January 26 Council Notes: Development and Affordable Housing Matters

Langley City Council addressed three development matters at its Monday, January 26th meeting.

As part of the BC Builds proposed affordable housing project at 19991 49 Avenue, 19990 50 Avenue, and 4951-4975 & 4991 200 Street, the City requires the affordable rental units to be secured via a binding housing agreement. The housing agreement requires that 30% of the units, or 91 units, be rented at 20% below Langley City market rents for the life of the building. It also requires that the below-market units be rented only to people who meet the Middle Income Limit as determined by BC Housing, and that at least 10% of the below-market units be three-bedroom units and at least 10% of the below-market rental units be two-bedroom units. Council gave first, second, and third reading to the bylaw to enable this housing agreement. The next step will be to consider final reading at an upcoming Council meeting.

The Langley Senior Resource & Recreation Centre hosts many events in the main hall and has been growing its rental and catering business over the years to support the good work of the Langley Senior Resources Society.

Many catering and hall rentals, such as weddings, include liquor service. For each of these events, the Society has taken out a liquor Special Event permit. To streamline their operations, the Society would like to apply to the province for a permanent liquor primary license. The current zoning for the Langley Senior Resource & Recreation Centre does not permit a liquor primary license, so they are applying to the City to update their zoning.

Council gave first and second readings to a bylaw amending the zoning of the property to allow a liquor primary license. The next step will be to schedule a public hearing, which is one of the ways the City can gather and provide the required public input for the provincial Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch regarding the proposed liquor primary license. You can stay informed on this process by visiting the City’s development application portal.

Site plan for the expansion of a car dealership at 20622 Langley Bypass. Select the image to enlarge.

At the same meeting Council also issued a development permit to allow for the expansion of a car dealership at 20622 Langley Bypass.

It’s a New Day for Animal Control and Shelter Services in Langley City. LAPS Continues Service to Community.

For more than 20 years, Langley Animal Protection Society (LAPS) has been Langley City’s service provider for animal control and sheltering services. LAPS has built trust within our community over that time, and its staff, volunteers, and donors are known for providing exceptional service and giving back to our community.

As one example of the above-and-beyond service LAPS provides, they work with people at the Salvation Army’s Gateway of Hope to ensure that the pets of people using the shelter receive care, including veterinary services.

The City’s last five-year contract with LAPS expired on December 31, 2023, and we’ve carried on with two 1-year extensions. Last year, it was time to issue a new long-term contract. City staff went through the public Request for Proposal process. City staff selected LAPS’ proposal (the only proposal) for Council’s approval as our continued animal control and sheltering services provider.

Our City is growing, and so is the need for enhanced animal control services. Previously, Langley City had essentially a half-time animal control officer. Under the new contract, we will have two dedicated animal control officers. They will provide service from 8:00am to 6:00pm seven days a week. As it is today, if you experience a dangerous animal outside of these hours, you can contact the Langley RCMP. This new level of service will mean that animal control in the City will become more proactive.

Service enhancements include:

• Door-to-door service for people in detached homes/townhomes
• New education programs and outreach for people in apartments
• Pop-up information events in playgrounds and schools
• Improved visibility in the community
• Enhanced collaborations with other community safety partners, such as Bylaw Enforcement and the RCMP

Dogs found in Langley City will continue to receive LAPS high-quality, compassionate care, as they do today. Adoptions and rehoming will continue to be provided by LAPS.

Cats found in Langley City will continue to be supported by LAPS’ donor-funded cat program, which includes sheltering, medical care, support for reunification, and rehoming.

The cost for animal control services is increasing from $42,627 to $230,902 annually in the new contract. The dog sheltering service is increasing from $86,937 to $95,674 annually. This enhanced service will require about a 0.3% tax increase next year. It will be covered this year within the existing budget. The new contract will be for three years with three one-year extensions permitted.

Council approved the new contract at its meeting last night.

