Inside Langford

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 “a public trail along the perimeter of the entire site within a buffer area provided between the site and adjacent properties,” that the Langford Parks manager has made unspecified recommendations about tree retention, and that there would be a covenant on the property to protect the trail and the buffer.

- The proposal does not put a figure on how much of the Flatman property would be retained as open space, but does suggest 24.5% (3.43 hectares) of the neighbouring 940 Latoria property would be donated to City of Langford. Some or all of this land is in the ALR, and will be retained as “open space”.

- The development is at 936 Flatman Avenue, which would be rezoned from “AG1 (Agriculture 1) to a new Comprehensive Development zone.” Neighbouring 940 Latoria would not be developed or rezoned, but the proponents hope to put a road through it to provide access to the development. Whether this is allowed to occur or not is dependant upon decisions of the of the Province’s Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) and the report suggests that “Council may wish to require that applications for subdivision and the road be submitted to and approval received from the ALC, prior to bylaw adoption for the subdivision and prior to public hearing for the road.”

- The development’s compliance with the South Langford Neighbourhood Plan is discussed at great length in the staff report. Whether it meets the letter of the South Langford Neighbourhood Plan and, if it does, whether it also meets the spirit of it, is a more controversial issue that frequently gets debated in Langford Council Chambers, sometimes with people reluctantly agreeing to disagree.

- It was initially noted that “there are no outlets from the ponds or watercourse on the property and,
due to the lack of connectivity, that the [provincial] Riparian Areas Regulation (RAR) does not apply.” However, a small watercourse appears to have subsequently been identified and this will be dealt with through the Development Permit process (meaning a development permit can be withheld from the developer unless and until the RAR rules, as well as Langford’s riparian rules, are respected).

- One element of the report I’ll be interested in hearing more about tomorrow night is this statement: “Although the report did identify areas of sensitive ecosystems that will be impacted by the proposed development, ENKON also noted that the loss of these systems is not considered significant due to widespread disturbance in the past.” I’m not sure how something can simultaneously be a sensitive ecosystem, but also considered insignificant because it’s been previously disturbed. If the area has been disturbed, but some of it has either remained unscathed (or been reclaimed by nature), and is then subsequently considered a sensitive ecosystem, how is it not sensitive? It seems to me it’s either sensitive or its not, and I’ll be looking for more information on this seemingly contradictory point.

- As seems to be relatively common for a lot of area in the rockier parts of Langfod, a steep slope is included in the land being donated to the City.

- The applicant has provided a stormwater management plan that staff have suggested needs revisions to comply with the South Langford Drainage Plan, and recommends that this occur before it goes to public hearing.

For those trying to place where the property is, the staff report notes “The subject property is located east of Happy Valley Road, north of Latoria Road and southwest of Triangle Mountain.”