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 »