Improving the Governance Model at the Metro Vancouver Regional District

Last year, the Metro Vancouver Regional District Board received a governance review report from Deloitte. The report contains 49 recommendations. The Regional District is home to over half of BC's population. One of the challenges flagged in the report is that all regional district boards in BC operate under the same legislation, though our region faces unique challenges related to size and scale that other regional districts in the province don't. The current Metro Vancouver Regional District Board has 41 members and is expected to grow to 50 within the next decade, as board membership is determined by provincial legislation. This structure makes the Regional District Board more like a provincial legislature than a board responsible for delivering services and planning to member municipalities, which is why regional districts were set up in the first place. This creates challenges in setting policy and appropriately overseeing the financial and technical aspects of water and sewer utilities.

The Deloitte report provides several examples of ways to improve board operations. One option is to make the Metro Vancouver Regional District more like a crown corporation, such as BC Hydro, with a professional board selected by a nominating committee. Other options include capping the board's size without making many additional changes. Another option is a hybrid approach in which the Regional District Board operates as it does today, while the water, sewer, and solid waste utilities split off into their own smaller boards, each with a mix of elected and professional members to improve oversight. The elected representatives would be selected from the Regional District Board.

The new Metro Vancouver Regional District's Governance Committee is now working on selecting a preferred board governance model. This work will occur over the next half year, which could be endorsed by the Regional District Board and presented to the province for consideration before the fall municipal election.

Now, having a perfect governance model is not a silver bullet. Having an awesome governance model with people who act poorly, not with the region's best interests in mind, can be worse than a crummy governance model where people roll up their sleeves and just make it work. Of course, what we want is good governance and people who act in the region's best interests.

From my perspective, the biggest governance need at the regional level is for elected representatives to have independent advice (in the form of a hybrid board structure or another approach) on the complex operations of our regional water and sewer utilities.

I look forward to seeing how this governance review progresses and what option will be selected over the coming year.

Langley-Maple Ridge Bus Rapid Transit Corridor Configuration Open House

Earlier this week, I posted about TransLink’s planning work for a new Bus Rapid Transit line connecting from the Willowbrook Mall area, along 200th Street, and up to Haney in Maple Ridge. Bus Rapid Transit is similar to RapidBus, but with dedicated bus lanes to prevent it from getting stuck in traffic.

TransLink is hosting a series of in-person open houses, including in Langley City. You can drop in anytime and stay for as little or as long as you want.

The details are as follows:
Date: Sunday, February 1st
Time: Noon – 4pm
Location: Timms Community Centre (20399 Douglas Crescent)

According to TransLink, you can “learn more about the proposed Langley-Haney Place Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project. Meet the project team, ask questions, and share your feedback on program features and route options.”

For a list of other open houses for this BRT, please visit TransLink’s website.

Langley City Parks Foundation AGM - Enabling People to Donate to Enhance City Parks

The Langley City Parks Foundation was founded in 1979 by Langley City as a non-profit society to allow people and organizations to donate funds, purchase equipment such as benches and picnic tables, and purchase trees to enhance parks in our community.

Not to complicate things, but there is also the Langley Foundation, which is a non-profit with a broader manadate which also supports parks, trees, and trails projects in both the City and the Township. For example, they partnered with Langley City to enable people to donate money to support purchasing trees and benches along the Fraser Highway Oneway.

Back to the Langley City Parks Foundation, the society had its annual general meeting on Monday night. All members of Langley City Council are members of the society. Anyone can also apply to be a member of the society. Currently, there are two other members in addition to Council.

In 2025, the Foundation received three donations to plant two trees at Sendall Gardens and one at Douglas Park.

Unfortunately, the cost of everything is rising, and donations no longer cover the City's costs to install and maintain trees, benches, or picnic tables donated through the Foundation.

For example, it costs the City $3,290 to plant a tree and maintain it for 10 years, while the Foundation suggests a donation of $1,000. A wooden bench cost $5,030 for the City to install and maintain for 10 years, while the Foundation suggests a donation of $2,220.

