Langford’s finally made the decision to make audio of regular council meeting available to the public. But not livestreaming. Budget restraints? I don’t think so. There has been so much zoning and building done in this city, it stands to reason they have a huge budget, so why wait? Because they don’t want us to know and see what is going on behind closed doors. They ignore everything the public puts forward at the meetings, anyway. The zoning and development get passed. Just give a listen.
For next Monday alone, there are five public hearings scheduled, as advertised in the Goldstream Gazette. Not a week goes by without one or several of these notices. This week’s, briefly summarized, are:
Bylaw 1945: Amendment to turn a large corner of Glen Lake Road and Jenkins Avenue to Comprehensive Development for “community amenity purposes.” Which are? We don’t know. Another infringement on a residential neighbourhood.
Bylaw 1939: Amendment to turn part of Rockingham Road into a 10-lot subdivision on this one and two family residential street. One of the few left with decent-sized lots.
Bylaw 1886: To change two lots on Jenkins Avenue from one and two home to two 24-unit apartment buildings. More traffic on a residential street. And as we have seen recently, probably a variance will be requested to lower the original parking zoning to fewer spaces. After the fact of zoning.
Bylaw 1945: Two large lots on Walfred Road. To go from one and two lot zone to approximately 28 single family and duplex lots, decreasing minimum duplex lot size from 600 to 500 m sq. How many houses and buildings will they cram in there?
Bylaw 1903: On the corner of Costin Avenue and Carlow Road, another one and two family residential area, to allow construction of two 11-storey apartments buildings of 165 units total. Another residential area bites the dust with more traffic and parking headaches.
In the same edition of the Gazette, we read West Shore saw fully half of the transactions for commercial real estate. Third on the list, 1085 Goldstream at Leigh Rd., five-storey 166-unit apartment, The Star. Several more have been added since. But not all are rented. It seems regular people cannot afford the rent: market value rent. Even so, across from the Star, once a nursery, is another new apartment building, and the parking overrun from their lot is on Goldstream Road, closing off the sidewalk and infringing on the bicycle lane.
But that is only the tip of the iceberg for Langford development to date.
Still in the works, already zoned, besides those coming up are the Tri-Way Mobile Home Park. More congestion, more green spaces gone, more people displaced. Show me somewhere in Langford where no development is planned?
Where will it end? What is the goal here, besides money in the pockets of developers, and more taxes for Langford. And they can’t afford livestreaming? Don’t believe it!
Wendie O’Neill
Langford
