of housing affordability is the shelter-cost-to-income ratio, where no more than 30% of a household’s gross income is spent on housing (including all housing-related costs like utilities).”

The regional district sent a letter to Langley City asking for our feedback. Langley City Council asked City staff to provide feedback to the regional district.

New Process to Prevent Parkade Construction Cave-Ins

Because Langley City is built on a floodplain, we have challenging soil conditions when it comes to the construction of buildings. As a result, when people propose constructing apartment buildings in Langley City, the City requires a geotechnical review to ensure that the construction and building designs will work in our soil conditions. This review includes the design for excavating underground parkades. Under provincial law, the City's only power is to ensure that a geotechnical engineer signs off on these designs. When an engineer signs off on a design, they take on the liability for any problem that could result from the design.

For as long as I can remember, this process worked well until December 2022, when there was a partial cave-in of a retaining wall put in place during the excavation of a parkade. This cave-in was extremely concerning, but it was a one-off. Then, in August of this year, there was another partial cave-in at another construction site. Council learned late last week about another soil shift event at another construction site. This is now a trend and is 100% unacceptable.

At Monday night's meeting, Langley City staff updated Council that the City will now require peer reviews on all geotechnical designs. This peer-review process means that at least two geotechnical engineers from different firms must sign off for an apartment project to move forward. The cost of this peer-review process will be on the builder. This new process is meant to ensure that a cave-in never happens again and restore trust in the design and construction of underground parkades in our community.

November 18 Council Notes: Housing Projects

Last night, Langley City Council looked at three new proposed housing projects.

The first proposed housing project was for a 6-storey, 80-unit apartment building at 20130-20150 53 Avenue & 20139-20153 52 Avenue (near Nicomekl Elementary School). If approved by Council, the apartment would have 45 one-bedroom units, 30 two-bedroom units, and five three-bedroom units.

Rendering of proposed project at 20130-20150 53 Avenue & 20139-20153 52 Avenue

Council gave first and second reading to the rezoning bylaw for this proposed apartment project.

In June 2023, Langley City Council gave third reading for a proposed 12-storey apartment building at 5360 204 Street on the site of the current Pyramid Apartments. The applicant withdrew the 12-storey apartment building proposal and is now proposing a 6-storey, 283-unit apartment building.

Rendering of proposed project at 5360 204 Street

There are two important things to note. First, because this would redevelop a current purpose-built market rental building, all market rental units must be replaced one-for-one in the new apartment building per Council policy. Second, the building is subject to a Council tenant relocation, compensation, and right-to-return policy. In 2023, Council negotiated additional tenant compensation for this project above the then-current policy and the right for tenants to return at 20% below market rent. So far, about 2/3rds of the current tenants who fall under the tenant relocation, compensation, and right-to-return policy have moved from the building and been compensated. Twelve tenants are remaining. Council updated our tenant relocation, compensation, and right-to-return policy, beefing up some aspects of the policy, including compensation, this summer. You can read more about this in a previous post. Council had a good conversation last night on whether the new beefed-up policy should apply and, if so, how it would impact tenants who have already been relocated and compensated under the old negotiated policy. In a 4-3 vote, Council gave first and second reading to this scaled-down version under the old negotiated policy.

Finally, Council issued a development permit for a 6-storey, 178-unit apartment development at 20644 Eastleigh Crescent.

Rendering of proposed project at 20644 Eastleigh Crescent.

For more information on these projects, please visit Langley City's Development Application Portal. The portal has detailed plans and other supporting documentation, including reports from the City's Advisory Design Panel, plus the status of all applications as they work through the approval process.

SkyTrain Construction 24/7 Hotline

With the Surrey Langley SkyTrain extension under major construction, there may be times when you need to get in touch with the project construction team urgently, or you may have a general question.

You can now call 1-844-815-6111 if you need to contact them 24/7.

For general construction information and additional contacts, you can visit the project's website at https://surreylangleyskytrain.gov.bc.ca/

Please note that the provincial government manages this website and the hotline, not Langley City.

This summer, we used 205 billion litres of drinking water in Metro Vancouver

On an average day in Metro Vancouver, we use about 1 billion litres of water. That means, on average, each of us uses about 330 litres of water daily, about a bathtub or two's worth. This number grows during the summer.

The Metro Vancouver Regional District recently released a report showing water usage over the 2024 summer season. The following chart shows water usage.

Metro Vancouver Daily System Consumption Comparison 2023 and 2024. Source: Metro Vancouver

In 2023, there was higher water usage in May and June. Over the peak May 1st to October 15th season, we used 216 billion litres in 2023 and 205 billion litres in 2024.

