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| Land-use map for Langley City. Select map to enlarge. |
Langley City Council adopted a new Official Community Plan for the City in the fall of 2021. Among other things, an Official Community Plan (OCP) outlines land uses permitted in each part of the City, including the types of buildings. The OCP includes density and height requirements.
Recently, the provincial government has made it the law that local governments such as Langley City must update OCPs every five years and that the land uses and densities in that plan align with provincial-mandated housing needs reports. Housing needs reports outline the housing types a local area needs based on population and demographic projections.
In BC, by right, people can build up to four units of housing on every lot. In Langley City, we are also subject to provincial law around SkyTrain Stations, as we will have two stations (one at 203rd/Industrial Avenue and one at the former White Spot at Willowbrook Mall.) By provincial law, we must allow buildings up to 20 storeys within a 200-metre radius of a station, up to 12 storeys within a 200- to 400-metre radius of a station, and up to 8 storeys between a 400- and 800-metre radius of a station. Provincial law forbids a local government from setting minimum residential parking requirements within 800 metres of SkyTrain stations.
In Langley City, we have the Langley Regional Airport, which, due to federal regulations, requires building height in most parts of the City to be about 15 storeys or less. Federal regulations override provincial law.
The title of this post is about the upcoming open house for people to learn more about and provide feedback on Langley City's proposed updating zoning bylaw.
While the OCP sets the vision for the community, the zoning bylaw gets into the nuts and bolts of implementing the OCP. It includes bike and car parking and loading requirements (where it doesn't conflict with provincial law), rules about how buildings are set back and interface with other buildings, and what uses are allowed within buildings, including types of businesses. Zoning bylaws can also include sustainability and affordable housing regulations.
Langley City is in the process of updating our zoning bylaw and will be hosting an open house as follows:
Wednesday, March 6th
5:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Langley City Hall (2nd Floor)
This open house follows the feedback received at the neighbourhood meetings in October and online feedback received in November last year.
Please visit Langley City's website to stay current as the City goes through the process of updating our zoning bylaw.
4 comments:
Hi Nathan, is there a proposed zoning bylaw map online that can be viewed?
There wouldn’t be a new zoning map, as the current zones would stay in place until a rezoning (which is parcel by parcel over time.) The land-use map at the top of this post is likely what you are looking for which shows the future state. You can find more at: https://city.langley.bc.ca/cityhall/nexus/ocp-zoning-bylaw
Nathan, just to clarify, even though provincial law, you must allow buildings up to 20 storeys within 200m of the Skytrain station; but federal law would actually override this and limit it to a maximum of 15 storeys, because of the airport.
Is this correct?
I'm going to try to make it to the open house.
You are correct.
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