For some time, the Langley School District has owned 19865 70 Ave., in the Routley neighbourhood of Willoughby, holding the land for possible future school development.
Then, like all civic governments are legally required to do, the school district negotiated a land swap out of the public eye. It involved the Township and a group of companies collectively known as the Bains Group. Under the arrangement, part of the land which had been set aside for a school will become a park and the Bains Group would take over the other part, on which it proposes to build 103 townhouses.
The school district bought from the Bains Group a parcel in the Yorkson neighbourhood, about four blocks from where the Lynn Fripps Elementary School is being built.
Notwithstanding the fact that the 70 Avenue property is also four blocks from another school (Langley Meadows Elementary), residents in the area fully expected a school to be built on that site.
On Monday, dozens of them filled the gallery at Township council expecting to speak at a public hearing into the rezoning of and development permit for the 70 Avenue property.
They didn’t get the chance. Instead, council deferred the public hearing before it got started, setting aside the rezoning bylaw and development permit applications for six weeks.
Councillor Jordan Bateman told the crowd that will give residents time to discuss their concerns with the school district. Bateman added that it’s clear that the school district did not consult neighbours.
Councillor Bob Long commented that by deferring the hearing, “proper consultation with the school district can occur as they are in control of the lands in question.”
Councillor Steve Ferguson urged the residents to go to the board of education “and plead your case as emphatically as possible.”
Mayor Rick Green encouraged residents to contact school trustees “and make your case very strongly.” The applications will come back to council, he said, “unless the school district capitulates.”
Councillors Kim Richter and Mel Kositsky opposed deferring the hearing.
It should go ahead out of respect for those who came to the meeting, missing the Canucks vs. Predators game, Richter said.
When the vote to defer passed, some members of the audience vented their anger.
“Shame on you,” Langley City resident Jacob de Raadt called out.
Several residents who passed the council table on their way out spoke angrily, one saying that residents had given up their time to come to the hearing.
“We pay your wages,” one man shouted at councillors as the residents stormed out.
Meanwhile, the school district explained that no plans had been developed or announced for the 70 Avenue site.
“It is not at all unusual for school districts to dispose of or exchange property held for future, possible school use as requirements change,” said spokesman Craig Spence.
He said that the district consults with the Township and uses its own demographic projections to determine the best locations for schools.
“Needs change over time based on decisions of municipalities and developers (and) the Yorkson neighbourhood in Willoughby has been determined as an area of high growth and high need for future schools.”