The following chart shows our region's water storage levels. Our water comes from the North Shore mountains and Coquitlam Lake.

Total Source Storage for Metro Vancouver Usage, 2021-2024. Source: Metro Vancouver

While we used less water this summer, we had lower snow packs and drier conditions, which meant we were close to lower-than-normal water storage levels. Water conservation will continue to be the path forward for our region. I was born and raised in Okanagan, so water conservation has always been on my mind. In Metro Vancouver, we must get away from grass lawns and look at other landscaping treatments. In my townhouse complex, they replaced some grass with river rocks and some low-water plants. It looks pretty nice.

Metro Vancouver Looking To Tighten Air Quality Regs. Smog Increasing.

The Metro Vancouver Regional District has delegated authority from the provincial government to regulate air quality in our region. The Regional District is looking to tighten up ambient air quality objectives. The target numbers help guide Metro Vancouver's regulation, enforcement, and alerting efforts.

The Region District is looking into tightening up the objectives for three key air pollutants: ground-level ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and sulphur dioxide.

Ground-level ozone, sometimes known as smog, is produced by vehicle and industrial emissions. Nitrogen dioxide is produced by vehicle, industrial, and building (heating) emissions. Sulphur Dioxide is produced by petroleum refining, marine vessels, cement production, and aircraft. Ground-level ozone is harmful to human health and contributes to climate change. All three are linked to respiratory problems and contribute to early death.

The Regional District has an extensive air quality monitoring network in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. You can check out Metro Vancouver's AirMap to see.

The proposed new target levels are:
Ground-level ozone (8-hour averaging period): Reducing from 62ppb to 60ppb
Nitrogen dioxide (1-hour average period): Reducing from 60ppb to 42ppb
Nitrogen dioxide (annual average): Reducing from 17ppb to 12ppb
Sulphur dioxide (annual average): Reducing from 5ppb to 4ppb

There is no safe level of ground-level ozone; unfortunately, this pollutant is increasing in our region. The following table shows ground-level ozone in Metro Vancouver over the last three years.

2021-2023, Ground-level ozone 8-hour average levels in Metro Vancouver compared to regional ambient air quality objectives. Source: Metro Vancouver

Maple Ridge has some of the worst ground-level ozone in the region, and Langley is up there. Work needs to be done to drive down ground-level ozone by reducing the use of internal combustion engines, which the provincial and federal governments control.

Metro Vancouver Population to Increase to 3.3 Million in 2030. Langley City Middle of the Road.

The Metro Vancouver Regional District recently updated its population growth projections within our region. When it comes to the projected total population growth, Vancouver and Surrey will continue to be the places with the highest total population growth.

Map of Projected Change in Dwelling Units (Medium-Growth Scenario), from 2021 to 2051, by Member Jurisdiction. Source: Metro Vancouver

When it comes to the change in population, the Township of Langley, Maple Ridge, New Westminster, Coquitlam, UBC, and Tsawwassen First Nation are where Metro Vancouver is predicting will see the most significant increase as a percentage of the current population over the next 25 years.

Map of Projected Increase (%) in Dwelling Units (Medium-Growth Scenario), from 2021 to 2051, by Member Jurisdiction. Source: Metro Vancouver

In recent years, Langley City has been a high-growth community, according to census data. Still, the Metro Vancouver model predicts that Langley City will see medium growth in the coming decades. Langley City's population is now closely tracking with the City of Port Moody.

These population growth projections help the region and municipalities plan for infrastructure needs such as water, sewer, and transportation. It can also help inform land-use decisions.

You can view the updated projections on the Metro Vancouver website.

Getting Politicians Working for You Again

About a year ago, I got a ride to a SkyTrain station from a mayor of one of the larger municipalities in our region. He told me people need a roof over their heads and a good job. He said many politicians have forgotten that this is the most basic thing we must enable. I agreed, and this conversation has stuck with me.

While I’ve been actively involved in politics for some time now, that conversation got me thinking about what I believe the role of government should be. The results of various provincial and other elections over the last few months really got me thinking about this.

There are really five things that we, as politicians and government, need to enable for people.

• We need to ensure that people’s basic needs are met.
• We need to ensure that people have access to opportunity.
• We need to ensure that people feel safe.
• We need to ensure that when people need help, we are there.
• We need to ensure that people feel they are valued in our society.

While the federal and provincial governments and politicians have the most control over these five outcomes, local governments also have a role.