At the meeting, it was discussed that the Foundation's donation price list will need to increase, though by how much was up for further discussion. The thought was that the City should continue to subsidize some of the costs rather than pursue full cost recovery. A proposed new pricing structure will be presented at a future meeting of the Foundation and is likely to come into effect in 2027.

If you would like to learn more about the Langley City Parks Foundation and how to support our parks, please visit its webpage.

January 19 Council Notes - Langley City’s Tree Protection Bylaw in Effect. Council Appointments.

As I’ve been posting about, a new tree protection bylaw has been working its way through the approval process over the last month or so. Yesterday afternoon, Council adopted a new Tree Protection and Management Bylaw.

In the City, you now must have a permit to remove a tree that:

• Is City-owned
• Is in an Environmentally Sensitive Area
• Has a diameter at breast height (DBH) of 20 centimetres or more on a lot subject to a development application
• Has a DBH of 75 centimetres or more on any lot
• Is planted to replace an existing tree under the Tree Protection and Management Bylaw
• Is protected by a restrictive covenant in favour of the City

As I posted last week, there is zero cost for homeowners for a permit, but there is for redevelopment applicants.

A removal permit would only be issued for trees that are:

• Dead, or more than 50% of the crown is dead
• Causing damage to a building or other damage that can only be mitigated by removal
• Noted by an arborist that a tree is at high or extreme risk of failure
• Required to be removed to comply with another City bylaw

Fines start at $3,000 per tree removed without a permit that is subject to this bylaw. Fines can be higher.

This post doesn’t cover all the scenarios in which you do or do not need a permit to remove a tree. Your best bet is to contact City Hall if you are planning to remove a tree.

Langley City Council has committees, such as the Environmental Sustainability Committee and the Crime Prevention Committee, that provide advice to Council. Members of Council are appointed to these committees, as well as to several external committees and workgroups. These appointments occur annually. Council approved its 2026 appointment yesterday. You can read more about these appointments on the City’s website.

Provide Feedback on Langley-Maple Ridge Bus Rapid Transit Corridor Configuration

As part of last year’s approved TransLink’s 2025 Investment Plan, the Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation approved advancing detailed planning for two new bus rapid transit lines in the South of Fraser along King George Boulevard and between Haney and Willowbrook.

We currently don’t have bus rapid transit in Metro Vancouver, but the key feature is that buses travel in dedicated lanes and have priority at intersections. It shares other features similar to RapidBus.

Between the SkyTrain expansion and new bus rapid transit lines, the following map shows the proposed future state of rapid transit South of the Fraser and in Maple Ridge.

Map of future rapid transit lines in the South of Fraser and Maple Ridge. Select the map to enlarge.

Bus rapid transit between Willowbrook SkyTrain Station and Carvolth Exchange will take between 16 and 18 minutes, faster than driving during peak periods.

Currently, TransLink is gathering feedback on the proposed travel lane reconfiguration to support bus rapid transit and is providing more information about the bus rapid transit corridors. You can visit their bus rapid transit webpage to take a survey, learn more about the corridors, and find out when and where in-person engagement opportunities are occurring.

While bus rapid transit is not running on Langley City roads, the Willowbrook Mall area is partially in the City. It will also hopefully improve access to and from the rest of Langley City, depending on how well it integrates with the local bus network.

January 12th Council Notes: Homelessness, Financial Reporting, and Community Grant Updates

There have always been people experiencing homelessness in our community, with the biggest jump occurring between 2014 and 2017. Over the years, Langley City Council has been advocating for increased provincial resourcing to help people experiencing homelessness who often have mental health challenges and problematic substance-use. Homelessness is a chronic challenge throughout BC. While our goal should be to help everyone, practically, that will take decades. We do have to start somewhere.

