LANGFORD The developer of a contentious project in Langford has made some concessions following concerns from the community, though local residents say it s still not enough. At a planning and zoning committee meeting Monday night, Design Build Services, working on behalf of the property owner, agreed to reduce two proposed condo towers between Goldstream Avenue and Fairway Avenue to six storeys each instead of 12. “The community was really upset when it was proposed for two 12-storey buildings, which is perfectly understandable,” said Langford councillor Denise Blackwell. “So staff worked very hard with that particular developer to make sure that they brought it more in scale with that end of the municipality.”
Most other municipalities in the region post audio and video of council meetings to their websites within 24 hours, allowing residents to catch up on council discussions. Young hopes that staff will be able to provide an audio recording of the next council meeting on Jan. 18. “They are working on that right now,” he said. In December, council was slammed by residents and municipal watchdog Grumpy Taxpayer$ of Greater Victoria for deciding in private not to livestream their meetings. Young said livestreaming would be a waste of money right now, because councillors are working from home and council chambers are empty, but he expects the city will start livestreaming by the time it’s safe to resume in-person meetings.
No court action is imminent. “We are going one step at a time,” Scott said. “We’re just going through the steps to hold Langford accountable.” The feeling is that people are being “shut out of the democratic process,” she said. Coun. Denise Blackwell said the apartment complex proposal still had to come to council and then perhaps proceed to a public hearing. “We’re hoping to reduce the number of storeys.” She said it would be easier without COVID-19 and be able to speak to people face-to-face. Scott said the core issue of two apartment buildings being proposed for a neighbourhood on a narrow street with single-family homes, at the corner of Fairway Avenue and Goldstream Avenue, has been complicated by Langford council’s “secrecy” in deciding this month not to livestream its meetings. She said it was unusual the decision was made in camera. “That’s the thing that really is odd to us.”
“I mean, to discuss transparency in an in camera meeting, it’s beyond belief in 2020,” said John Treleaven, who chairs the municipal watchdog group. “It’s an insult to the citizens of Langford. It’s an insult to the taxpayers among those citizens, and, frankly, it’s an insult to everybody who really enjoys what Langford has to offer.” Langford residents are unable to attend meetings in person because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but can participate by teleconference. If people are working or otherwise busy during a meeting, however, they have to wait for the minutes to be published because Langford doesn’t save the audio of its meetings.