March 10 Council Notes: Housing Matters, Electric Kick Scooters, Budget

At its Monday night meeting, Langley City Council gave third reading to a rezoning bylaw which would enable the construction of a 10-unit "phase two" extension of a townhouse project at 5080 & 5096 208 Street. You can read more about this project in a previous blog post. After the applicant finalizes the project's details and pays the required fees and deposits to the City, Council will consider the final reading of the rezoning bylaw and issue a development permit.

Council gave final reading to approve our 2025-2029 Financial Plan or 2025 budget. You can learn more about the ongoing operating part of the budget and the one-time capital part of the budget in previous posts.

Council received a recommendation from our Accessibility Advisory Committee to consider creating a micromobility devices plan. While micromobility devices vary, the term generally refers to electric kick scooters in BC. These devices cannot be used on public sidewalks and streets unless you are in a "pilot" community. Langley City is not a pilot community. While several members of Council expressed that the committee's recommendation was broad and may have exceeded the committee's mandate, Council agreed to consider this recommendation during our upcoming strategic planning sessions.

Council also approved a recommendation to update our Environmental Sustainability Committee membership to include a seniors representative.

Like many municipalities, Langley City must submit reports to the province on its housing target order for net new completed housing units. Our community's cumulative ordered targets are:

Year 1: 251
Year 2: 541
Year 3: 890
Year 4: 1,318
Year 5: 1,844

Langley City is required to submit a six-month report to the province. We had a net increase of 237 units, or 94% of the province's one-year target for our community.

The 6-month net increase in units by bedroom count is:
Studio: 43
One-Bedroom: 123
Two-Bedroom: 56
Three-Bedroom: 14
Four or More Bedrooms: 1

As a note, the net number is new units minus demolished units.

Langley City Council also approved seeking grants from the Union of BC Municipalities for $40,000 to purchase supplies for Emergency Support Services and $39,870.25 for supplies for our Emergency Operation Centre.