I created a Langley City Solutions Tracker 2.1, which outlines everything I promised over the years. Most of what I’ve promised fits within the five key outcomes, but I want to expand on this slightly.

We provide water and sewer services as local governments. It doesn’t get more basic than this.

Local governments play a prominent role in our transportation network. Roads and transit ensure that people have access to opportunities.

How we police our communities and design and operate our public spaces, libraries, and recreation centres contributes to people’s feeling of safety.

When people need help, sometimes it isn’t available or hard to know where to start. Some local governments, such as Langley City, have now taken on the role of advocate to get required services for a community and are working to reduce the barriers to accessing these services.

It is crucial to feel that society and, by extension, your government value you. As local government, we can meaningfully include people in our decisions as we serve a smaller area. I’m very excited about direct democracy systems, such as Citizens’ Assemblies and Citizens’ Budgets.

Many times, politicians forget who they should be serving. These five ideals have become a bit of a lighthouse for me.

Extreme Weather Response Shelter Program Not Effective, Needs An Overhaul

In BC, we have a system of emergency shelters that provide space for people with the most urgent need of a basic place to sleep. Unfortunately, there are few shelters, and most are at capacity on any given night, as seen in the Shelter Map system by StreetMessenger. The following list shows the number of permanent emergency shelters by municipalities in the South of Fraser.

Gateway of Hope in Langley City. Source: Gateway of Hope

Delta: 0
Langley City: 1
Langley Township: 0
Surrey: 9
White Rock: 0

To provide additional space in the winter months, from October 15th to April 15th, BC Housing provides limited funding for additional extreme weather response spaces when it is snowing, it rains heavily, or there are freezing temperatures.

In Delta, there are ten additional spaces for women and nine for anybody.

In Langley City, there have traditionally been 15 additional spaces for anybody.

In Surrey, there are currently 45 additional spaces for anyone.

While I don't want to get too caught up on the numbers, the main point is that given the rapid growth in the number of people who experience homelessness, the current year-round and Extreme Weather Response emergency shelter system is at capacity.

I wanted to focus on the BC Housing Extreme Weather Response program.

Over the years I've been on Langley City Council, the School District and faith-based organizations have made spaces available to host extreme weather response shelters in our community. I've observed that these spaces only last one Extreme Weather Response season and are not made available in future seasons (except the Gateway of Hope.) Some challenges with the Extreme Weather Response program included finding qualified staffing, dealing with people who have complex needs, and conflicts with other uses. I've seen that it becomes more challenging every year to find organizations willing to host an Extreme Weather Response in Langley City.

I don't want to be all doom and gloom. There is a path forward.

We all know that the province needs to ramp up housing and mental health treatment, but even with ramped-up services, we will always need emergency shelters.

At the core, we need to expand the permanent shelter network and ensure that those facilities are equipped to handle extreme summer and winter weather events. We must also ensure the shelter network has the support staff to help people with complex needs.

Smaller-scale, geographically distributed facilities ensure better outcomes for both the neighbourhoods in which they are based and the folks accessing emergency shelter services.

Frankly, emergency shelter services are needed in the Township of Langley and Delta.

Langley City Council is looking at all the gaps in our social infrastructure, including emergency shelter services. While it is a provincial responsibility to fund the emergency shelter network, we are doing our part by advocating for expanding the emergency shelter network, including advocating for the province to implement the HEART and HEARTH programs in both Langley City and Township.

The status quo isn't working, and we need provincial action to ensure the most vulnerable people in our communities can access emergency shelter services.

November 4 Council Notes: Langely City Committee Appointments, Volunteer for a Committee, Other Appointments and Housekeeping

Every year, Langley City Council appoints members of Council to both our City run committees, external committees, and organizations that we are a part of, such as the Metro Vancouver Regional District and Fraser Valley Regional Library.

Last night, Council reappointed Councillor Rosemary Wallace as our Fraser Valley Regional Library representative and appointed Councillor Delaney Mack as our alternative if Councillor Wallace is unable to attend a meeting.

Council also reappointed Councillor Paul Albrecht to the Metro Vancouver Regional District Board and reappointed Councillor Wallace as our alternative.

Council also made a series of other appointments for 2025, which you can read more about in the November 4th Council agenda. There were a few changes to note. Langley City's Community Day and Magic of Christmas Festival and the Langley Christmas Bureau were heavily driven by the Council committee back in the day. Committees are not used today as they have been handled by internal City staff working groups and volunteers for the last several years. So, while Council will always be involved, there is no need to make committee appointments.

While Langley City is still a strong supporter of the Langley Human Dignity Coalition, scheduling conflicts have prevented council members from attending over the last year. As such, we did not appoint a representative this year.

