Brookswood/Fernridge Plan back on Council Agenda

About 13,100 people currently live in Brookswood/Fernridge. The Township of Langley began the process of updating the Brookswood/Fernridge Community Plan in 2011. The update was started due to a petition by several landowners in the area. The Township agreed to the update the plan under the condition that the landowners paid for the update process. The landowners agreed.

An update was needed as Council passed a resolution in 2004 to place a moratorium of any new major new development. The moratorium would be lifted once the Brookswood/Fernridge Community Plan was updated.

The original community plan was from the 1980s. It was a suburban and auto-oriented plan. You can read my previous posts about the most recent attempt to update the plan, but the end result was that last year Council chose to not pass the updated plan due to community opposition.

Some of the major reasons that people opposed the updated community plan were they:

Wanted no new development in Brookswood;
Though the density was too high in the updated plan. Didn’t like apartments, townhouses, or row house;
Had traffic/parking concerns;
Wanted more protection of the environment with a focus on trees, wildlife, groundwater, aquifer and streams;
Had concerns about school capacity;
Though there wasn’t enough infrastructure to support an increased population;
Though that there would be an increase in crime if the new community plan was adopted.

People in Brookswood/Fernridge also want more sidewalks, parks, trails, and transit. Sidewalks, parks, and trails are usually paid for by new development. Depending on the outcome of the transit plebiscite, planning for transit might be a moot point in the Township.

What to do about Brookswood/Fernridge is back on the Council agenda. Staff has given Council several options on how to proceed.

According to staff, Council's moratorium on development is no longer valid for several reasons. First, a moratorium can’t be valid indefinitely. Second, because the moratorium was passed as a resolution, it can’t technically superseded a community plan which is a bylaw.

The first option presented to council is to do nothing. By doing nothing though, Council would be reaffirming the 1987 auto-oriented plan. This would see the development of an unsustainable, auto-oriented, sprawl of a community with a total population of 35,000.

The second option would be to start a minor update of the plan. According to Township staff:

The Brookswood area, generally north of 33 A Avenue west of 200 Street and north of 36 Avenue west of 208 Street, remaining essentially as-is, consistent with the existing 1987 Plan;
Minor changes to the commercial areas of the existing 1987 Plan to facilitate change from auto-orientation to more walkable commercial nodes;
Decrease in the density of single family developments and reduction of townhouse and multifamily;
Designated areas in the 2014 Plan to reduce overall population growth and density; and
Increase the areas designated for larger lots (10,000 ft2 compared to 7,000 ft2), that would result in a reduction in the overall population growth and density.

This option would will still not support building a transit-friendly community. If Brookswood/Fernridge residents wanted more parks, trails, and sidewalks, the improvements would have to be paid for by increasing property tax.

The third option presented would be for Council to start a whole new Brookswood/Fernridge plan. This would be similar to the failed 2011-2014 update, but include even more public input.

The fourth option would be for Council to consider separating the Brookswood/Fernridge plan into two separate community plans. This would allow Brookswood to remain in stasis while allowing Council to develop a comprehensive plan for Fernridge.

The final option would be to amend the Official Community Plan to remove urban development as an acceptable land-use in Fernridge. Brookswood would remain unchanged. This would require an update to the current Brookswood/Fernridge Plan, and the Metro Vancouver Regional Growth Strategy.

TransLink fights back with the facts

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has been waging a full-out assault against TransLink’s reputation for the last four years. The CTF has used a blend of selected facts, and in at least two cases being straight-up dishonest, in a bid to smear TransLink. By releasing a slow, but steady stream of sensational press releases, the CTF has been successful in convincing the region that we have one of the worst transit systems in North America. Of course, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

TransLink is kind of nerdy. It is interested in running a transit system, planning Metro Vancouver’s transportation network, and funding bridges, roads and bike lanes. Focusing on its self-imagine has not been a priority.

Like any nerd, TransLink gives you six ways from Sunday to find out when the next bus will come, get reports on all sort of geeky transportation stuff, and discover a cornucopia stats. It’s also pretty good at responding to customer complaints. TransLink’s weakness is that it has done a poor job of presenting itself to the media, and by proxy, the people of Metro Vancouver.

