Inside Langford

The Monday night Planning, Zoning, and Affordable Housing (PZ&H) Committee meeting Monday had only one issue to look at, and that was to rezone a property (one that’s part of the Bear Mountain Comprehensive Development). At present it is estimated to be able to hold possibly hundreds of lots, and the owner (and resident) Lawrence Paul Goudy is requesting it be rezoned for only 15, an unusual request.

Paul Goudy, as he was addressed by Denise Blackwell who chaired the proceedings, was sitting with former Langford Councillor John Goudy and his wife, but Paul alone spoke and Paul is the only applicant on the zoning request. He spoke about his reasons for the request, indicating that he lived on the property and wanted it, and the surrounding area, to stay as it was until he died. It was noted by the committee that this could possibly a very long time, an apparent reference to Paul Goudy being a relatively young individual. Paul expressed a strong desire for the forested property to remain without public access while he was alive, after which “I’d be happy to give it to Langford after I’m gone.”

There was discussion of covenants and other ways to preserve the land. Paul Goudy made it clear that he wanted to realise a different vision for the land than what has happened in the adjoining Bear Mountain development, saying “I’ve seen what’s happened at Bear Mountain and it’s devastating.”

Langford Planner Matthew Baldwin noted that they “don’t yet know whether public trails will be desirable in this area.” Reasons for this include the fire risk that people moving through the area would bring with them.

On that point, Paul Goudy elaborated. “I’ve got signs eerywhere,” he said, adding that his wife had recently found two girls up there smoking. “If we had a fire up there, we’d be cooked.”

Malcom Hall agreed that areas where public parks/trails adjoin private property can have difficult issues. “I live on Langford Lake and if something’s public they assume everything beside it is public.”

The committee then voted on what recommendation to make for Langford Council, who will ultimately decide the rezoning request. The committee agreed to recommend that “options one, two, and four” be approved. This is often a confusing part of the meeting for audience members, as texts of the bylaw and the options being presented to the committee are not availabe in Council Chambers for the audience, as the agenda packages are made available in the meeting only for the people on the Committee and (sometimes) for media. Here are the options they selected, from the staff report available in the 2009.08.24 PZ&H agenda (availabe in the Inside Langford “FILES” area on the left sidebar):

1. Direct staff to prepare a bylaw to amend Zoning Bylaw 300 as follows:
a. By amending the CD6 (Comprehensive Development 6 – Bear Mountain) zone
by creating a new “Area 6″ that will:
1. Allow one-family dwellings and associated accessory uses common to
large lot zones (such as home occupations and secondary suites);
II. Specify a maximum permitted density of 15 dwelling units;
b. By amending the “Schedule O” map such that the property at 2510 Echo Valley
Drive is designated within the new Area 6.
AND
2. Direct the applicant to provide, prior to Bylaw Adoption , a Section 219 covenant that
requires the applicant to submit an open space preservation plan (including area and
location of preserved areas , and method of preservation ) that will protect approximately 55%
of the area of the subject property to the satisfaction of the Parks Manager , prior the
issuance of a statement of conditions for the subdivision of the subject property. The open
space preservation plan shall be implemented as a condition of the statement of conditions:
AND
4. That the lands specified in the open space preservation plan be protected by a nondisturbance
or third party conservation covenant on private lots at the time of subdivision;

The meeting had a scheduled start of 7:00 and ended at 7:07. Noting the time, Denise Blackwell quipped “I think I beat Lillian’s record,” referring to Lillian Szpak who normally chairs Planning and Zoning meetings.