Revised Brookswood Neighbourhood Plans Get SSMUH

By Mike Harrison 

At the April 29th council meeting, Township of Langley Mayor and council gave 1st Reading to revised versions of all three of Brookswood-Fernridges Neighbourhood Plans (NPs). If you’re getting déjà vu it’s because all three NPs received 3rd Reading just last year after a multi-year planning process finally pushed through by Mayor Woodward. Unfortunately, the new provincial housing legislation, which mandates municipalities accommodate Small Scale Multi-Unit Housing (SSMUH) on all single family lots, threw a wrench in the gears as a large portion of the Brookswood-Fernridge neighbourhood plans contained single family land use designations. The Booth, Fernridge and Rinn NPs therefore needed amending to align with this new legislation.  

The Township of Langley also took the opportunity to make a handful of other significant changes to the three neighbourhood plans. The key changes worth noting are:

1. SSMUH on Single Family Designations – The land previously designated for single family, with minimum lot sizes at 4,000, 7,000 and 10,000 square feet have been given new “SSMUH” land use designations permitting small scale multi-unit housing with minimum lots sizes of 7,000 or 10,000 square feet.
2. New Employment Land in Booth – 135 acres of land in the southwest corner of the Booth plan, adjacent to Surrey’s Campbell Heights, which was previously designated single family has been changed to Employment land.
3. School Locations Have Been Identified – The new neighbourhood plans label the exact properties where the future schools are to be located, whereas in the previous neighbourhood plans only the need for schools was noted, not the specific location. 
4. Elementary Schools Listed as Development Prerequisites – There is clear language in the new draft plans that the future elementary schools are prerequisites to future development. The plans also add 8 new schools. 
5. Reduction in Community Amenity Contributions (CACs) – The neighbourhood specific CAC rates applicable to the Brookswood-Fernridge NPs have been reduced by 10-15%.
6. Increased Environmental Protection Areas – 4.5 metre creek greenways must now be located outside Streamside Protection Enhancement Area (SPEA) protection zones and there is a new 10 metre Sensitive Environment Protection Area beyond SPEA. This brings total environmental protection areas to 27% of the entire community. 

Draft Land Use Plan

Source: Township of Langley

What’s Next?

Historically, First and Second Readings are combined in the Township of Langley but only First Reading was granted on April 29th to allow time for an additional public information meeting to be held in advance of the formal public hearing. The public information meeting is tentatively scheduled for May 9th after which the community feedback received can be presented to council at 2nd Reading, prior to the formal public hearing meeting shortly after. 

You can follow along with the process on the Township of Langley’s dedicated webpage (click here) where you can also sign up for email updates. 

CLICK HERE to find the council meeting agenda containing the entirety of the new draft plans for Booth, Fernridge and Rinn