BC Transit has scheduled two community consultation open houses to discuss proposed new rapid transit routes from downtown Victoria to the West Shore and the Saanich Peninsula. The first open houses are focused particularly “to discuss key transit corridors, their respective advantages, issues and constraints, and to receive input on linkages to the West Shore during the early planning stage of the Victoria Regional Rapid Transit Project.” They also note that “The panels from the open house will also be posted here following the session(s).”

The first session is this Tuesday in Victoria, and the second is this Wednesday in Langford.

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Langford’s Agricultural Advisory Committee (AAC) will meet for its second time this year, this time to consider whether to recommend that two additional applications for Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) land be excluded (ie. removed) or not: 3398 Luxton Road, and 3639 Happy Valley Road. The meeting is at 5:30 Monday night, and information on obtaining the agenda is available here.

While the Province’s Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) is tasked with deciding whether land is excluded from the ALR, the ALC will only consider applications where the local government has forwarded them for consideration. Because of that, the City of Langford essentially has a veto on all applications for excluding land from the ALR within Langford, which increases the importance of Monday night’s meeting for people interested in the future of local agricultural land.

A public opinion poll conducted late last year suggested that 61% of British Columbians believe Read the rest of this entry »

The 2nd Annual WestShore GO LOCAL Food Summit is this weekend. Saturday, March 28th. It is a chance for farmers, consumers and anyone else interested in growing, buying or promoting locally grown food an opportunity to share, network and help educate and grow food production on the Westshore. The conference is subtitled, “Setting the Pace for Local Food,” and will work towards developing a Westshore GO LOCAL Food Strategy.

The conference highlights: “Most of the food we eat comes from over a thousand miles away, and it is estimated we only have a 3 days’ supply of food on Vancouver Island if our flow of goods is disrupted. Whether you want to increase our local food sovereignty, save money, save the planet, improve nutrition, or help drive a stronger local economy, food is a hot topic for a lot of people these days.”

The conference is:
Saturday, March 28th, 9AM – 1PM
Anglican Church of the Advent,
510 Mt. View Ave.
(behind the Shell/Payless on Sooke Rd in Colwood)
- a free Climate Action Westshore Green event

The dinner to follow is 5:30-7:30PM, and the tickets to attend the dinner is a fundraisor for Capital Families Association.

It was announced today that the City of Langford will receive grant money from several organisations, as part of 49 communities in B.C. receiving Federal and Provincial grants today. Langford’s share is $244,293 from LocalMotion, $267,185 from the Strategic Community Investment Fund, $50,000 from Trees for Tomorrow, and $1,659 from the Climate Action Revenue Incentive Program. (Source: CivicInfo BC)

The Parks, Rec., Cultural & Beatification Committee met tonight and will be recommending:

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Last week’s second attempt at a South Skirt Mountain public hearing was a significant improvement in process over the first. I will attempt to summarise what each and every participant said in the process, so as to give an idea of what the event was like to witness, spread over a couple of installments due to the volume of notes I have from speakers, both pro and con.

The Council meeting began with Read the rest of this entry »

Below are summations of the agends for the upcoming committee meetings for this week (“PARKS, RECREATION, CULTURE AND BEAUTIFICATION”, “PLANNING, ZONING AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING”, Monday and “PROTECTIVE SERVICES COMMITTEE MEETING” Tuesday). Information on obtaining the agenda packages in full is available here.

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PARKS, RECREATION , CULTURE AND BEAUTIFICATION COMMITTEE MEETING
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Langford Councillor Lillian Szpak won this year’s faceoff between local politicians, as mayors and councillors from Greater Victoria municipalities competed in a flower arranging contest held today at Westshore Town Centre (formerly CanWest Mall). The contest was part of the 33rd annual Flower Count. Ms. Szpak takes home the trophy for Langford, unseating last year’s winner Chris Causton (mayor of Oak Bay).

There’s a reoccurring theme shrouded in Monday night’s agenda.

That agenda includes the second public hearing on the Skirt Mt. comprehensive development. The hearing is being redone after extensive media coverage of the Mayor’s argumentative and disrespectful treatment of speakers he disagreed with while he chaired the first public hearing. History is being rolled back, so if you had something to say, it needs to be said again. With all the media coverage there might just be more speakers this time around.

What seems like simply accepting the resolutions of various committees hides the input that lead up to those resolutions. The Planning, Zoning and Affordable Housing Committee of March 9th considered a variety of topics, including a rezoning on Loma Linda Dr. to allow much higher density by adding approximately 16 residential small lots and approximately 20 stacked town homes. Many of the neighbours came out, speaking repeatedly in opposition of the development because it does not fit their existing neighbourhood.

A major point repeated by each speaker was the much higher density, especially the stacked town homes. Their concerns about the high density were met with comments from chair of the committee Councillor Lillian Szpak Read the rest of this entry »

The South Skirt Mountain development is on the agenda for tomorrow (Monday) night at 7PM, as the second attempt at a public hearing for the proposed development is the highlight of an agenda over 250 pages. The first public hearing was the subject of citizen complaints, with media reports indicating that the mayor, chairing the meeting, had challenged speakers during the first attempt at a public hearing.

Those wishing to speak on the South Skirt Mountain development may do so during this public hearing, and then not again until after the bylaw that would authorise it is either approved or voted down by Langford Council at a future date, as members of Council may not discuss the project with the developers or with the public after the public hearing until the end of the process. Supporting documentation for the public hearing is attached to the agenda.