This summer, I got to know by name two people in our community who are experiencing homelessness with complex needs, as they were generating many requests from the community to take action. It seemed to me that if these two people had received help and housing, they and our whole community would have a significantly improved outlook. I reached out to the Officer in Charge of the Langley RCMP Detachment and asked for general data around calls for service they attend for people experiencing homelessness in our community.

Over a one-year period, one person with complex needs who is experiencing homelessness generated approximately 130 calls for service, including multiple arrests and time in and out of custody. The next four people averaged 100 direct or indirect Langley RCMP contacts within the same period.

If these five people received proper, mandatory supports, it would improve their and community outcomes, plus significantly reduce the strain on our first responders, criminal justice system, and emergency health care services.

With that in mind, Langley City Council approved me to write a letter to the Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General asking them to meet to talk about what actions they can take over the next year in Langley City to improve outcomes for this smaller group of people experiencing homelessness who are overrepresented in police contacts.

At the same Monday meeting, Council also approved a motion to update our end of year reporting to more clearly show staffing vacancies and how it impacts end of year budget surpluses.

In December, Council provided feedback to City staff on an updated community grant policy. Annually, the City provides up to $168,000 in community grants to nonprofit and neighborhood groups, funded by casino revenue. Council adopted this new policy on Monday. You can read more in the previous post. As part of the updated policy, Council increased the annual grant to the Langley Senior Resources Society to $20,000, to be used to subsidize the membership package for low-income seniors living in Langley City and to support the upkeep of their facility in the City.

Langley City Tree Protection Bylaw Continues to Move Forward - Homeowner Questions Answered

As I posted about in early December, Langley City Council is considering adopting a new tree protection bylaw. You can read more about this proposed bylaw in that earlier post. The tree protection bylaw focuses on protecting trees on city-owned or managed property, during redevelopment, in environmentally sensitive areas, and significant trees on all property throughout the City.

One of the questions raised was the cost for a homeowner if they need to apply for a tree permit to remove a tree or pay for an arborist report if required. City staff confirmed at Monday’s Council meeting that there will be no cost to a homeowner to apply for a tree permit and that the City will use its in-house arborist (if required for a report) at no additional cost to the homeowner. Of course, the homeowner would be responsible for the actual costs of cutting/removing a tree. For a redevelopment application, there would be a cost for the tree permit, and the applicant would have to pay for the arborist report.

Staff explained the fine structure for people who violate the tree protection bylaw. If someone removes a protected tree without a permit, the fine starts at $3,000 per tree. The fine could be much higher if City staff determines it is not sufficient for the violation. For example, if someone removes a healthy older tree, the City would go to court to recover the full value of the tree. There are well understood calcutation to understand the full economic and ecological value of a tree.

Council gave third reading to the new tree protection bylaw on Monday. It is expected that Council will consider adopting the tree protection bylaw at its next meeting.

Langley City’s New “Transportation 2050” Plan - High Priority Projects

Langley City’s last long-term transportation plan has been in place since 2014. Over the last several years, the City has been working on creating a new long-term transportation plan titled “Transportation 2050.”

The overall vision of the plan “is to provide a multi-modal transportation strategy to guide transportation policy and investments over the next 25 years.” Multi-modal means considering all forms of travel, such as walking, rolling, cycling, scootering, taking transit, and driving. It also considers goods movement.

Yesterday, City staff provided a final opportunity for Council to provide input on the proposed new long-term plan before formal consideration of adopting it as our new transportation strategy at an upcoming Council meeting.

Over the next decade, the following map identifies the high-priority transportation projects to complete.

Proposed high-priority transportation projects to be completed over the new decade. Select the map to enlarge.

For the high-priority road improvements, they are primarily focused on intersection improvements, such as ensuring turn lanes and bus queue-jump lanes. 62nd Avenue is identified for widening to four lanes. As the north of the centre line of 62nd is in the Township of Langley, this project must be completed in partnership with that municipality.

