Planning Langley City’s Future: Yesterday’s workshop on housing forms and density.

Langley City’s is in the process of rewriting our Official Community Plan and Zoning Bylaw. These are the key documents which will guide growth and urban design for our city over the next several decades.

With the arrival of high-quality public transit such as the 503 Fraser Highway Express, and the pending arrival of SkyTrain, there is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to preserve what we love about our community, build a walkable, bikeable, transit-friendly community, and ensure that we create a city where people can afford to live no matter their age, income, or ability.

In the summer, a public workshop and open house was held to help inform the creation of the smaller-scale Nicomekl River District plan. Following the same process, but for the whole community, yesterday morning’s workshop was held to get ideas about density and housing forms for our whole community.

At the workshop, people we split into tables. People were asked what and where should different density levels be in our community. People were also asked what forms of housing should be allowed and where.

People reviewing various housing forms. Select image to enlarge.

Ideas ranged from keeping things the status quo in our most southern neighbourhoods, to building towers near Willowbrook Mall.

A group reviewing a map of Langley City. Select image to enlarge.

Taking pictures after finalizing ideas. Select image to enlarge.

The general feeling that I got was that people believed higher density housing should be focused around transit, but that there was also an opportunity to add two neighbourhood nodes that could support corner stores or coffee shops south of the Nicomekl River. These small nodes might also include a limited number of row homes. I got the idea that people would like to see more diversity in single-family redevelopment options than the current large-format housing that we are seeing built today as neighbourhoods redevelop.

A group reviewing various housing designs. Select image to enlarge.

I also got the feeling that people thought that designing for walkability and transit while keeping our community affordable was important.

The ideals from this workshop will be refined and presented at an open house tonight at Timms Community Centre from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

I will be taking some pictures from the open house, and will share them on Monday.

Not everyone is able to make it to open houses, or provide feedback in-person. There will be an opportunity to provide feedback online. As soon as this is up, I’ll share the link.

With lowest recycling rates in our region, multi-family households need to step up game.

Our region, Metro Vancouver, is a North American leader when it comes to recycling. 64% of waste was recycled by people in our region in 2018. This is higher than the Canadian average which is around 27%.

This is a number that we can be proud of, but it is well short of the goal of recycling 80% of waste by 2020.

A look at the numbers shows where there are gaps.

Sector	Recycling Rate (2018)	Disposed (tonnes/capita)	Disposed (tonnes/ household)
Residential - Single Family	64%	0.16	0.54
Residential - Multi-Family	37%	0.22	0.45
Commercial/Institutional	46%	-	-
Construction/Demolition	78%	-	-

The construction industry is close to meeting the goal of 80% diversion of waste. This includes both construction and demolition waste.

About 60% of people live in single-family housing in our region. Around 2/3rd of their waste is recycled. The rest of us living in multi-family housing where the recycling rate is only 1/3rd. This is low. It is interesting to note that people living in multi-family also generate more waste per capita.

The commercial and institution sectors recycled 46% of waste.

As someone who grew up in single-family housing, but now lives in an apartment, I have an idea about why the recycling rates are lower in multi-family housing.

When I lived in a single-family house, I remember that we had a strict limit on the amount of garbage that would be picked up. If you wanted to throw out more, you had to buy stickers. There was a direct link between waste and cost.

In multi-family, most people see garbage bins as limitless. People don’t see the connection between more waste and more cost. This is because it is diffused through strata fees. This is an example of tragedy of the commons. People recycle who live in multi-family housing because they believe it is the right thing to do.

To change people’s behaviour, Metro Vancouver will need stronger tools to make it costly for waste hauler to pick up garbage bins full of recyclable material. Education will also be required show the link between waste and strata fees. Even a bit of peer pressure to recycle from neighbours may be required.

Metro Vancouver diversion rate for waste from all sectors 1994 to 2018. Select chart to enlarge.

While recycling rates have been climbing steadily, there is still much more work to do. Besides recycling, we also need to look at reducing the amount of waste generated in the first place. With the province considering a ban on single-use packaging, I believe we will get there.

For more information, please read the Metro Vancouver Recycling and Solid Waste Management 2018 report.

10-step plan to enhance the protection of job-creating industrial land in Metro Vancouver

In Metro Vancouver, there are certain types of land that we protect. There is a long history of protecting agricultural land in British Columbia which dates to the 1970s.

