Last night, Langley City Council gave first and second reading to three bylaws, which, if approved, would allow the construction of a BC Builds housing project between 49th Avenue and 50th Avenue on the west side of 200th Street.
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| Rendering of the proposed project at 19991 49 Avenue, 19990 50 Avenue, and 4951-4975 & 4991 200 Street. Select the image to enlarge. |
BC Builds is a provincial government program that provides grants and low-interest loans to build rental housing for people who make middle-income levels, such as teachers, nurses, tradespeople, and small business owners. The specific household income brackets for renting in a BC Builds project are:
- $85,870 - $136,210 for a studio or one-bedroom
- $138,770 - $201,030 for a two-bedroom or large
BC Builds projects must have at least 20% of their unit available at 20% below market rents.
To make these projects viable, BC Builds partners must contribute free or low-cost land. The Church of the Nazarene is leading this project and is contributing land. Langley City is also contributing land for the project. Even though the Church is leading the project, there are no and cannot be any religious requirements/preferences/obligations to rent in the building.
The project, if approved, would have:
- 302 apartments (60 of these units will have below-market rents)
- A secular childcare facility (with approximately 49 infant/toddler/preschool spaces and approximately 24 after-school spaces. No preference is given to people who rent in the building or church members.)
- A new church and community hall
- A greenway plaza and connection to a future trail to be extended to Conder Park
- 6,458 sq. ft. of commercial space for shops or services
Langley City's Official Community Plan must be amended for this project to move forward. While the Official Community Plan envisions a mixed-use project like this proposal around 49th Avenue and 200th Street, the height limit was 3 stories, which needs to be increased to 6 stories. 6-stories height is proposed only to be allowed when "20% of the total unit count being rented at a minimum of 20% below market rent rates, and secured by Housing Agreement for the life of these buildings" and only a project touches 49th Avenue and 200th Street on the northwest corner.
The next step will be a public hearing at 7 pm on April 7th at Langley City Council Chamber. This public hearing is when people can formally provide written or verbal feedback on this proposal. You can find out more information on Langley City's website.
I will post more information about the project's specifics after the public hearing.
6 comments:
Having bartended the counsel meeting last night I am very disappointed in your blind support of this project. You had more than 70 residents there. More than the intended group you think you will be if it. So you will feel good benefiting a very small group of people to the detriment of the hundreds of long time residents.
The day care that is talked about the church has openly stated it is for their tenants only.
Playground space will not be open to the public. Church has stated it is private.
Projection given for children given to go to local schools is way off base. Less than 50 children in a 300 unit building. I think not!
You must have more access than just off 200 and another off 50 ave. 50 in a nightmare now. Add building use & you will have accidents & fatalities regularly. 49 ave Must be opened for building traffic flow
Nonunion the neighbouring homes wants people looking into their windows & yards from a 6 story building. Oh right you don’t care as you don’t live near it.
I will note vote for you in the next election as you are blindly going ahead with a project you think makes you look good
No one wants this building .. I don't know of anyone that wants to look at a building the size of Langley Lodge out their front window .. it's going to be such a logistical nightmare too haha
Sorry Nathan, hard no.
I’m neither for or against, however these buildings are coming. Like it or not. It is in the official community plan, and over time the housing around this building will all be gone too. It’s called growth, I don’t understand when people say I moved here from Vancouver to get away from the building, Langley is building to, if you don’t like it, sorry you will need to move out of the lower mainland as we are all growing.
This was not in the official OCP. I think everyone in the area has accepted that there will be higher density but this is not what was planned. This unit is over 300 homes with transit in the area being less than desirable. It's a small neighborhood and if you make a conservative estimate of 1 car per unit this will be a nightmare for parking and congestion. The schools in the area already have portables and have had catchment changes due to overcrowding. I also don't understand why people think that "growth" means no single family homes. I think it can be both.
So many NIMBYs. Just get it built.
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