When Paul Hillsdon and I released our Leap Ahead transit plan in the fall of 2013, we got a phone call from the folks at TransLink. They wanted to meet with us, and we agreed to meet with them. We talked about all sorts of things. At some point in the conversation, I asked why TransLink wasn’t doing more to counter the negative messaging being put out by the CTF. I was told that TransLink would “take their lumps”, but would essentially just focus on delivering world-class transit service.

You have to stand-up to bullies. Unfortunately, it took TransLink until midway through this plebiscite to stand-ups for itself.

Last week, TransLink launched a “The Facts Matter” information campaign to help set the record straight about the agency.

Select facts from TransLink's new information campaign. Select image to enlarge.

While this information campaign won't likely impact the outcome of the transit and transportation plebiscite, if TransLink keeps presenting the facts to the public, it will help people form an opinion of the agency that it ground in facts.

I’m happy that TransLink is finally standing-up for itself, I just wish it would have been a bit sooner.

Metro Vancouver Map: Shaping Growth and Investing in Transit for a Livable Region

The Regional Planning Committee is part of the Metro Vancouver Board which represents the interests of 21 municipalities and one treaty First Nation in our region. The Regional Planning Committee’s mandate is to provide advice and recommendations on regional planning, agricultural, and transportation matters.

Recent Regional Planning Committee agendas include various statistical maps that highlight some of the important metrics that impact our region. The latest Regional Planning Committee agenda contained an info-map called “Shaping Growth and Investing in Transit for a Livable Region.”

Shaping Growth and Investing in Transit for a Livable Region. Select info-map to enlarge.

The map shows how the mayors' transportation plan, which people are voting on in the Metro Vancouver Transportation and Transit Plebiscite, ties in with the Regional Growth Strategy. Both the transportation plan and regional growth strategy aim to accommodate the 1 million new people and 500,000 new jobs that are projected to come to our region in the next 25 years, while maintaining the livability of our region.

According to Metro Vancouver, 55% of residents today are within a 5 to 10 minute walk to frequent transit service. Frequent transit means a bus that runs every 15 minutes or better all-day, a B-Line, or SkyTrain. If people approve the mayors’ transportation plan, 70% of resident will live within walking distance of transit.

Township’s Green Building Rebate Program

When the Township of Langley adopted its Sustainability Charter in 2008, it marked a change of course in planning for the community. Since that time, there has been some major changes such as transforming the plan for Carvolth in Willoughby from offices parks and single-family houses, to a vibrant mixed-use community with a high street. There have been tweaks to other community and neighbourhood plans, making them more walkable with a variety of housing types and shops. On the transportation front, Township of Langley staff has been working for several years on a comprehensive cycling plan for the community.

Of course there is much work that still needs to be done. There has also been cases where Township Council has actually gone against the spirit of the Sustainability Charter. The controversial approval of the Trinity Western University District, or the refusal to increase funding to build out the cycling network last year comes to mind.

One of the innovative ways that the Township is working to increase sustainable building practices is with the introduction of a Green Building Permit Rebate Program.

In 2014, the Township of Langley piloted a one year program to rebate builders $750 for each new single-family house, and $150 for each new townhouse, row-house, or manor-house if an EngerGuide rating of 80 for single-family houses, or 82 for other housing types was achieved.

Typical houses built to code have a rating of between 65 and 72. The rebate comes off the Township’s building permitting fees. You can find out more information about the rating system at Natural Resources Canada.

To help fund the rebate program, the Township is introducing a Sustainable Construction Fee which is applied to virtually all new major building permits.

Twelve participants qualified for rebates during the 2014 pilot program. There are 460 housing units that should qualify for the rebate this year.

Because of the success of the program, Township staff recommended that the rebate program become permanent. The BC Building Code is requiring more energy efficient houses, and the Township will monitor the rebate program to make sure it encourages development that goes above and beyond BC Building Code requirements.

Township Council approved making this a permanent program earlier this month.

The Township needs to focus on commercial development next. Looking around the community, many recent commercial projects look like they could have used some incentive to help them be designed and built in a more sustainable manner.