Wednesday, August 14, 2019 ~ LANGFORD
by Mary P Brooke ~ West Shore Voice News
“There will be change and it’s going to be noisier” was the key messaging from City of Langford staff during a City of Langford information meeting last night Tuesday August 13 about the Temporary Use Permit (TUP) proposed for a steep chunk of waterfront land at 3680 Trans Canada Highway.
About 15 residents of the immediate area attended the 6 pm meeting to learn some details about the intended ecotourism, recreation and meeting facility activities that are planned or proposed for the steep-terrain Malahat-vicinity property at the north end of Langford.
The 2-hour discussion was led by City of Langford CAO Darren Kiedyk along with input by the city’s Parks Manager Cory Manton, Director of Planning Matthew Baldwin, and Fire Chief Chris Aubrey.
“This was a meeting for the people in the area who didn’t understand the benefit for all of Langford residents and school programs,” says Langford Mayor Stew Young. He says that the fire department now has better access, and the public now has access to the Langford oceanfront for kayaking training and practicing with Rowing BC.
The property was purchased by the City of Langford in June, which includes an older home referred to as ‘the log cabin’. Back on July 15 at the city’s regular council meeting, council appeared to have hoped to pass a motion to approve a Temporary Use Permit (TUP19-0007) for the property, but considerable pushback from the public last month resulted in city fallback, and an opportunity to regroup and meet with adjacent residents to the property.
The property at 3680 Trans Canada Highway (Highway 1, in the Malahat section) is currently zoned RR4 (Rural Residential 4), hence the need for a TUP to allow for commercial uses. Last night it was made clear that the city will host small gatherings at the property (in the cabin) or make the building available for other groups to use it. Last night the representatives of a rowing association and a kayaking operation took part in the presentation, and Kiedyk was certain there will be visits by groups of students from Sooke School District 62 (SD62) to take part in outdoor recreational activities at the water.
The topography is very steep (elevation drops from 120m at the Malahat down to sea level), with a ‘shelf’ (flatter area) part-way down the hillside. Residents at last night’s meeting were concerned about use of the limited roads and parking in this terrain. Kiedyk said an electric golf-cart type of shuttle will likely be used to transport visitors from mid-way down to sea level.
Most of the detail at last night’s meeting came first from the fire chief, following concerns last month by residents regarding the increased risk of commercial and visitor activities on the property adjacent to and surrounded by theirs.
Fire Chief Aubrey said his job is to ensure public safety, and that quite soon he will receive a consultant’s report on the wildfire interface aspects of the 3680 TCH property in addition to the Langford Fire Department’s attention to proper emergency access and water supply.
A fire alarm system including sprinklers will be installed in both buildings on the property. A local pond can be drawn upon for about 95 gallons of water (except during droughts when apparently it dries up completely), with of course the ocean being an unlimited water supply using pumps and hoses that will be maintained at the site.
A firetruck can “get most of the way down”, said Aubrey, with smaller vehicles and the pump system being used farther down and dockside.
“There will be a higher level of protection (for fire protection) than currently exists,” said Aubrey. Meanwhile, residents pointed out that new activities in the vicinity of their properties will present more risk. “The proposed uses are more fire-likely,” said one resident.
Applying fire-smart principles to the area is also being done by Langford Fire, including removal of logs or forest debris up to 10 metres away from the cabin as well restricting combustibles to at being at least 30 metres away from the building that will be used for meetings or gatherings. Creating such a buffer zone is the main principle of fire-smart guidelines that are used around BC, particularly in the province’s heavily-forested interior regions.
Another other major concern was noise — the presence of school groups, sports enthusiasts and participants in gatherings at the cabin will undoubtedly diminish the relative unpunctuated silence that residents on surrounding properties have enjoyed for decades.
The property is north of Goldstream Provincial Park where the Goldstream Nature House, observation of salmon runs, and camping takes place.
Goldstream Provincial Park with its well-known salmon run observation tours — including by school groups — is at the tip of Finlayson Arm (an extension of Saanich Inlet). That end of the inlet still maintains a relatively pristine ecosystem for fish, birds and other wildlife.
The introduction of smoking and use of alcohol that almost certainly comes along with access to the public and hosting events was of concern to the residents with regard to fire safety and safe use of the difficult roadway passages on the sloped terrain.
By the end of the meeting, the residents had convinced Langford’s CAO to remove two items from the list of proposed uses for the property under the proposed TUP (hotel and campsite), and to better-define a third proposed use (restaurant).
The residents insisted that a hotel would be too large an enterprise (which Kiedyk agreed could not be supported by limitations of water well, septic and parking) and that camping would dramatically increase the risk of fire. Kiedyk said he would take those recommendations back to Council. The idea of a full-scale restaurant seemed unfeasible due to the same considerations for a hotel (i.e. water, septic, and parking) but Kiedyk said that mobile food carts are included under the definition of ‘restaurant’.
The remaining uses proposed in the TUP are: assembly (groups of people); accessory dwelling; conference and meeting facilities; accessory dormitories (e.g. bunkhouses for athletes in training); recreational facilities including but not limited to canoe and rowing club, gymnasiums, and physical fitness training; rental of recreational equipment including bicycles, kayaks, canoes, clothing and outdoor gear; restaurants; and light manufacturing and assembly of recreation equipment in enclosed buildings which are not noxious or offensive by reason of permitting odours, dust, smoke, gas or noise.
“This is great for Langford residents. What city wouldn’t want public access to the waterfront?,” says Mayor Young. “This meeting has educated the public on the benefits,” the mayor told West Shore Voice News.
The deadline for public input to the City on the proposed TUP is today August 14. Consideration of the TUP (presumably now amended) will probably be on the next City of Langford Regular Council Meeting agenda of Monday, August 19 (at 4 pm). The TUP presently covers a three-year period, with another extension of three years being possible. Last night discussion leaned toward perhaps the need for a bylaw rezoning instead of TUP, which the CAO acknowledged would be more likely if any sort of new building of a more permanent nature and usage were to be considered for the property.
The parcel as purchased by the city does not enjoy the benefit of a separate foreshore lease or any other foreshore lease, it was noted at the meeting.
The city property is immediately adjacent to the longtime Goldstream Boathouse Marina that holds 115 acres of commercially-zoned land including 60 acres of commercialized zoned waterfront along the water on the Finlayson Arm Inlet (an extension from the Saanich Inlet), owned by Mark Aitken and Alida Seymonsbergen. Among the residents of the area who participated in the discussion last night were Caleen Taylor and Stephen Thorne, Dr Betty Johnson, Ron and Diana Cheeke, Al and Margie Gordon, and Ron and Ria Holkensen as well as residents from the Aspen Road area and Goldstream Heights.
The extent of administrative attention to this public concern indicates how intent the City is to see the commercial use of this property emerge with success. Last night’s meeting was also attended by Bylaw Officer (aka Manager of Community Safety and Municipal Enforcement) Lorne Fletcher and the city’s new events and business development manager Donna Petrie.
Among its recreational offerings, the virtually land-locked City of Langford presently lacks anything that is oceanfront, though there are three lakes within the municipality: Langford Lake, Glen Lake, and Florence Lake.
Other recreation facilities owned or contributed to by the City of Langford include Westhills Stadium (with a huge seating expansion being officially celebrated on August 24, construction for which was done starting late 2018), City Centre Park (including bowling alley and arena), the YM-YWCA on Langford Parkway, and West Shore Parks & Recreation (including Juan de Fuca rec centre and arena, Q Centre, fieldhouse, and more) which is co-owned with four other municipalities.