November 6, 2017 Council Meeting Notes: More evening events coming to Downtown Langley. Improving Langley City streets and parks

While no decisions were made a last night’s Langley City council meeting, the agenda was dense with updates from community organizations and our municipality’s departments.

Before council heard the updates, two long service awards were presented to Langley City staff members.

Mayor presenting long service awards to Langley City staff members. Select image to enlarge.

The first presentation heard by council was for Canuck Place Children’s Hospice. Katrine Chow, who represented the organization, outlined the services they provide, and the number of families they help. As an example, in 2016, 715 families were helped by their programs with 44% of families coming from the Fraser Valley. 20 families lived in Langley. Most children are in their programs for 3 years. Chow also invited council to attend their Gift of Love Gala which is schedule for Saturday, February 17, 2018.

The next update from the Downtown Langley Business Association/Discover Langley City was presented by Teri James. She reviewed the 2017 McBurney Summer Series and Duelling Pianos Evening events. Both the daytime events and evening event were successful. Duelling Pianos in the Plaza, a 19+ event, was sold out within four days.

For 2018, James outlined that they will be focusing on bringing high-quality entertainment for families during the day, and will be hosting an additional 19+ evening event with high-quality entertainment. Bringing positive evening activities to our downtown core is something that I believe is critically important. Not only does it help build community, but it also reduces negative activities in the evening.

Between the McBurney Plaza Summer Series and other events, there will be something going on pretty much every weekend next summer in our community’s core.

June 23: McBurney Plaza Summer Series — Day
July 7: McBurney Plaza Summer Series — Day
July 14: McBurney Plaza Summer Series — Evening
July 28: McBurney Plaza Summer Series — Day
August 11: McBurney Plaza Summer Series — Evening
August 18: 25th Annual Arts Alive Festival
August 25: Fork and Finger Event

As was reported this summer, planning for a night market is still in the works for 2018 which will bring even more positive activity to our downtown in the evening.

Later in the presentation, James introduced Melissa Phillips who is heading up Discover Langley City, our new destination marketing organization. Phillips comes from Richmond Tourism.

Rick Bomhof, Director of Engineering, Parks & Environment, updated council on the activities in his departments.

In 2017, council approved additional funding for an on-going corridor improvement program. Bomhof shared some pictures of the enhancements that were funded via the program.

Example of street improvement on 53 Avenue near 203 Street. Select image to enlarge.

Example of enhanced sidewalk maintenance in Downtown Langley. Select image to enlarge.

Bomhof also noted that work is almost completed in Hunter Park. For more information, please visit the City’s website.

Another major project is the 200th Street Bridge deck replacement. This project is scheduled to be completed in the next few weeks.

Other projects on-the-go include:

• New Baldi Creek corrugated steel culverts for better fish passage
• 53/51B Avenue bike lanes
• Ongoing road patching and repaving
• Spray park expansion at City Park
• 56 Avenue Project: Glover Rd to Langley Bypass
• 48 Avenue sewer replacement
• Culvert relining on Fraser Highway near Production Way
• Langley Bypass culvert replacement
• Rotary Park sports field upgrades
• New Penzer Park washroom & picnic shelter

Our City crews have been, and continue to be, extremely busy making our community awesome.

Tomorrow, I will be posting about the remaining topics covered at Monday night’s council meeting.

GHG Emissions Down in Metro Vancouver. Air Quality Improving.

Earlier this summer, Metro Vancouver released its annual “Caring for the Air” report based on its extensive network of air quality monitoring stations. This report showed that over the last decade most air pollutants have been decreasing except for ground-level ozone. More information on this report is available in a previous blog post.

Metro Vancouver has now completed another report on air pollution in our region with information that goes back to 1995. This report, used for looking at longer-term trends, is completed every five years using emission inventory data. The good news is our air quality is getting better.

Greenhouse gas emissions are down in our region after peaking in the 1990s. A reduction in industrial activity, power generation (Burrard Thermal), and fuel consumption have helped lower GHG emissions even as the population grows. Even with this decrease, GHG emissions from motor vehicles are increasing.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the Lower Fraser Valley Airshed. Select chart to enlarge.

As I posted about previously, fine particulate matter emissions are also down across the region except for residential wood burning. This is why the regional district is looking at introducing regulations to encourage people to stop using wood-burning appliances.

Fine Particulate Matter in the Lower Fraser Valley Airshed. Select chart to enlarge.

Smog forming pollutants are also down over the last 20 years. This is mainly due to improved engine emissions standards and the former AirCare program.

Smog Forming Pollutants in the Lower Fraser Valley Airshed. Select chart to enlarge.

