Editor: Prior to the vote on the 2017 Brookswood-Fernridge OCP, the mayor stated that if it did not pass, we would revert to the 1987 plan.
Since that time I have agonized over the merits and demerits of each. Regardless of what council might ultimately decide, in my own mind it was clear that the 1987 was the better plan, and with considerable modification, I could find it acceptable.
Only recently did I recognize that I had trapped myself in the limitations these two plans, or adaptations thereof, and that they were the only options that I could consider.
I kept returning to the same thought: regardless of how much these plans might be modified, they will never retain the nature and character of Brookswood-Fernridge. I had been focused on retention of trees and protection of environment, and overlooking a most significant aspect of land use in the two plans: with the exception of a few isolated patches of Single Family 1 (minimum lot size two acres), virtually the entire area is a grid of (minimum) 7,000 square foot lots, about one sixth of an acre. Given that most lots in the area are currently at least two acres — many considerably larger — a vast expanse of these one-sixth acre lots will entirely change the look and feel of this beautiful area of Langley.
I urge the Township council to consider interspersing blocks of larger lots throughout the entire plan.
Even half-acre lots would be an improvement, but I believe that in order to retain some semblance of Brookswood-Fernridge in its current state, we need tracts of one-to two-acre lots. In this way, some of the rural atmosphere could be preserved, as well as habitat for wildlife.
Kathy Marsden,
Fernridge
