Home News by Region Langford Upbeat participation at Langford OCP Refresh Phase 2 open house

Upbeat participation at Langford OCP Refresh Phase 2 open house

Online survey for Langford residents is open to Nov 20, 2024

langford, open house, ocp
Active public participation at City of Langford open house about the Official Community Plan refresh process, Nov 2, 2024 at Ruth King Elementary School. [Mary P Brooke / Island Social Trends]
BC 2024 Provincial Election news analysis

Saturday November 3, 2024 | LANGFORD, BC [Posted 9:53 am | Updated 5:55 pm]

by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends


A mid-day open house about the City of Langford Phase 2 Official Community Plan (OCP) was well-attended yesterday.

Held in the gymnasium at Ruth King Elementary School, the three-hour Saturday drop-in event allowed for touring through dozens of display boards and chats with staff and members of council.

ocp refresh, public participation, langford
Active public participation at City of Langford open house about the Official Community Plan refresh process, Nov 2, 2024 at Ruth King Elementary School. [Mary P Brooke / Island Social Trends]

The refresh/rethink process about Langford’s OCP is guided primarily by adaptation to a central known factor of urban life in this city — population growth. The city’s population is expected to double within the next 25 years, from the current 50,000 up to 100,000.

That might be a smaller population than some other bigger cities in BC but for local residents, planners and community leaders the impacts of population growth have significant impacts including taxation, services, and livability.

langford, ocp, event
Active public participation at City of Langford open house about the Official Community Plan refresh process, Nov 2, 2024 at Ruth King Elementary School. [Mary P Brooke / Island Social Trends]

Around the gym at the November 2 open house residents could affix sticky notes with comments onto information boards, chat with staff and elected officials, and share ideas among themselves. Kids could play with toys. There was coffee and treats.

The open house was an opportunity for residents to learn more about the “initially preferred options” from a broad range of deep and important topics in the realm of urban planning including structural and community amenities.

porcher park, langford, signage
Project development signage at Porcher Park in Langford, BC, Oct 29, 2024. [Island Social Trends]

Who was there:

Members of council in attendance included Mayor Scott Goodmanson and Councillors Kimberley Guiry, Colby Harder, Mark Morley, Lillian Szpak, Mary Wagner and Keith Yacucha — all of whom answered many questions for residents.

ocp, langford, public event
Active public participation at City of Langford open house about the Official Community Plan refresh process, Nov 2, 2024 at Ruth King Elementary School. [Mary P Brooke / Island Social Trends]

Residents across the adult age range were there, with children along as well.

Senior staffers on hand included Darren Kiedyk, Braden Hutchins, Matthew Baldwin, Donnie Petrie, and Kate Balzer.

braden Hutchins, Yari Nielsen
Active public participation at City of Langford open house about the Official Community Plan refresh process, Nov 2, 2024 at Ruth King Elementary School. [Mary P Brooke / Island Social Trends]

Urban planning consultant Brent Toderian was also there to chat with residents.

langford, open house, colby harder
City of Langford councillor Colby Harder (left) chats with Langford resident at the Nov 2, 2024 OCP refresh open house. [Island Social Trends]
ocp, langford, kimberley guriy
City of Langford councillor Kimberley Guiry (left) chats with Langford resident at the Nov 2, 2024 OCP refresh open house. [Island Social Trends]

Online survey:

Whether residents attended the November 2 open house or not, everyone is invited to participate in a Phase 2 survey.

It’s an opportunity to respond in detail to ideas that were collected in Phase 1 public engagement this past spring and summer. The Phase 2 is now active online up to November 20, 2024. 

langford, ocp, public input

Four parts to the online survey:

People are busy. It helps that the detailed Langford OCP Phase 2 survey is presented in four parts, Engage with each part on your own schedule:

Paper copies of the survey are also available at City Hall reception, ground floor unit #117 – 877 Goldstream Avenue.

table, ocp, public participation
Active public participation at City of Langford open house about the Official Community Plan refresh process, Nov 2, 2024 at Ruth King Elementary School. [Mary P Brooke / Island Social Trends]

The city encourages residents to sign up on LetsChatLangford.ca and follow the City on social media to be notified about the various engagement opportunities over the next many months.

