Inside Langford

There are two committee meetings scheduled for this week. And happily it is much easier to find that out and find the agendas since the ‘Meeting Calendar’ has been updated and the “List Upcoming Meetings’ tab on the left hand sidebar has returned to the City Hall page of the City of Langford website.

PLANNING, ZONING AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING COMMITTEE
Monday, January 23rd, 2012 @ 7:00 pm

REPORTS
a) Planning Department Five Year Financial Plan for 2012 – 2016
b) Planning Department Statistical Information for December, 2011
c) Application to vary the Rear Yard Setback for a Single Family Dwelling from the required 6 m. (20 ft.) to 3 m. (10 ft.) – 929 Aqua Court
d) Application to vary Frontage Improvements – 671 Hoylake Avenue
e) Application to vary the Minimum Required Lot Width and Minimum Required Setbacks to allow a 6 – lot Subdivision – 969 Brock Avenue
f) Application to Rezone various properties adjacent to Leigh Road to a new Business and Technology Park Zone

PROTECTIVE SERVICES COMMITTEE
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012 @ 5 pm

PRESENTATION
Haiti Orphanage Project Update
- Fire Chief Bob Beckett (verbal)

REPORTS
a) Police Services Five-Year Financial Plan for 2012-2016
b) Building Department Five Year Financial Plan for 2012-2016
c) Community Safety and Municipal Bylaw Enforcement Plan for 2012-2016
d) Fire Department Five Year Financial Plan 2012-2016
e) RCMP Monthly Report – October to December 2011
f) Fire Safety Report for December 2011

CORRESPONDENCE
Pacific Centre Family Services Association
Re: Community Outreach Prevention and Education Program July 1st – September 2011

The first Council meeting of 2012 starts out with a full gamut of items:
4 Public Hearings,
1 Temporary Use Permit,
2 Development Variance Permits,
7 Bylaws
But don’t be late, you might miss the meeting. Traditionally Langford Council does not have long meetings even with this many items. What might make the meeting more lengthy is if members of the public turn out and are willing to speak to Council in the Public Hearings or during Public Participation. Read the rest of this entry »

If you checked out the City of Langford’s Meeting Calendar for Jan. 2012, found under the City Hall tab along the top of the website then look down the left sidebar, you would think councilors and committee members were taking an extended break. But they are not. If you spend the time to click through each of the committees you will find there are actually three committees meeting this week.

Monday’s Planning & Zoning includes a proposal to delegate to staff Temporary Use Permit Authority for the removal and sale of rock from sites under development. This has been in the past a very controversial topic. This change to staff approving the temporary permits would eliminate the normal process that allows members of the public to speak on the issue with committee members who make recommendations to Council and also eliminate the opportunity to speak to the issue as it goes before Council for consideration. The change makes reference to there being legal requirements that there still be some avenue for public input, however real dialogue is not just the one-way communication of emailing or mailing in a letter. Dialogue that may bring understanding on both sides happens when all the interested parties are in the same room and can discuss and debate the whole issue and respond to each others’ concerns and grievances. Also people speaking at committee or council meetings become part of the legal minutes. Letters to staff may or may not be included in any committee or council minutes since the topic may never be brought up in committee or council, and thus there would be no record of the concerns of the general public.

There is also a proposal to rezone all nonALR lands currently designated AG1 to Rural Residential RR2 reportedly to end the confusion between ALR lands and AG1 lands. Check out this Monday’s 7PM Planning, Zoning & Affordable Housing Committee Meeting Agenda.

On Tues there are two more committee meetings Read the rest of this entry »

At the inaugural meeting of the newly elected Langford Council, Mayor Young charted a new course for the municipality for the coming years.

In the past Langford Council has bragged about how Langford is an expensive municipality to develop in; that Langford provides faster, simpler approvals for projects than other municipalities which saves developers costs, and that in return Langford charges higher development cost charges and asks for more amenities than other municipalities do. This is apparently, and surprisingly, about to change.

Though surprisingly I could find no evidence of this being announced during the campaign, the first initiative of this new Council, according to Mayor Young, will be to Read the rest of this entry »

CITY OF LANGFORD
INAUGURAL MEETING OF COUNCIL
Monday, December 5th, 2011 at 7:00pm
Council Chambers, 3rd Floor, 877 Goldstream Avenue

PROCLAMATION RESULTS – 2011 ELECTION – Mr. Tom Moore, Chief Election Officer          

SWEARING INTO OFFICE  Oath of Office – Oath of Allegiance
i) Councillors  
ii) Mayor Young  

COUNCIL APPOINTMENTS   
a)  Acting Mayor    
b)  Capital Regional District Board and Hospital Board
c)  Regional Water Supply Commission and Juan de Fuca Water Distribution Commission
d) West Shore Parks & Recreation Society
e) Greater Victoria Library Board
f)  Family Court Committee
g)  CREST
h)  WestShore Chamber of Commerce
i)   Inter Municipal Committee on Disability Issues
j) Standing Committee Appointments  
1.  Administration & Finance Committee – Councillors Sahlstrom & Wade
2.  Parks, Recreation, Culture & Beautification Committee – Councillors Seaton & Wade
3.  Planning, Zoning & Affordable Housing Committee – Councillors Blackwell & Wade
4.  Protective Services Committee – Councillors Szpak & Seaton
5.  Transportation & Public Works Committee – Councillors Sifert & Szpak
k) Agricultural Advisory Committee
l) Court of Revision – Parcel Tax Assessment  
m) Board of Variance  
   
RECEPTION TO FOLLOW

There are reports coming in of an ammonia leak at the recently built Westhills Arena, near Glen Lake and Langford Lake. Several fire departments, and the Greater Victoria hazard materials (hazmat) team have responded. Residents are apparently being evacuated within about a 1 kilometre radius.

Movember is already 3/4s over.

What is Movember you ask? Check out this website for all the info. http://ca.movember.com/about/

“During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces, in Canada and around the world. With their “Mo’s”, these men raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer.”

Do you know anyone fundraising for Movember? They do NOT have to be famous, imfamous or notable – just local, to Langford, the Westshore or even Greater Victoria. (You can search to see if someone is registered by using their name in the “Go Mo” search box in the upper right hand corner of the website http://ca.movember.com/?home)

Here are some local fundraisers I found:

You might know Adam Saab as Read the rest of this entry »

The preliminary 2011 election results are already up on the City of Langford website:

Preliminary 2011 Langford Election Results

The spread between the top vote getting, and the bottom vote getting, candidate for Council tightened over 2008. Denise Blackwell topped the polls with 1960 votes, with Sean Horgan bringing up the rear at 1019. The result for Sean Horgan may be a surprise to some, as he appears not to have done any campaigning whatsoever (no signs, did not participate in Shaw TV interviews, did not appear to submit a response to the Times Colonist, was not present for the all-candidates forum, etc.).

For the mayoral race, it was 2319 for Stew Young to 519 for Christopher Johnson.

The lowest-polling winning candidate is Roger Wade with 1640 votes, and the highest-polling losing candidate is Grant McLachlan with 1219 votes.

“Name: Dean Sutton (www.deanwsutton.com)

Age: 42

Occupation: Administrator, Province of British Columbia

What municipality do you live in? For how long?

I have lived in Colwood for 10 years and in the Westshore my whole life.

Political experience and/or volunteer experience:

I previously served four years on the Board at Read the rest of this entry »

Please remember today is election day. Polls are open from 8am to 8pm, and are at Ruth King Elementary (South Langford) and Millstream Elementary (North Langford).