It is also the time of the year for people in our community to put their names forward to volunteer for committees. If you'd like to learn more about Langley City committees, please visit the City's committee webpage. You can apply on that page for 2025 committee appointments.

Council also repealed old policies for committees that we no longer have, such as the Social Planning Committee, Event & Parade Committees, and Youth Advisory Committee (youth reps are part of all our City committees now.) Council repealed old policies on alerting the press of a Council meeting agenda (the policy stating we should use a fax machine) and a "Notice to Public" policy, which more robust policies have superseded.

Low Number of Air Quality Advisories this Summer. Wood-Burning Fireplace Regulation.

Since about 2015, there has been a marked increase in the number of summer air quality advisories in the Fraser Valley airshed (from the ocean to Hope.) The Metro Vancouver Regional District issues these advisories when smog or fine particulate matter reaches levels that harm human health.

These days, most air quality advisories result from fine particulate matter found in wildfire smoke. While this year was another extreme wildfire season, 75% of the wildfires were in northern BC, and the resulting smoke did not make its way down to our airshed.

Metro Vancouver issued a three-day smog advisory starting on July 8th this summer, which was caused by local pollution.

The following chart shows the number of days an air quality advisory was in effect, from 2005 until now.

Number of days of air quality advisories in the Lower Fraser Valley. Source: Metro Vancouver

You can sign up for air quality advisories on the Metro Vancouver website. You can also view Metro Vancouver's real-time air quality map. Most weather apps and sites also include Metro Vancouver's air quality data.

On the topic of air quality, Metro Vancouver also regulates:

• Fireplace
• Fireplace insert (that burns wood)
• Wood stove
• Pellet stove
• Masonry heater
• Other wood burning device

You must register your wood-burning appliance, ensure it meets our region's emission standards, and follow the region's wood burning regulations. The Metro Vancouver's real-time air quality map also shows if you can use your wood-burning fireplace. For example, you cannot use a wood-burning fireplace in Langley today.

Quick Council Update and City Infrastructure Renewal Projects Wrap-Up

On Monday, Langley City Council held a special video conference meeting to give final reading to our 2025 Permissive Tax Exemption Bylaw. You can read more about this bylaw in a previous post. Council needed to hold the special meeting because the province needs a copy of approved permissive tax exemption bylaws before the end of October.

One of the key commitments I made when I ran for mayor was to double-down on investing in the basics like water, sewer, and road renewals. I'm incredibly proud of the work that Council and the City have done and are continuing to do to improve our infrastructure.

Road construction is disruptive, and as you are likely aware, some key projects have recently wrapped up, which is a reason to celebrate.

The first project was the 56th Avenue Renewal Project. This project rebuilt the road from the ground up, including replacing end-of-life water and sewer lines.

Fraser Highway between 201A Street and 203rd Street has also been rebuilt, including replacing end-of-life water lines.

If you ever crossed the railway tracks on Fraser Highway near Production Way, you might have caught some air. The City also completed rebuilding that railway crossing for a smoother experience.

Earlier this year, the City completed water infrastructure renewal and repaved all the roads in the 202 Street area near Simonds Elementary School.

Other projects are still occurring in our community as we chip away at our infrastructure debt to ensure smooth roads, running water, and flushing toilets.

Save the Date: Langley Christmas Bureau and Christmas Wish Breakfast

Every year, the Langley Christmas Bureau enables all families in the City and Township to have a Merry Christmas. Though Langley City provides administrative support for the Bureau, it is 100% supported by volunteers and donations from the community.

The annual Christmas Wish Breakfast is back! Mark your calendars for
Tuesday, November 26th
6:30 am to 9:30 am
Newlands Golf & Country Club

If you bring unopened toys, cash, or gift cards, the fine folks at Newlands will treat you to breakfast. Many businesses are now getting involved, bringing their teams down to support the Bureau and having breakfast. It is a great team-building exercise.

The Langley Christmas Bureau also relies on individuals, businesses, and organizations sponsoring families. You can sponsor a family of two for $200. If you want to support making the Christmas season a little brighter for a Langley family, please visit the Bureau's website.

The Langley Christmas Bureau shows the power of a community coming together. I look forward to seeing you at this year's Christmas Wish Breakfast.

My Thoughts on the City of Victoria’s Community Safety and Wellbeing Conference

Yesterday, I attended the Community Safety and Wellbeing Conference the City of Victoria hosted. The conference organizers invited me to be a panellist on “Urban Cities Safety.”

