A Closer Look at An Expanded Timms/Performing Arts Centre and Al Anderson Memorial Pool

Invest Langley City is our community’s vision for infrastructure projects, including water, sewer, transportation, parks, public safety, and recreation facilities to meet the needs of residents and businesses over the coming decades. There are two key projects that the City is seeking voter feedback on during the upcoming fall municipal election: an expanded Timms Community Centre with a Performing Arts Centre and an expanded Al Anderson Memorial Pool.

Over the coming months, the City will be doing all it can to reach out to residents and businesses in our community to provide information about the benefits and impacts, including costs, associated with these projects, and to seek community feedback in preparation for the fall municipal election. I previously posted about some upcoming in-person and online open house events.

Last week, Council received an information package about the proposed Timms Community Centre with a Performing Arts Centre and expanded Al Anderson Memorial Pool.

An expanded Al Anderson will include a new building for an indoor leisure pool, hot tub, steam room, and sauna, and will change the operation of the existing outdoor pool from seasonal to year-round. The expanded facility will cost about $71.7 million to build. If approved, including construction and ongoing operating costs, it will increase the average annual property tax for a detached home by $357 and for an attached home (townhouse/apartment) by $151.49.

An expanded Timms Community Centre with a Performing Arts Centre will include a new half-gymnasium, over a half-dozen new multi-purpose rooms, including spaces for fitness and arts programming, a new 500-seat theatre, and a smaller black box studio. The facility will also have commercial retail units fronting Fraser Highway. The expanded facility will cost about $107 million to build. If approved, including construction and ongoing operating costs, it will increase the average annual property tax for a detached home by $618.24 and for an attached home (townhouse/apartment) by $262.11.

These projects would likely need to be funded by a loan. Municipalities in BC have a maximum debt ceiling, determined by total debt service costs. The following graph shows that if both projects were built 100% with a loan, the City would still be well below its maximum debt ceiling.

Graph showing the maximum debt service limit and debt service cost for the proposed aquatics and Timms Community Centre with Art Centre expansions. Select the graph to enlarge.

My hope is that in the fall municipal election, people will feel that they have all the information they need to make an informed choice on whether they want to move forward with both, one, or none of these projects.

Council Endorses Transportation 2050, Langley City’s Transportation Plan

Last Monday, Langley City Council endorsed Transportation 2050, the long-term transportation plan for our community. Work on this plan began in 2021 and has since gone through a series of community engagements that have helped shape it.

Transportation 2050 has four main goals:

• Make transportation safer and more comfortable
• Build a transportation network that is connected and accessible for all
• Increase the proportion of trips made by walking, rolling, cycling, and transit to support the health of community members and the environment
• Work towards, and advocate for, a transportation system that is resilient and adaptive to change while being cost-effective, efficient, and forward thinking. (such as around e-scooters and sharing programs)

Transportation 2050 includes many transportation projects, some of which are priority projects. The following map shows the priority projects for Langley City.

Map of High Priority Projects. Green = Roads, Blue = Multi-Use Path, Purple = Cycling, Yellow = Sidewalk. Select the map to enlarge.

The following outlines the priority projects.

While the provincial government is responsible for the Langley Bypass (between the Surrey border and Glover Road), the City would advocate to the province to continue making safety improvements and to build a multi-use path on both sides of the highway.

Along Fraser Highway, the City would enhance all intersections to improve traffic flow, add queue jumper lanes to enhance bus speed and reliability as appropriate, and build safe cycling infrastructure. The City would install a multi-use path along Industrial Avenue and new sidewalks and cycling infrastructure on 203A to improve access to the SkyTrain. Douglas Crescent would also get safe cycling infrastructure.

The City would enhance walking, rolling, and cycling safety on sections of Grade Crescent, 50th Avenue, 53rd Avenue and 201A Street.

On 56th Avenue toward Langley Secondary School, the City would look to work with Township to build a multi-use pathway to improve student access to that high school.

Some of these high-priority projects, such as building a multi-use path on Grade Crescent and Industrial Avenue, are already funded with construction pending.

Transportation 2050 also includes details on further plans the City should develop, such as:

• Increasing support for Safe and Active Routes to School Programs to make it easier for kids to get to school without needing drop-off or pick-up
• Developing a Micromobility Strategy for personal e-transportation devices
• Developing a Slow Streets Program for neighbourhood streets
• Updating the City’s traffic calming policy

For more information, please read Transportation 2050.

