A councillor is hoping to “withhold considering development applications” along the Fraser Highway SkyTrain route planning area until council has had time to review and approve a new land use plan for the corridor.
Councillor Brenda Locke said during Monday’s (April 1) council meeting that “to ensure the success of this rapid transit project,” she would like council to considering withholding development applications. The “interim hold,” she said, would exempt social housing, student housing and below-market affordable housing.
“This would likely be for an eight- to 10-month period with a goal to ensure that projects will come forward for council’s consideration that are in full support of the proposed SkyTrain project,” Locke said.
Mayor Doug McCallum said council would deal with Locke’s motion at its next meeting on April 15.
READ ALSO: Public engagement for Surrey-Langley SkyTrain to begin in April: report
READ ALSO: First look at Surrey SkyTrain renderings along Fraser Highway
During Monday’s (April 1) regular meeting, council gave staff the OK to begin the Fraser Highway SkyTrain Corridor Planning Areas review, including all preliminary planning and background studies.
The preliminary planning and background studies, according to a report from the agenda, will “form the basis for the development of SkyTrain supportive land use plans along the Surrey Langley SkyTrain extension.”
The background studies include a market assessment, environmental study, heritage study, growth forecasts, transportation review, servicing review and stakeholder inventory.
According to the report, new land use plans will need to be established for the West Fleetwood neighbour and East Cloverdale, along the Langley boundary. Several existing land plans will require review and updating, such as City Centre Plan, West Clayton Neighbourhood Concept Plan (NCP), East Clayton Transit-Oriented Area Plan, West Cloverdale North NCP and Fleetwood Town Centre Plan.
At Surrey council’s inaugural meeting on Nov. 5, 2018, council voted to stop the Surrey Newton Guildford LRT project, start a new SkyTrain extension project along Fraser Highway and seek the required funding from TransLink’s Mayor’s Council for the new SkyTrain project.
READ ALSO: Surrey council unanimously passes motion to ‘cancel’ LRT, Nov. 5, 2018
Following the mayor’s council’s decision to move forward with the SkyTrain project, TransLink and the City of Surrey signed the Supportive Policy Agreements (SPA), which includes a focus on TransLink’s transit-oriented communities design guildelines for land use planning.
The guildlines, according to the report, include the “concentration of growth in compact, walkable urban centres, which contain employment, a range of housing choices, amenities, schools and transit facilities.”
The report says the SPA agreement is expected to be completed for the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain (SLS) project toward the beginning of 2020, and will outline “target completion dates for land use planning.” Land-use planning for the SLS corridor will begin “immediately.”
The proposed planning area for the SLS corridor, according to the report, is 14 km long and will extend from King George SkyTrain station to the city and township of Langley’s border at 196th Street.
For more information on the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain, visit surreylangleyskytrain.ca.
READ ALSO: TransLink reveals new plans for proposed Surrey-Langley SkyTrain, Dec. 9, 2018
– With files from Amy Reid
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