Council provided additional feedback on the plan, including a request for greater focus on creating slow streets and addressing new e-mobility devices, such as kick scooters. Council also asked for consideration of adding 208th Street to the regional major road network, given future growth in Brookswood. This will allow us access to regional funding when opportunities arise.

For more information, please read the draft “Transportation 2050” plan. City staff will now put the finishing touches on the plan for Council's formal consideration shortly.

Projected Long-Term Job Growth in Metro Vancouver

The other day, I was meeting with a non-profit organization in our community, and they were interested in the projected population growth of seniors in Langley City over the next decade or so. I was able to point them to the Metro Vancouver Regional District. The Region District generates long-term population projections that local governments, non-profits, and the private sector can use. For local governments, it helps us plan the services and infrastructure we need to manage growth.

The Regional District also provides long-term employment growth projects, which it recently updated. By 2051, the Regional District estimates there will be between 1.9 and 2.2 million jobs. The biggest drivers of job growth will be construction and professional, scientific, technical, finance, insurance, and real estate services. There will be a decline in agriculture and forestry jobs.

The following chart shows the high-level job projections.

Graph of Metro Vancouver Employment Projections between now and 2051 by higher-level employment sector. Select the graph to enlarge.

Langley City is expected to grow from 18,095 jobs today to between 21,813 and 24,576 by 2051.

Langley City has a significant number of jobs today relative to our population. For example, White Rock has 8,125 jobs today, and Port Moody has 12,391. These are communities with a similar population to Langley City. This is one of the reasons we have some of the lowest residential property taxes, on average, in the region.

As a note, these projections are estimates and subject to change, but they help us plan for the future such a Langley City’s Innovation District and Food Tech Hub planning.

TransLink Mayors’ Council - What’s Next for Transit Expansion

Leading up to April of last year was pretty intense as a member of the Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation, which is one of the two decision-making bodies for TransLink. We had to work towards a regional solution to keep transit services running, expand bus service to meet growing demand, and continue investing in our regional road network. As a regional governing body, we reached consensus on the ultimately approved 2025 TransLink Investment Plan, which keeps TransLink’s operations fully funded through 2027.

Since the end of April, the work of the Mayors’ Council has slowed as the next step toward delivering additional transit service, such as Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in Langley, depends on additional federal and provincial dollars. The federal government has played a significant role in public transit funding. Between 2016 and today, they’ve provided $4.1 billion (in 2025 dollars). Over the next decade, they are expected to deliver about $2.1 billion, which is a decrease in funding. We actually need more funding from the feds, not less, over the next decade.

As Mayors in Metro Vancouver, we have been lobbying the feds to increase transit funding. For example, in the fall, Mayor Linda Buchanan and I went to Ottawa on behalf of the TransLink Mayors' Council for this.

While folks have been talking about SkyTrain expansion to UBC, the North Shore, and BRTs everywhere, without federal and provincial support, they will remain just lines on a map.

Our collective efforts for transit at this point really need to be focused on securing long-term, stable transit funding commitments from the feds and the province, and presenting our transit needs as a package for Metro Vancouver, not one-off projects. This will take a lot of work and coordination, but it is the only path forward to continue providing much-needed transit service expansion for our region. I also think it is possible because I have seen how unified we can be as a region.

Langley City’s Commitments to Ensure SkyTrain Extension Success

As part of the Surrey Langley SkyTrain extension, all municipalities along the alignment and the province signed Supportive Policy Agreements (SPA) with TransLink. These agreements ensure cross-governmental collaboration and accountability, leading to the best possible outcomes for this significant infrastructure project. TransLink creates an annual report that shows the progress towards meeting the objectives in the SPA. TransLink publicly presented this report to the Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation in December.

