As I mentioned last week, Langley City is rewriting its zoning bylaw. The zoning bylaw is one of the primary ways that the City implements the policies of the Official Community Plan.
The last major update of the zoning bylaw occurred in 1996. I was in grade 7 at the time, and Langley City had a population of 22,523. The needs of 1996 Langley City are different than today, and over the years, the current zoning bylaw has become a bit of a Frankenstein's Monster of a document.
One of the primary goals of the rewrite is to simply and modernize the zoning bylaw. This simplification includes reducing the number of zoning.
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| Map of Langley City with new draft zones. Select the map to enlarge. |
The new zoning bylaw also thoroughly bakes in all the recent provincial government changes, such as transit-oriented areas and the ability to build up to four units of housing on any residential lot in the City. The new zoning bylaw also enables the addition of inclusionary zoning and density bonusing in the future, which allow the City to leverage private development to build below-market rental units.
Within our residential zoning, the zoning bylaw will enable detached homes, duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, carriage homes, garden suites, and secondary suites.
Without limiting the ability to build quadplexes with at least 50 m² per unit in accordance with provincial guidance, the zoning bylaw also encourages less boxy designs of housing up to three stories in height. You can build up to three stories today in Langley City on any residential lot.
The zoning bylaw also requires that a minimum of 5 percent of all units in apartment zones have three or more bedrooms.
The zoning bylaw also reduces the parking requirements for below-market rental units and boosts the number of required bike parking spots in transit-oriented areas.
The zoning bylaw also enables more zones that permit childcare.
We know that there are many "spas" in the City, which, in our new draft zoning bylaw, are called "Personal Health Enhancement Centres." The zoning bylaw bans this use outright (though existing spas are grandfathered.) As a note, RMTs, hair and nail salons, and barber shops are not included in the "Personal Health Enhancement Centres" definition.
The zoning bylaw is in draft form, and the City is now seeking feedback from our community, as I noted in a previous post.
If Council approves the new zoning bylaw, just like today, rezoning would still be required in many cases.
You can read the draft zoning bylaw on Langley City's website.
Is this the best place to provide feedback? If not, please direct me to the best place.
ReplyDeleteAm I reading this correctly? Are the properties along 208 (and 200 ST) getting downzoned from Ground Oriented Residential (OCP) to R1 Residential (based on the new map)? What is the intent here?
If I am misunderstanding, please let me know.
No down zoning. The zoning map is the current state and the land use map shows the future state. To get from current to future, you need to rezone.
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