September 9 Council Notes: Reduce Bike Theft, Business Licensing, and Industrial Land in Surrey

Project 529 Garage is a simple yet effective program to help curb bike theft and improve the chance of recovery if someone does steal your bike. I've posted about this program in the past. The short of it is that you register your bike for free on the 529 Garage app. If it is ever stolen, you can send out an alert through the app, which is supported by crowdsourcing and the police to help recover it.

To make the process even easier, you can also purchase a 529 Shield decal to help further identify your bike and let bike thieves know to leave your bike alone.

Langley City's Crime Prevention Committee operates a volunteer-run bike valet service to provide secure parking for people who take their bikes to major events such as Community Day. The Committee asked Council to approve funding 500 529 Bike Shield kits that they will distribute at events which they attend to help promote this program and reduce bike theft in our community. Council approved this $1,625 request at Monday's meeting.

Langley City participates in the Fraser Valley Intermunicipal Mobile Business Licence program. This program allows mobile trades contractors, hair salons, and caterers to have one business license that is valid from Delta to Hope. Council received a letter from the BC Care Providers Association asking to add home health care providers to this program. Council referred this letter to City staff to investigate.

Council also received a letter from the Metro Vancouver Regional District asking for comments about the City of Surrey's request to change the regional land use from Industrial to Employment for the property located at 7880 128 Street in Newton.

In 2014, I posted about significant non-compliant, non-industrial uses in the Newton Industrial area, which was designated industrial at the city and regional levels. Surrey and the Regional District worked to create the Central Newton Cultural Commercial District to accept what was there and provide a buffer to prevent further industrial conversion. The current request at the edge of this District would result in a loss of 1.3 hectares of industrial land. There is an industrial land shortage in Metro Vancouver.

Council directed City staff to respond to the letter from the Metro Vancouver Regional District requesting comments.

Langley City Trash Talk: Part 1

If you live in a detached home, plex, or complex with fewer than seven units, Langley City provides garbage and organics collections. Strata complexes must go to the market to find a garbage and organics collection service. Recycling services in Langley City are provided directly by Recycle BC.

Langley City currently contracts out its garbage and organics collection. The current contract is about a decade old and is ending this year. This end of the contract means that the City must either go out to the market for a new contract, bring the garbage and organics collections service in-house, or stop providing this service. For example, Maple Ridge does not provide garbage or organics collection services.

Council decided to continue providing this service and asked staff to look into either going to market for a new contract or bringing the service in-house. In addition, to improve efficiency and reduce injuries, Council asked to implement a semi-automatic collection system with toter bins. For example, the Township of Langley and the City of Surrey use toter systems. Council wanted to see the use of alternate fuel vehicles, an annual hazardous waste event, and large item pickup like we have today.

Example of Toters

At the September 9th Council meeting, City staff proposed signing a seven-year contract with Emterra to provide these services. This proposal went out to public tender. The new contract, of course, had a higher annual price than our current expiring contract.

Council had many questions about the proposed new contract, including cost and level of service. Several members of the Council, including myself, questioned why we didn't have an in-housing service option and if Emetrra was a living wage employer. With so many questions and the seriousness of potentially committing the City to a seven-year contract, Council deferred voting of this matter until the September 23rd meeting to allow City staff time to prepare responses to the Council's question.

Housing Matters: 64-Unit Apartment Project, 4-Unit Rowhouse Project

Last night, Langley City Council moved forward on two housing matters at our 7 pm public meeting. The first proposal was for a 6-storey, 64-unit apartment at 20220-20230 Michaud Crescent. The project's applicant is proposing to build 64 apartment units as follows:

43 Two-Bedroom Units
9 One-Bedroom Units
7 Three-Bedroom Units
5 One-Bedroom + Flex Units

Renderings of proposed 6-storey, 64-unit apartment at 20220-20230 Michaud Crescent. Select the image to enlarge.

If you've been following apartment projects in Langley City, you'll have noticed that many recent projects did not have three-bedroom units and a lower percentage of two-bedroom units. Our parking requirements were a big driver for that.