Langley City’s high-level contributions to the SPA in 2025 were:

• Updating the Official Community Plan and Zoning Bylaw to support creating a transit-friends community.
• Continue work on the Glover Road Innovation District Plan, which is intended to support our Food Tech Hub strategy and create good jobs near the SkyTrain.
• Continue work on a new Transportation Plan to support connecting people to SkyTrain, including by walking and cycling, and creating a safe and reliable local street network.
• Continue work on a Parking Strategy to manage on-street parking demand near SkyTrain stations and within transit-oriented areas.

The Fraser Highway One-Way Revitalization Project was highlighted as a significant project showing the City’s commitment to “the delivery of key pedestrian and public realm improvements” to support the SkyTrain extension to our community.

There are other objectives for Langley City in the SPA that are either completed or were not planned to start in 2025. Langley City is tracking all green for meeting our objectives, except for the new Transportation Plan, which has slipped from an estimated completion in 2025 to 2026.

Baldi Creek Trail Paving and Widening Completed, Enhancing Accessibility

Over the holiday season, between Christmas and New Year's, my in-laws from the Ottawa area visited. My mother-in-law enjoys longer walks, so I took her on several throughout Langley City, including up through Buckley Park, Penzer Park, Sendall Gardens, Brydon Lagoon, and throughout the floodplain. She was pretty impressed with the extensive park and trail network and genuinely impressed by the floodplain and surrounding greenspace.

I used to live right next to the floodplain, and it's one of the things that makes our community special and enhances the quality of life for people who live here. Past Councils and the community have made significant investments into the floodplain trail network over the decades, including enhancing accessibility by paving the Nicomekl Trail network well before my time in politics in Langley City.

One of the busier segments in our trail network is the Baldi Creek Trail between 200th/Michaud Crescent and 53rd Avenue. It connects up to the Nicomekl Trail network and Brydon Lagoon. Late last year, the Council approved a tender to pave the trail and widen it from 2.5 metres to 3 metres. This work was recently completed.

Newly Widened and Paved Baldi Creek Trail. Select Image to Enlarge.

Before Photo of Baldi Creek Trail. Select Image to Enlarge.

I’m proud to carry on the decades-long work to enhance the accessibility of our trail network for all users, regardless of ability.

I’ve always known that our trail network is special, so whenever someone from out of town visits and has some time, they will find themselves on a walk with me through it. It is a jewel of Langley City.

Big Moves for Langley City in 2026

Happy New Year! In 2025, we accomplished many things as a City; the highlight for me was the grand opening of the Fraser Highway Oneway project in the fall. I wanted to look ahead to the coming year and highlight what I think will be some of the big moves for Langley City as we head into this fall’s local government elections.

The first will be the reopening of Douglas Recreation Centre this winter. The rec centre is undergoing a $4.4 million renovation that will add 74 new childcare spaces on the previously unused second floor. I’m excited for recreation programming to return to the facility.

In March last year, Langley City’s Citizens’ Assembly on Community Safety got up and running. This group included 29 people from our community, chosen through a lottery, to develop recommendations on how we can meaningfully improve safety by shifting from reactive responses to proactive solutions. They will be presenting their recommendations publicly this winter, and I look forward to supporting moving forward with their recommendations.

One of the long-standing “asks” from our community has been to build a performing arts centre and expand aquatics recreation options. Planning for a performing arts centre dates back to the 1990s. These are big asks that require community consent before they can be built. These two projects are part of Invest Langley City, our community's 10-year vision for significant infrastructure. Over the coming months, people in our community will be able to be directly involved in the decision-making process for a potential new performing arts centre, expanded Timms Community Centre, and expanded aquatics recreation options, with the opportunity to provide direction to council through a ballot question or questions as part of the fall local government election.

One area where we still need to move the needle on is for people who are experiencing homelessness with complex needs in our community. The provincial government will need to come to the table with support, including treatment options and housing for these folks. I would like to see the provincial governments provide concrete timelines on when these supports will be rolled out in our community. This will require continued advocacy from Langley City Council and our community as a whole.

There is a lot to do over the next 10 months, and I’m excited for what we can accomplish as a community.