New Development Application Notification Process Live in Langley City

If you've been around town lately, you'll likely have seen more Development Application signs on properties. It isn't that there has suddenly been an influx of development applications but that Langley City has updated how we let people know about development proposals.

Until recently, the City notified people about a proposed development when the application was heading to a public hearing. People would get about two weeks' notice. The public hearing was near the end of the City's development approval process.

Our new notification process, which I recently posted that Council approved, starts within 30 days of the City receiving a development proposal.

This process has now gone live.

You'll notice a few things about the new development proposal signs besides the fact that they are being posted longer.

They now have:

• A rendering of the proposal project
• Contact information for the City and the applicant
• A QR code and information about accessing Langley City's Development Application Portal
• Information about when 1st and 2nd Reading of the rezoning/development permit will occur

Langley City's Development Application Portal has information on all active development proposals. On the portal, you can find the current status of proposals, contact information, and the plans and drawings for each proposal.

Langley City Council is striving to provide more information to people in our community that is easy for them to access and understand.

As the provincial government has made public hearings for residential development proposals illegal, we also hope that people will contact City staff and development applicants with their questions, suggestions, or concerns, as this information is now readily available. I expect that folks' questions will be addressed promptly. Because we now provide notice and contact information earlier in the development process, there is a higher chance of being able to address feedback and concerns in the design. I know that Council will be monitoring this.

For transparency, many people ask for development proposals to have a lower density than proposed. If a project is consistent with the density envisioned in our City's Official Community Plan, there is a very low likelihood that the City would recommend lowering the density of a proposal.

This new process will provide more visibility around development applications in our community and allow people more opportunities to get their questions answered or provide feedback to the development applicant or City staff. It will not impact the processing time of development applications in Langley City, and because public hearings are now illegal, it may speed up the processing time by a few weeks.