There were two public hearings Monday night. One was on 894 Walfred Road and was hotly discussed (watch for a report on that tomorrow), but the other was on Goldstream Meadows and somewhat more mellow. Nonetheless, several concerns were raised by local residents.

Bylaw #1215 proposes to do some interesting things for Goldstream Meadows. While it is not going to be a manufactured home park, the plan is to structure the community similarly to one and the development is seeking rafts of variances to accomplish this goal. Goldstream Meadows is intended to be made up largely of smaller, in some cases much smaller, and inexpensive housing. They’ll look a lot like a small single family dwelling, but they’ll be constructed by a prefabricated modular housing system that is a lot like a “manufactured home”.

To accomplish this goal the development is asking for the most expansive list of variances I’ve ever heard of, including:

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The City of Langford has received another award for its recent Official Community Plan (OCP). This award was presented to Langford Council Monday night by Lindsay Chase, the President of the Planning Institute of BC, who presented the City with an Award of Excellence in Planning for the OCP.

In bestowing the award she credited the “innovative approach of doing it with another municipality,” and how the “joint approach represented some novel approaches in engaging the public.”

Mayor Young, in accepting the award, commented “Short of amalgamation, it’s good to Read the rest of this entry »

Monday night, Langford Council approved a borrowing bylaw to borrow an amount up to, but not exceeding, how much they expect to receive in tax revenue (and any outstanding debts from other levels of government). The bylaw indicates that the loan must be repaid as soon as the tax revenues are received, so this loan will be on the books for as little as four weeks, as the deadline for paying property taxes is July 2nd.

Unlike other levels of government, Read the rest of this entry »