Three-bedroom units required two parking spots, two-bedroom units required 1.5 spots, and one-bedroom units required one spot in our current zoning bylaw.

Each parking spot uses about 288 sq. ft. when considering the spot and the drive aisle. A typical 1,000 sq. ft. 3-bedroom apartment would require about 580 sq. ft. of parking; about a third of an apartment unit's cost would be for parking. In today's market, these three-bedroom, two-parking spot apartments are not financially viable to build in Langley City with private construction financing.

Earlier this year, the provincial government updated provincial law to prevent local governments, such as Langley City, from setting minimum parking requirements for housing within 800 metres of current or future SkyTrain stations. This project is within 800 metres of the future Langley City Centre SkyTrain Station. As such, the applicant proposes to provide one parking space per unit.

This project is on the site of current rental buildings. The current buildings have two purpose-built rental units, and the proposed apartment will have two replacement purpose-built rental units per City policy. Adding complexity, these current buildings have unauthorized suites which have been rented out for some time. This project is subject to Langley City's older CO-81 Tenant Relocation Plans policy, which requires moving assistance, compensation, and the right-to-return for existing renters. The City requires this policy to be applied to all renters, whether they live in an authorized or unauthorized suite. The applicant noted that they are offering an additional two months of rent beyond the two- to six-month rent compensation required based on tenancy length under the older CO-81 policy. The applicant informed Council that about half of the tenants subject to CO-81 have been relocated.

Langley City Council gave first and second reading to a bylaw to enable the proposed apartment project.

Later, Langley City Council gave third reading to a bylaw to enable a 4-unit rowhouse at 20139 53A Avenue. You can read more about this project in a previous post.

Langley City Council Advocating to Province at Annual UBCM Convention

In one week, elected representatives from regional districts and municipalities throughout BC will gather in Downtown Vancouver for the annual Union of BC Municipalities convention. While the convention is packed with workshops and opportunities to connect with other locally elected folks, the primary purpose of the convention, from my perspective, is that of advocacy to the provincial government on issues that matter to local government.

Members of Langley City Council chatting with MLA Andrew Mercier at last year's UBCM conference.

This advocacy is done in two ways. The first is through resolutions that local governments present, which the whole UBCM membership debates and, if endorsed, are presented to the provincial government for response and action. There are over 225 resolutions for the membership to debate over the convention. Langley City Council has four resolutions up for debate.

The first resolution calls on the provincial government to expand its Homeless Response and Shelter Support program to more municipalities. This program helps to fund temporary and permanent housing for people experiencing homelessness. The second resolution asks the provincial government to increase financial and other support to local governments to help better plan for population growth. The third resolution calls on the provincial government to expand access to courts by building new and expanding current court facilities (for example, there are no courthouses in Langley City or Township.) The fourth resolution asks the provincial government to create a comprehensive funding framework that supports local fire departments that respond to medical emergencies.

The other primary way local governments advocate is through meetings with the Premier and provincial Ministers, which are scheduled throughout the convention.

Langley City Council will be meeting with the Premier, Minister of Housing, Minister of Health, Minister of Transportation, Minister of Public Safety & Solicitor General, Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, and Sport, and Minister of Emegernecy Management and Climate Readiness. I will be posting more about these meetings and topics covered next week.

The Union of BC Municipalities convention is one of the best opportunities for advocacy at a provincial level, and it also helps me understand what is on the minds of people throughout the province. While I'm always pretty exhausted after the convention, I look forward to attending next week.

Next Few Council Meetings Virtual Due to Council Chamber Renewal

For many, including Langley City Council, this week is the unofficial beginning of the fall season, with many things restarting, such as school. Local government councils and boards generally have a meeting break in August, but as of this week, we are back in full swing.

You may notice that Langley City Council will meet virtually for the next two to four meetings.