We have been protecting land for conservation for even longer in our region. Two of the most significant conservation areas are our watershed in the North Shore, and Burns Bog in Delta. We are now starting to protect industrial land.

Why do these lands need to be protected? Agricultural land provides food security for our region which is critical. Conservation lands provide important ecological services to us, including clean drinking water and air purification. Industrial lands provide the space for manufacturing and logistics which provide good jobs for people in our region.

Because of the value of land in our region, if no protects where in place, you would see land transformed to its most profitable use. For example, waterfront industrial land would be transformed into luxury condos, and our watershed would be transformed into multi-million-dollar mansions. Burns Bog would have been the site of the PNE!

Metro Vancouver - Total Inventory by Detailed Type of Industrial Land Use (2015). Select map to enlarge.

Sometimes maximizing land value isn’t in the best interest of people in our region. Metro Vancouver is currently looking to enhance the protection of job-generating industrial land. It has a 10-step plan as follows:

1. Strive for zoning consistency across municipalities for industrial land by developing a consistent definition of industrial and guidelines for permitted uses.
2. Strengthen regional policy in the Regional Growth Strategy by increasing the minor amendment voting threshold for Industrial and other requirements.
3. Recognize and protect trade-enabling lands in strategic locations through specific land use designations and increased direction for permitted uses.
4. Conduct a Regional Land Assessment
5. Encourage intensification of industrial uses in appropriate locations by removing unnecessary restrictions on increased development heights and densities and explore opportunities to incentivize such developments, as informed by regional guidelines.
6. Develop ‘bring-to-market’ strategies for remaining areas of vacant land to proactively identify and address issues preventing sites from being developed.
7. Coordinate strategies encouraging local economic growth, local business expansion, and attraction of investment across Metro Vancouver.
8. Ensure transportation connectivity among the region’s industrial areas by working together to proactively designate, manage and coordinate investment related to the region’s goods movement network.
9. Establish a broader framework for economic and land use planning collaboration between Metro Vancouver, neighbouring regions, and port facilities to support industrial land protection.
10. Conduct a regional employment survey biannually to provide a better method of tracking changes in employment growth, land use, and built space over time.

Currently, industrial land is protected by a regional land-use designation. To remove land from this designation takes effort, including getting a two-thirds weighted vote approval at the regional board level.

This 10-step plan will further enhance the protection of industrial land. For more information, you can read the Regional Industrial Lands Strategy.

Bus Strike Survival Guide for Langley

As a daily transit user, and someone who does not own a car, I have been closely following the contract negations between Unifor and TransLink’s wholly owned subsidiary Coast Mountain Bus which operates most bus routes and SeaBus service in our region.

It is looking likely that from Wednesday thru Friday this week, most bus routes and SeaBus service will not be operating. This means that up to half a million people in our region will need to figure out alternative plans when it comes to getting around, work, and school.

Langley is in a bit of a unique situation because many of our bus routes will be operational no matter what, and there are some options to get connected into the SkyTrain network.

If you own a car, but work west of the Fraser River, you may want to check if your employer will let you work from home. Because there may be increased traffic on the major routes, this would be the least stressful option.

Another option is to check if your employer will help arrange carpooling.

If you take the 555 to get to the SkyTrain network, you could take the West Coast Express from Maple Meadows Station. There is a park and ride lot, but it may be busier than normal.

If you use buses to get around in Langley, all community shuttle routes will be operating because they are contracted to First Transit. This is the list of bus routes that will be running in Langley no matter what:

370 Cloverdale / Willowbrook
372 Clayton Heights / Langley Centre
560 Murrayville / Langley Centre
561 Langley Centre / Brookswood
562 Langley Centre / Walnut Grove
563 Langley Centre / Fernridge
564 Langley Ctr / Willowbrook

If you live in Aldergrove, need access to the rest of Langley, and transit is your only option, you may consider using BC Transit. The 21 and 66 can be used to get to Carvolth Park and Ride. You need to walk about eight minutes to transfer between these routes at High Street as shown in the following map.

Transferring between the 21 and 66 in Abbotsford near High Street Mall. Select map to enlarge.

As a note, BC Transit is a cash-only system and doesn’t take Compass Card.

SkyTrain and West Coast Express will be running on their regular schedule, even if there is a bus strike.

For the latest information, please be sure to visit TransLink’s website.