Phase 1 got things rolling:

During Phase 1 of public engagement, the city identified community priorities and best practices in city-building.

langford, community fun day, august
City of Langford information van at the Langford Community Fun Day on the grounds of Happy Valley Elementary School, Aug 28, 2024. [Mary P Brooke / Island Social Trends]

The City has issued an Ideas Paper that includes community feedback and links these ideas to significant new concepts and methods for high-quality city-building. Throughout the document, these ideas are called “initially preferred options.”

OCP referesh, documents, city of langford
Background documents about the City of Langford’s OCP refresh are available online. [Oct 2024]
mayor, langford, tent, speech, fun day
Langford Mayor and councillors introduce the strategic plan process, at Langford Community Fun Day on July 18, 2024. [Island Social Trends]

Phase 2 gauges public support:

Phase 2 public engagement seeks to gauge public support and concerns at an early stage, allowing adjustments before finalizing the draft OCP.

Feedback on initial options will guide development of the ideas and comments for inclusion in the draft, which will be shared for further input in Phase 3.

scott goodmanson, may 2024
City of Langford Mayor Scott Goodmanson at SD62 school announcement on May 21, 2024. [Mary P Brooke / Island Social Trends]

“We’re carefully listening to and integrating community feedback in phases to develop a refreshed OCP for Langford. Responsible development and positive growth require active and continual community engagement,” says Langford Mayor Scott Goodmanson.

“Your input throughout the refresh process will form the foundation of the City’s planning decisions to ensure we remain a community that thrives,” says Goodmanson to the community.

mayor, langford, tent, speech, fun day
Langford Mayor and councillors introduce the strategic plan process, at Langford Community Fun Day on July 18, 2024. [Island Social Trends]

Urban planner:

Urban infill or sprawl? Car dependency or mobility choice? “Any city can decide to transform its city-building, and make the many hard decisions for a better future. Langford, BC is creating a new Official Community Plan, and I’m advising them,” says Brent Toderian, who led a public input session back in January 2024 for Phase 1.

brent toderian, langford, urban
Presentation by urban planning consultant Brent Toderian at the Langford OCP gathering, Jan 23, 2024 at the Langford Legion. [[Mary P Brooke / Island Social Trends]

He encourages Langford residents to read the innovative Ideas Paper that builds on Phase 1 public consultation.

“The new survey will test public support for the bold and important new ideas,” says Toderian. He encourages people to be part of the new plan for their community.

subway restauurants, langford, colwood

This is 16 years later:

For the first time in 16 years, the City of Langford is updating and re-evaluating aspects of its Official Community Plan (OCP) to strategically meet the needs of residents.

construction, langford
Construction site on Station Avenue in Langford, Oct 10, 2024. The City of Langford is undertaking a construction impact management survey. [Island Social Trends]

This includes addressing major issues such as climate change, housing affordability, social equity, public health, and increasing infrastructure costs.

city of langford, neighbourhoods, map
Neighbourhoods in the City of Langford, 2024: Bear Mountain, North Langford, Thetis & Millstream, Mill Hill, Goldstream Meadows, City Centre, South Langford, Westhills, Langford Lake and Glen Lake. [City of Langford]

The effectiveness of Langford’s new OCP in creating opportunities to tackle these challenges will depend on where and how the city decides to grow. A key component that drives the refresh is the estimate of population growth: Langford presently has about 50,000 residents and is expected to double in size to 100,000 residents by 2050.

urban food resilience initiatives society, logo
ocp, langford, mary wagner
City of Langford councillor Mary Wagner (right) chats with Langford resident at the Nov 2, 2024 OCP refresh open house. [Island Social Trends]

Phase 3:

Feedback from Phase 2 will help determine whether the current set of ideas should be developed further and included in the draft OCP.

langford, ocp, public event
Active public participation at City of Langford open house about the Official Community Plan refresh process, Nov 2, 2024 at Ruth King Elementary School. [Mary P Brooke / Island Social Trends]

That process will be undertaken (including further opportunity for community input) during Phase 3.

ist main, sooke, charters
Visit IslandSocialTrends.ca for local, regional and national news insights.

===== RELATED:

NEWS SECTIONS: LANGFORD | VANCOUVER ISLAND | ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY | HOUSING