With Langley City Council winding down for the holidays, I wanted to take the time to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I invite you to head to Downtown Langley City; you might just experience a little bit of Christmas magic!
I will be taking a break from blogging and will be back on January 6th. See you in 2025.
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.
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.
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| 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.
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.
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:
The plan also includes some "quick wins," including:
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.
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.
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.
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| 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.
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.
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:
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:
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.
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%.
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!