March 23 Council Notes: Delegated Development Permits, Fire Safety, and Urban Containment Boundary

Earlier this month, I posted about proposed changes to enable certain development applications to be processed through Langley City staff without going through the Council approval process. Property subdivision proposals are currently being delegated to City staff, and on Monday, Council gave first, second, and third reading to approve in principle the delegation to staff for small residential projects (with 6 units or fewer), small commercial projects outside the Downtown, and development variance permits. Most townhouse projects, all apartment projects, and most commercial and industrial projects will still follow the Council approval process for a development permit. If a rezoning is required, all projects must go through the Council approval process. This change will speed up smaller projects, such as allowing someone to build a coach home, a garden suite, a triplex, or a small expansion to a strip mall along the Langley Bypass.

Council adopted a modernized fire safety bylaw in alignment with the updated provincial Fire Safety Act.

Our Fees & Charges Bylaw and Municipal Ticket Information System Bylaw are being updated to reflect both the delegated development permits and the updated fire safety bylaw.

Map of Regional Urban Containment Boundary. Select the map to enlarge.

In June 2025, the Mayors of Delta, Surrey, and the Township of Langley wrote to the Metro Vancouver Regional District Board asking for changes to the Regional Growth Strategy. One of the key objectives of our Regional Growth Strategy is to preserve rural and agricultural lands through an urban containment boundary. With certain exceptions, expanding the urban containment boundary requires a 2/3 weighted vote of the Metro Vancouver Regional District Board, a high threshold. The high voting threshold reflects the fact that preserving green space and preventing urban sprawl has been a key tenet of successive regional growth strategies for a generation. The Metro Vancouver Regional District is seeking feedback from member jurisdictions about this request. Langley City Council approved sending a letter to the Metro Vancouver Regional District Board suggesting that “the decisions on these proposed changes to Metro 2050 be postponed and instead advanced forward and considered as a part of the process to develop the next RGS,” given that they are such significant changes to the Regional Growth Strategy.

Council Provides Feedback on Proposed Affordable Housing Reserve Fund

As I posted, Langley City now has a new zoning bylaw. One of the requirements of the new zoning bylaw is that all new residential projects within an 800-metre radius of the Willowbrook and Langley City Centre SkyTrain stations must have at least 2.5% of the units available for rent for at least 20% below Langley City market rates for the life of the building. Under BC law, a builder may either provide these units as part of a residential project or pay a cash-in-lieu amount to the municipality.

Outside these SkyTrain areas, the City now also has density bonusing that applies to low- and mid-rise, and mixed-use areas. These areas are all generally north of the Nicomekl River. Density bonusing allows a builder to have a higher density than otherwise permitted in exchange for 13% of the building’s units being affordable. These affordable units must be rented out for at least 20% below Langley City market rates for the life of the building, or the builder must pay a cash-in-lieu amount. The density still must be within the permitted land use. For example, in our low-rise areas, the maximum height would still be 6 stories, even with density bonusing.

Council is now developing an Affordable Housing Reserve Fund, which is required to accept cash-in-lieu payments per provincial requirements. At this Monday’s Council meeting, City staff noted that the Affordable Housing Reserve Fund can not only receive revenue from these cash-in-lieu payments, but that Council can also designate other revenue sources for the fund, such as a portion of the MRDT accommodation tax, which is charged when people stay at a hotel or short-term rental.

The City must set the cash-in-lieu payment rates to cover the true costs of building affordable units by BC law. The proposed rates are $400 per sq. ft. for woodframe projects and $500 per sq. ft for concrete or steel residential projects.

Council would receive and consider applications from non-profits or government-owned housing providers who would like to use the funds.

Council's primary feedback was that the cash-in-lieu rates should be reviewed frequently to ensure they reflect the true cost of building affordable units, that the funds be used to deliver 20% below market rates units that would otherwise not be built (ie, not used to offset the costs for an affordable housing projects that was already going to be builts), and that it wouldn’t be used to offset City fees and charges. The clear takeaway was that Council wanted to see more affordable units built near SkyTrain and in density bonusing areas.

Staff will now take Council's feedback and develop an Affordable Housing Reserve Fund bylaw and policy for Council's consideration at a future meeting.