Friday, September 28 ~ LANGFORD.
by Mary P Brooke
At a special meeting of Langford council on Wednesday morning, September 26, there was some discussion about a piece of land on Spencer Road where 128 affordable housing units could be built, but that initiative has been sitting in limbo for about 18 months, said Mayor Stew Young.
A closed portion of road situated alongside Highway 1 was given by the province to City of Langford in a contract, said Mayor Stew Young. “Now the province has said they’re going to sell it to us,” he said.
“Rightfully we should get the property transferred to the city at no cost,” Mayor Young explained, in the context of a closed municipal road normally automatically going to the municipality.
According to Langford, the government presently has set a price tag of $750,000 for the 24,000 sq ft of closed road. Legal recourse has been taken by the City, with a subsequent back-and-forth going on between the City and the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI).
The cost of purchasing the closed road would consequently push up the cost of any housing that is built on the site.
The lands are part of development permit DP17-0039 issued by the City.
“Ministry of Transportation staff have been working with the City of Langford on the transfer of these properties as part of the project, and the process is ongoing. We are optimistic a fair agreement will be reached soon,” MOTI stated on September 28.
The development would utilize land at civic addresses 2741, 2749, 2751, 2753, 2757 and 2761 Spencer Rd and 996 Preston Way. The original DP request on June 20, 2017 included a mixed-use portion of the building to include office space and studio/daycare. The DP was promptly issued by the City on July 21, 2017.