The conference started with an opening on Truth and Reconciliation, where one of the key takeaways for me was that reconciliation starts with meaningful relationships. Before trying to “do reconciliation,” local government leaders need to go for coffee and tea with elders and leaders of host Nations, get to know each other, and build trust. This relationship-building takes time, but you cannot do challenging work without having a solid relational foundation. This relationship theme weaved its way throughout the conference.

I also heard from Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto about the work that her city is doing to create its first Community Safety and Wellbeing Plan. The plan started with talking with a large cross-section of the community, including people who usually don’t participate in local city initiatives. The plan includes actions that need to be taken by the province, police, non-profit sector, and the city. Three things stood out to me from Mayor Alto’s presentation.

The first was that the province plays a significant role in community safety and wellbeing as it funds housing and mental health care. If we had adequate housing for everyone and better access to mental health care (including treatment), we would be 80% there.

The second thing that stood out was that the City of Victoria will be asking the community if they want to increase their city property tax to fund some of the gaps in service that the federal and provincial governments should otherwise fund.

The third thing for me was that their Community Safety and Wellbeing Plan is very similar to the Citizens’ Assembly on Community Safety work we are doing in Langley City.

The former BC Chief Coroner Lisa LaPointe provided an overview of BC’s toxic drug crisis. Some key takeaways were that street fentanyl is still what is killing people. She said that the toxic drug crisis is a fentanyl crisis. She also said that of about 100,000 people who use fentanyl in BC, only about 5,000 have access to “safer supply” alternatives from their doctor. The final takeaway was that the province’s unregulated private treatment system may do more harm than good. She said the province must set and enforce private treatment centres standards.

I was a panellist on the “Urban Cities Safety” with the Mayor of Nanaimo, Leonard Krog and the Mayor of Bend, Oregon, Melanie Kebler. One takeaway from the panel was that to create community safety, we need to work on universality, which means that the best programs help everyone. An example of these kinds of programs could be a free food program in a school or, at the federal scale, the Canada Emergency Response Benefit.

Another takeaway was that local governments need to play a facilitator role because many of the programs and groups that are meant to help out folks operate in silos, limiting their effectiveness. To see meaningful change, we need to bring the province and service providers together and have transparent measures to see what is helping and what is not.

The final takeaway was that the challenges we face in our communities cannot be addressed in one four-year election term; we need to embed a culture of working together and transparently measuring the effectiveness of our program in government and non-profit systems that can withstand political change.

It was a packed day yesterday, and for me, it confirmed that Langley City is on the right course as we work to improve community safety.

Development Fees and Property Tax: How Should We Pay for Population Growth?

When paying for building or renewing infrastructure, a local government only has three choices: development fees, property tax, and utility fees. The provincial and federal governments also give local government grants, but this funding is limited.

There has traditionally been a consensus that the infrastructure required to help support population growth is paid for by development fees. A local government's property tax and utility fees are used to pay for this infrastructure's upkeep and eventual renewal.

In Langley City, development fees are charged by the City, Metro Vancouver Regional District, School District 35, and TransLink.

For a new apartment in Langley City, this works out to $38,034. You can learn more about the different rates for our amenities contributions and development cost charges for all property types.

Infrastructure costs have rapidly increased over the last few years, development fees will need to increase, in some cases doubling over the next several years, to keep up. That new apartment fee could be approaching $80,000. I know that last year, the federal government was calling on local governments to stop development fees. A few weeks ago, at a Metro Vancouver Mayors' Committee meeting, we heard developers saying that the fees hurt their business when interest rates are high but are OK when interest rates are low. They ask for the region to pause increasing development fees.

Most typical mortgages are 25 years. If those development fees were to increase to $80,000 per apartment, the principal cost and interest would contribute to $5,442.24 in mortgage payments annually over a 25-year term based on today's rates.

For context, I looked up the property and utility fee bill for 304-5485 Brydon Crescent. With City, TransLink, Metro Vancouver, and School District 2024, the all-in cost was $2,093.38.

The federal and provincial governments are unlikely to come to the table with serious infrastructure money, so if local governments want to reduce development fees, it would need to be picked up by property tax and utility fees.

If we went down that path, as a society, we would need to come to a new consensus that everyone pays for the cost of new infrastructure related to population growth. We also need to agree to see property taxes double. There may be somewhere in between. It is a conversation that we need to have.

The bottom line is that if we want to reduce development fees, the money needs to come from somewhere. Housing won't be built if local governments don't have the money to expand infrastructure to accommodate population growth. There would be no water and sewer connections at a minimum.