We are meeting virtually because the Langley City Council Chamber is getting a long overdue upgrade. Langley City Council meetings are streamed online and recorded. The recording technology in the Council Chamber is almost two decades old. You can tell when watching the grainy and hard-to-hear meetings online. In the Council chamber itself, it is also challenging to hear Council both as a member of the public and a member of the Council; this can be exacerbated if you have hearing loss. The room's layout, including the desk, makes it challenging to have "roll up your sleeves" meetings, which is why Council holds many of its meetings in the CKF Boardroom across the hall.

Over the next month or so, the Council Chamber is getting a technology refresh to improve audio and video quality for people watching meetings online and those attending in person. The echoey laminate flooring will be replaced with standard office carpet. The current "Judge Judy" layout will be changed to a standard, simple boardroom layout. This upgrade will improve accessibility for members of Council and the general public. It will also result in much-needed additional meeting space at City Hall as the Council Chamber will now be available for other Council committee and staff meetings.

During the upgrade, you can live stream Council meetings on YouTube or request a link to a Zoom meeting to observe directly. For those without access to the Internet, the City will also be setting up a viewing room in the CKF Boardroom at City Hall. For more information, please visit Langley City's website.

I look forward to the updated Council Chamber and getting back to meeting in person as soon as possible.

Clean and Safe Public Washrooms in Parks and Transit Stations are Possible

In August, I travelled to the South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand and Sydney, Australia. One of the things that stood out to me during this trip was the number of well-maintained public washrooms, whether in transit stations, parks, or just on the side of the road.

A public washroom in a Sydney Metro station. Select the image to enlarge.

Access to well-maintained washrooms is essential. I know that access to washrooms is even more critical for folks with children or elders. I've certainly had many times when I've needed to go into a shopping centre or buy a coffee to access a washroom.

The main public transit exchange in Downtown Christchurch, New Zealand which has public washrooms. Select the image to enlarge.

On the long weekend, I travelled to the Puget Sound region to check out the new Link light rail extension, which connects the City of Lynwood, Mountlake Terrace, and Shoreline to Seattle and points south. I noticed that the Lynwood City Center station had public washrooms.

Some might think that there is something different about Metro Vancouver that makes it difficult to have public washrooms, especially at transit stations. There isn't, from what I can tell. Some people in all the places I travelled to use washrooms beyond their intended purpose, but the maintenance frequency is higher.

For a local example, the washrooms at Willowbrook Shopping Mall are maintained more frequently than the washrooms at Linwood Park in Langley City. Traditionally, we haven't placed a high value on public washrooms, though this is something that I've been advocating changing, whether at TransLink stations or here in Langley City.

I'm proud that we are building a new public washroom in Douglas Park, but I also acknowledge that we need to increase the frequency of washroom service.

We can have nice things, including clean and safe public washrooms. As a community and a region, we must prioritize it.

Watch the 2024 State of Langley City Address with Q&As

I delivered the 2024 State of the City address at a Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce dinner at the end of June. I posted a quick write-up of the presentation portion of the address, which you can read in a previous post. At a high level, the presentation titled “Our City, Our Future” focused on how we are partnering to deliver new and maintain existing affordable housing, what we are doing to build a safer community, including the work we’ve done in the last year in preparation for the Citizens’ Assembly on Community Safety, what SkyTrain means for Langley City, redevelopment, and our new performance evaluation and accountability dashboard.

The full video of the address is now online, including the presentation and the fireside chat with Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce CEO Cory Redekop.

During the fireside chat, we discussed how the BC Assessment Authority’s property valuation makes for inconsistent commercial property tax rates in the City. We also touch on the importance of investing in infrastructure such as roads, water pipes, sewer lines, and parks to support the business community and how these investments get customers to shops and attract workers to the community. We talked about the work Langley City is doing around increasing community safety, including looking into ways to implement upstream solutions. We also chatted about regional service integration, what SkyTrain means for our Downtown, the Fraser Highway One-Way Renewal Project, and the Township’s proposed de-integration of our shared Langley RCMP detachment.

Below is the video of the 2024 State of the City address.