Inside Langford

I don’t have time for a big post on this today, but here are two links to yesterday’s big HST news, and two links to how you can get involved.

Vander Zalm-led petition to drive out HST gets green light

Elections BC page on Citizen’s Initiative (with interesting details such as the fact that Vander Zalm has chosen to act as his own financial agent despite 1400 volunteers and growing, and the fact that the initiative has a $5K spending limit).

Vander Zalm’s Fight HST web site

Anti-HST Facebook group

I discovered this site recently, and it’s a collection of news stories about the Westshore RCMP. It seems like they’re updating their Newsroom quite frequently, and they have several other resources there as well.

Tonight’s council meeting is slated to have a public hearing on another Happy Valley rezoning, will look at a development variance permit application on Jeanine, and will read into the record several interesting things discussed at recent City of Langford committees such as:

- “Walfred and Happy Valley Road Conceptual Plans” from the Transportation & Public Works Committee

- an application to rezone 936 Flatman Avenue (McCormick Meadows) from AG1 (Agriculture 1) to a new Comprehensive Development zone to allow for the development of approximately 501 residential units from the Planning, Zoning & Affordable Housing Committee

- Protective Services Committee’s look at an “Amendment to the Ticket Information Authorization Bylaw… to enable more effective use of the ticketing system for graffiti vandalism, air-gun discharges and obstruction of City employees”

There’s also a Music in the Park proposal from Peter Willing Premier Entertainment, and several other issues besides. The agenda is long enough that City staff broke it into four parts, all of them now available on the Inside Langford “Files” area at the bottom of the left sidebar:

10-02-01 Council Meeting agenda part1

10-02-01 Council Meeting agenda part2

10-02-01 Council Meeting agenda part3

10-02-01 Council Meeting agenda part4

There’s a proposal for a 501 unit development in South Langford at tomorrow’s Planning, Zoning, and Affordable Housing Committee meeting (click here to read the PZ&AH agenda, including the staff report). There are some interesting details of the proposal that jumped out at me on a first reading of the 27-page agenda document:

- While labeled by the staff report as 501 units, 102 of the units are 2-3 storey homes that the report notes would be allowed to have secondary suites or carriage houses added (bringing the total number of units possibly as high as 603 units over time).

- The staff report notes that “The apartment buildings will be three, four and six storeys in height, set back into the sloping terrain, and contain 338 units in total between five buildings.” The use of the term “apartment buildings” is interesting, but does not elaborate if these are condominiums or are rental apartment buildings.

- The proponent’s plans incorporate Read the rest of this entry »

The City of Langford has reportedly awarded contracts for underground servicing and other work on the interchange, totally $1.7 million. Speaking to CFAX, Mayor Young said:

“And I’ve got to say it’s…Langford actually has had some great housing starts, and people seem to be kind of putting the recession behind them a little bit out here, so, we’re confident we can go ahead, and we’re working with the developers that are paying for this of course.”

Stew Young re-iterated what City Hall staff have said in recent months, that there is no particular rush to finish the project, and that it might take 6 months to a year before these servicing jobs are complete.

There is no word yet on whether this latest round of construction is being done by digging deeper into the $9.95 million the Langford Council authorised the City to borrow on behalf of local developers, or whether the developers have begun to repay their share. The Bear Mountain-related developers had missed a mid-year repayment to the City of Langford last year, and were granted an extension to the end of 2009. Since then, little has been heard about what the current status of the matter is, other than this statement today that they are “working with” them.

The agenda for tomorrow’s Langford Council meeting is available here.

Langford Council Meeting for Monday, January 18th

PUBLIC HEARING
- BYLAW NO. 1260, 969 Glen Willow Place

REPORTS
- City Centre Park Sportsplex Loan Authorization Bylaw
- Parkland Disposition Alternative Approval – Bylaws No. 1252 and No. 1253
- Removal of Legal Notations from Title on 2885 Jacklin Road Read the rest of this entry »

Eyewitnesses on the scene contacted Inside Langford today saying Bear Mountain Parkway was closed for at least an hour, with police and fire responders on the scene indicating it was a diesel spill on the mountain. The cause of the spill has not yet been announced.

Monday’s Planning, Zoning, and Affordable Housing agenda
REPORTS
a) Draft Five Year Financial Plan for 2010-2014
b) Application to Rezone 935 Walfred Road from GR2 (Greenbelt Residential 2) to RS3 (Residential Small Lot 3) to Allow for a Subdivision of Approximately 24 Lots
c) Walfred and Happy Valley Road Conceptual Plans

Tuesday’s Transportation and Public Works agenda
REPORTS
a) Conceptual Design of Walfred/Happy Valley Road
b) Creekside Trail Request for Speed Bump Cost Sharing
c) Request for Council Approval of Signage for the Driveway at 629 Goldstream Avenue Leading to Royal Colwood Golf Club

I tripped across a presentation, credited to Langford engineer John Manson, entitled “City of Langford Rainwater Management: Managing Risk…Learning by Doing… Adapting…” The presentation was originally one of four case studies featured at the “Creating Our Future Workshop” that was held on June 3rd in conjunction with the Gaining Ground Summit in Victoria. It was originally prepared in 2006, back in a time when the term “green space” was still used in City of Langford circles, rather than the less specific “open space” that is favoured now. The presentation specifically looks at the 2006 storms and how well stormwater management worked during them, it looked at Westhills’ plans, and it provides an analysis of the culture inside City Hall dating back to incorporation in 1992. The presentation makes for some interesting reading, and is now available for download on the Inside Langford “FILES” box at the bottom of the left sidebar under the name “CoL_Rainwater-Management_Managing-Risk…Learning-by-Doing…Adapting.pdf”.

UPDATE – You may also be able to download it from the following link (feedback on whether this link works is appreciated): http://www.box.net/shared/jrofdrk549

Thanks to the many people who voted in our poll on the HST.

The overwhelming number of votes were opposed to the HST, in keeping with province-wide polling on the issue. The vast majority expressed that they wanted Inside Langford to be a hub for local opposition to the HST. With today being the first day of the new year, and with 2010 going to be defined in large part by the fight against the HST, today is the launch of a new HST section on Inside Langford. No matter where you are on the site, the HST section is available on the main navigation bar near the top of the page.

Inside Langford will remain a source of general local news. Anyone may post things they feel are newsworthy under Reader News, may inform people about local events via the Langford Community Calendar, and non-HST related articles will continue to be authored for the site. However, in many ways 2010 will be the year of the HST fight on many fronts and this site will do its part to be a local resource for that fight. On a personal level, I intend to direct a significant amount of my energies into that, and I hope many of you will join me in doing so.

To get involved in the local effort (whether in a big way or a small way), please email me or call me at 250 885 0717.