Langley City – Langley City hosted a “housing forms” workshop and open house on November 27 and 28. Feedback from both events are helping to shape a concept for future growth in the community, as a part of the City’s Official Community Plan (OCP) and Zoning Bylaw Update process which is exploring how to broaden housing choices in the community and shape growth around the future Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension. Key topics being addressed are housing and affordability, walkable and transit-oriented neighbourhoods, attracting the jobs of the future, and addressing climate change.
The concept, which was developed over two days with residents, business owners and community groups, shows a new emphasis on additional housing and a greater mix of uses like shops and offices surrounding SkyTrain stations. Translink recently announced the stations along the Fraser Highway corridor, with one located at Fraser Highway and 196 Street (Willowbrook Mall), and another at the start of the line at Industrial Avenue and 203 Street. The concept envisions buildings in these areas that are 15 storeys or more, and in order to serve the increased population, new parks, public spaces and community facilities would be planned as well.
While the growth concept places most multi-family residential development north of the Nicomekl River, it also addresses decades-long population decline south of the Nicomekl by proposing to introduce a wider variety of gentle ‘infill’ housing, such as coach homes and garden suites in the neighbourhoods north of Grade Crescent, and townhomes and row houses along 200 Street and 208 Street corridors, to support future rapid bus lines feeding into the new SkyTrain extension.
Another idea generated over the course of the two-day intensive process is an “Innovation Boulevard” along Glover Road connecting the Langley City Hall area to the Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) district. The intent would be to encourage new tech businesses, start-ups, and maker spaces, and foster relationships between industry, KPU and City Hall.
“The ideas are preliminary and there’s still much more public engagement to do but it’s great to see the community thinking and re-imagining Langley City’s future into a more walkable, transit-oriented, sustainable and forward-thinking urban centre.” said Mayor Val van den Broek, “It’s very exciting.”
The next step in the process includes getting feedback on this concept from a large cross-section of residents through an online survey. Residents can submit their comments and views on different topics and the growth concept over the next few months. The online survey will be open until January 31, 2020, and more public input opportunities will be available in spring 2020.
For more information about the OCP and Zoning Bylaw Updates project, please contact Carl Johannsen, Director of Development Services at 604.514.2815 or cjohannsen@langleycity.ca.