Over the last five years, many of these reductions have slowed. Further action will be required to ensure that air quality and GHG emissions continue to decrease in Metro Vancouver and the Lower Fraser Valley airshed, even as the population and economy continue to grow.

New Study: Rent subsidies a way to make apartments affordable near transit

In May 2016, the Metro Vancouver Regional District adopted a Regional Affordable Housing Strategy. One of the goals in the strategy is to increase the “rental housing supply along the Frequent Transit Network.” The regional district recently released a report called “Analysis of the Financial Viability of New Purpose-Built Rental Housing at Transit-Oriented Locations in Metro Vancouver.”

Map of case study sites used in the report.

This new report looks a several sites along the Frequent Transit Network in Metro Vancouver, comparing the sale price for condos, market rental value, and what the upper limit would be for these units to be affordable. Affordable studio and 1-bedroom units mean that a household making $30,000 would spend a third of their income on rent. Affordable 2-bedroom units mean a household making $50,000 would spend a third of their income on rent. The proceeding graphs show that there is a gap between affordable and market rental rates for both concrete and wood-frame apartments in Metro Vancouver.

Key Numbers in the Development of New Concrete Apartment Units (Strata Titled and Rental). Select chart to enlarge.

Key Numbers in the Development of New Wood Frame Apartment Units (Strata Titled and Rental). Select chart to enlarge.

The reports authors note that units can only be affordable if one or more of the following conditions are met:

• The construction costs are reduced.
• The land must be free or very low value
• The housing developer is content to earn a project management fee and the investor is content to earn a relatively low return on investment, but they are not compensated for risk to the extent the private sector normally expects.
• The rent is topped up by a subsidy

When it comes to building new affordable rental units, the authors of the report note that there are really three approaches that are viable in our current system.

One approach is that affordable rentals are funded by government. This could be done, but this would be a slow and costly process that would take a decade for enough affordable housing units to be built.

The second approach is to allow increased density for projects if a developer builds a certain percent of affordable rental units. This is a tool that is already used today, and is limited in its effectiveness given the severe shortage of affordable housing in our region.

The final option is to provide people a rent subsidy. Providing a rent subsidy for apartments would likely be the most expedient way to make housing affordable in our region. Local governments need to zone areas around the Frequent Transit Network for higher density. Currently, local government cannot zone based on tenure. The province could also consider allowing local governments to have “rental zones” near frequent transit to ensure that affordable housing is build near the Frequent Transit Network.

New safer bike lanes, additional parking, and a loading zoning along 53/51B Avenue

If you’ve walked, cycled, or driven along 53 Avenue/51B Avenue over the last few days, you’ve likely seem some changes along that corridor.

53 Avenue near 204 Street, Before. Select image to enlarge.

53 Avenue near 204 Street, After. Select image to enlarge.

When I first moved to Langley City, I wondered why 53/51B Avenue was so wide, and looked like a highway in some sections. This corridor was originally supposed to be a Langley Bypass-style road, but due to the Langley Bypass, became redundant. Today, this corridor has very low motor vehicle traffic volume, and doesn’t require four lanes.

One of the goals of Langley City is to make our streets multi-modal, making walking and cycling safer and more convenient. Early this year, the City received funding from the provincial government to add bike lanes along the 53 Avenue/51B Avenue corridor.

Comparing the safety, comfort, space, and cost of bike lanes. Select image to enlarge. Source: Global Designing Cities Initiative

With this funding, the City installed buffered bike lanes along much of the corridor. A buffered bike lane is safer than a conventional bike lane, and has the following benefits according to the National Association of City Transportation Officials:

• Provides greater shy distance between motor vehicles and bicyclists.
• Provides space for bicyclists to pass another bicyclist without encroaching into the adjacent motor vehicle travel lane.
• Encourages bicyclists to ride outside of the door zone when buffer is between parked cars and bike lane.
• Provides a greater space for bicycling without making the bike lane appear so wide that it might be mistaken for a travel lane or a parking lane.
• Appeals to a wider cross-section of bicycle users.
• Encourages bicycling by contributing to the perception of safety among users of the bicycle network.

The safest bike lanes are protected bike lanes, similar to what is along 203 Street.

Besides installing safer bike lanes, the City was able to install 26 on-street parking spots along 51B Avenue near the Seniors Centre, and a new loading zone near 204 Street. Some parking was remove between 203 and 204 Street, but overall there is a net gain in parking along the corridor.

There is still some work to be done including adjusting some of the traffic lights and installing some flexible bollards at intersections.

With the installation of safer cycling infrastructure complete along 203 Street and 53/51B Avenue, Langley City now has a basic connected, usable bike network that can get you to all quadrants of our community.