As I posted about a few weeks ago, Langley City Council now requires that, within an 800-metre radius of the Willowbrook and Langley City Centre SkyTrain station, at least 2.5% of all new housing units built be made available for rent for at least 20% below Langley City market rates for the life of the building. Under BC law, a builder can either provide this as part of their housing project or pay an in-lieu cash amount to the City, which must be deposited into an affordable housing fund. The in-lieu cash amount must reflect the market cost of building a housing unit.
Langley City Council has now adopted an Affordable Housing Fund bylaw and a new Affordable Housing Reserve Fund policy, which, among other things, guides how Council should use these funds. Council wants to prioritize any funds received towards constructing new below-market affordable housing units (rents 20% below Langley City market rates), and this is reflected in the policy. The funds could also be used for below-market:
- Seniors-focused housing units
- Indigenous housing units
- Family and youth housing units
- Special needs, accessible housing units
- Co-op housing units
- Temporary shelter and transitional housing units
The bylaw and policy include an annual reporting and in-lieu cash fee adjustment to reflect market costs.
Langley City Council also adopted a new Community Standards Bylaw that focused on securing vacant and redevelopment-ready property. You can learn more in a previous post.
The new Council after the fall municipal election will likely have to decide on major service changes, such as around street waste management. Council passed a motion asking staff to include a clearly defined “status quo” option, along with proposed new service options, to help Council make decisions on new service options. Sometimes this is called a baseline, and I’ve seen it used at TransLink in my role on the Mayors’ Council. It is usually presented in a table format.
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