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.