Democracy in action throughout the process

Re: “Democracy is missing in Langford decisions,” letter, April 15.

It is ironic that this letter-writer feels that a recent recommendation of Langford’s Planning Zoning and Affordable Housing Committee does not represent democracy in action, while she overlooks the democratic decisions that led to this rezoning application in the first place.

The properties that were discussed by the committee on April 12 have been designated for multi-family residential development in Langford’s Official Community Plan since 1996.

That plan was devised with a great deal of public input and duly reviewed publicly and adopted through a democratic process by a democratically elected council.

The land use that is being proposed was also supported by a 1999 amendment to the Official Community Plan that specifically looked at downtown revitalization and was again supported in 2008 when the City of Langford adopted its new Official Community Plan.

In 2018, and again after open public consultation, Dr. Avi Friedman of McGill University prepared for Langford a three-volume Vision for Downtown Langford which was incorporated, in part, into the Official Community Plan in 2019.

Each of these decisions were made by democratically elected officials following public consultation and a process laid out in the Local Government Act.

The Capital Regional District’s two Regional Growth Strategies (2002 and 2018) support the Langford Official Community Plan, and were duly considered and adopted by democratically elected individuals.

A bit of a deeper understanding of the democratic process would perhaps have illuminated why the committee made the recommendation that it did.

The assertion that there was “no notification of nearby residents” is misleading and factually incorrect.

The City of Langford provides notice to owners and occupants within 100 metres of a property being considered for rezoning.

Despite the fact there is no requirement to provide such notice in advance of a Planning Zoning and Affordable Housing Committee meeting, the city provides this notice to those residents within 100 metres of the boundaries of the affected property.

In addition, Langford makes every effort to ensure that the notices are received in a timely manner by sending them out in advance of the legislated 10-day requirement. Notices were sent for this application.

Denise Blackwell

Chair, Planning Zoning and Affordable Housing Committee

City of Langford