January 27 Council Meeting: Motions passed including supporting 30km/h default speed limit

Most people don’t know it, but besides dying from an illicit drug overdose or suicide, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of preventable deaths in British Columbia. One of the easiest ways to reduce the number of people that die or are seriously injured due to motor vehicle crashes is to reduce the speed of motor vehicles.

In most places where they are serious about reducing the number of people that are killed or injured due to motor vehicle crashes, they have implemented a default speed limit of 30km/h on streets. There are roads with higher speeds too, and they are designed to be safer at higher speeds.

In BC, the default speed limit is 50km/h. This applies to residential streets as well. The difference between 30km/h and 50km/h, for someone walking or cycling if they are hit by a motor vehicle, is the difference between life and death.

Today in our province, if municipalities want to lower the speed limit on residential streets to 30km/h, every single block of every residential street would have to have a 30km/h sign. In addition, a bylaw would need to be created to authorize a 30km/h speed limit for every single block where a 30km/h sign would be placed. Placing this large number of signs is not feasible for most municipalities due to the on-going maintenance and administration costs. This would also create a lot of needless visual clutter.

Since 1999, municipalities in BC have asked that the province to allow a default 30km/h speed limit on residential streets. At last year’s Union of BC Municipalities Conference, this request was again asked of the province.

Like every other time in the last 20 years, the province decided to not move forward with this recommendation.

The District of Saanich, which is the largest municipalities on Vancouver Island, send a letter to Premier Horgan expressing their disappointment that the province has once again decided to not take action to reducing the default speed limit to 30km/h for residential streets.

Saanich Mayor and Council asked that the province reconsider. Langley City council at its January 27th meeting also approved sending a letter to the Premier Horgan in support of Saanich Mayor and Council.

It is time that we reduce the number of people that are killed and seriously injured on our streets.

At the same council meeting, a new Advisory Design Panel was approved to replace the previous Advisory Planning Commission. The new Advisory Design Panel will provide advice to council on proposed development projects. The former Advisory Planning Commission was all laypeople. The new Advisory Design Panel will include laypeople and “architects and landscape architects, to provide technical advice on development applications.”

Council members sit on various committees. For 2020, this list of committee appointments was confirmed at the January 27th meeting. The full list of appointments can be downloaded from the City’s website.

Finally, council passed a motion unanimously “directing staff to prepare a report providing information on potential liability, costs, and compliance with Use of Corporate Identity and Brand Policy CO-64 as it relates to the holding of a City Mayor's Gala on an annual basis.”

January 27 Council Meeting: Moving forward with development projects. Concerns addressed around proposed Langley Lions Seniors Housing redevelopment.

In December, council gave first and second reading to a bylaw which would enable a 6-storey, mixed-use development project to be built at the corner or Logan Avenue and 203A Street if approved.

Top-down view from Locke Lane of the 6-storey, mixed-use development project. Select image to enlarge.

Also, council gave first and second reading to bylaws which would enable the construction of a new 101-unit Birch Building, plus allow for the eventual redevelopment of the current 518-unit Langley Lions Housing complex into a 981-unit, seniors-focused complex if approved.

Rendering of overall redevelopment plan for the Langley Lions Housing Society complex. Select image to enlarge.

A public hearing was held on January 13th to get public feedback on both proposed projects. While there was no feedback about the 6-storey, mixed-use project beyond clarifying its location, there was significant feedback received about the Langley Lions Housing Society project.

Because of the significant feedback received, Langley City staff prepared a public hearing information report. In this report, staff outlined what was heard at the public hearing, and clarifications or responses to what was heard at the public hearing.

The Langley Care Society who operates the Langley Lodge which is next to the Langley Lions complex was concerned that the proposed Birch Building would have a negative impact during construction, block cell phone antennas on their roof, and shadow their outside courtyard garden.

In the report, staff noted that the Langley Lions Housing Society will work with the Langley Care Society to ensure that negative impacts are mitigated. With regards to the courtyard garden, the garden will only be fully shadowed past 4pm like the current shadowing today.

There was also concern that the density of the project when fully built-out at 981-unit would cause isolation among residents. The Langley Lions Housing Society noted that indoor “spaces are specifically programmed to overcome segregation and isolation.”

Also, City staff noted that “low building lot coverage (36.5 percent), large internal courtyards and community gardens, and ground-oriented units that provide ‘eyes on the street’ and greenspaces” will provide a high-quality outside space for residents.

The remaining concerns were around the affordability of the proposed project, the mix of senior to non-senior residents, and support services available for people who have higher care needs.

The proposed Official Community Plan update will require a housing agreement be singed between the City and Langley Lions Housing Society for each phase of the project. Tenant mix and affordability will be addressed in the housing agreement process. This housing agreement process has not started yet.

Council passed a motion that the project should have a higher percentage of senior residents than there are today once fully built-out.

BC Housing, which is the funder of the proposed 101-unit replacement Birch Building, noted that “none of its subsidized tenants for the new Birch building will be required to pay more than 30 % of income for rent.”

For more details, please read the staff report.

Langley City council gave third reading to bylaws for both the 6-storey, mixed-use development project, and Langley Lions Housing Society complex redevelopment at its January 27th meeting.

Building Langley City’s Future: 2020 proposed municipal tax bill explained

Over the past week, I’ve posted about Langley City’s proposed 2020-24 Financial Plan including:

• $111 million proposed to be invested over the next five years
• Significant projects in the proposed $19.4 million 2020 capital budget
• Proposed increases to enhance services

This year’s financial plan is the start of an ambition program to support the Nexus of Community vision. This vision is about creating a walkable, healthy community connected to the rest of the region by high-quality transit. Nexus of Community means we must invest into our community to make sure we have a diversity of housing options from affordable rentals to home ownership, high-quality public amenities such as a performing arts centre and renewed parks, and a thriving commercial sector to grow our status as a net importer of jobs and as a regional town centre.

This ambition program will be supported by a modest property tax increase.

Langley City had, on-average, the lowest residential property tax in Metro Vancouver in 2019.

2019 Municipal Property Tax Levy Survey, Average Multi-Family Dwellings. Select image to enlarge.

2019 Municipal Property Tax Levy Survey, Average Single-Family Dwellings. Select image to enlarge.

In 2020, Langley City taxes and utility rates will be increasing.

For single family homes, the on-average annual increase is proposed to be $179. This is a 5.65% increase compared to 2019.

For multi-family homes (apartments and townhouses), the on-average annual increase is proposed to be $86. This is a 5.52% increase compared to 2019.

Even with these proposed increases, Langley City will have one of the lowest, if not the lowest, on-average property taxes for residential property owners in Metro Vancouver.

Business property owners will see an on-average increase of 6.93%, and light industrial properties owners will see an on-average increase of 7.05%.

For more information about this year’s financial plan, please visit Langley City’s website.

Building Langley City’s Future: Proposed increases to enhance services

I posted about Langley City’s proposed $111 million investment plan for our community, and specific initiatives that are proposed to be funded this year as part of that plan last week. While these projects are critically important to building Langley City’s future, preparing for the arrival of the SkyTrain, there are also on-going, day-to-day services that are funding from the City’s operating budget.

These operating costs include things such as providing police and fire services, maintaining parks and trails, providing recreation services, funding the library, ensuring our roads and walkways are maintained, and keeping water and sewer services running.

The proposed operating budget for Langley City in 2020 is $43.2 million to deliver these services to residents and businesses in the community.

In order to maintain the same level of service as last year, driven mainly by planned increases in wages and benefits for staff, the operating budget is proposed to increase by $828,850.

In addition to maintaining existing services, Langley City council is proposing to increase the level of services provided as follows:

Increasing Funding to Infrastructure Levey — $100,000
Increases the amount of funding transferred to reserve accounts to help fund the replacement of aging infrastructure such as water and sewer pipes.

Increase Trail Maintenance — $50,000
Ensure that the trail network is kept at a higher standard of maintenance with more frequent mowing, trimming, and cleanup.

Increase Playground Maintenance — $20,000
Ensure that the increase in playground equipment in City parks are well maintained.

Increase Fire Training — $30,000
To address additional training requirements for new and existing fire suppression staff.

Inclusion Support Worker — $8,700
Will allow children who have physical or behavioural challenges to succeed at the City’s summer camp program.

These plus other service level increases total $292,555.

Tomorrow will be my final post about the proposed financial plan for Langley City, tying everything together.