Proposed Bylaw no. 1883 (long submission)

Proposed Bylaw no. 1883 (long submission)

Pages 24-25

From:

Sent: Monday, November 2, 2020 3:14 PM
To: Langford Planning General Mailbox planning@langford.ca
Cc:
Subject: Proposed Bylaw no. 1883

Dear Langford City Council,
I would like to state on record that I am still opposed to the rezoning of the property at 2627 Sooke Road. I am further opposed to the amendment of Bylaw no. 300 by means of proposed Bylaw no. 1883 which would allow the developer of this property to build a 90-unit condominium with access from Southglen Drive.

For reference I have lived in Langford since I was 2 years old starting in . The only absence from living in my hometown was a years stint in Europe. I now have a family of my own,

which will be substantially affected by the proposed access that council is debating. Having grown up in Langford through the 1980’s and 1990’s I experienced the days when Langford was family focused and having games of hockey on the street or riding your bike down the street was a daily occurrence, as it should be for children. If the proposed Bylaw 1883 moves forward where this large condo block has access to Southglen Drive that kind of experience growing up will no longer be something that is possible for my .

Langford pushes the image of being family friendly and yet these mature neighbourhoods where young families have enjoyed the type of freedom and safety we are requesting here are at risk. It would be preferable if this condo complex was only accessed from Sooke Road. Allowing the neighbourhood behind this new development to remain a place people will want to stay and raise families. If any access is granted off Southglen, visitors and residents will drastically increase traffic along with parking on our streets which hinders our family’s ability to play in the neighbourhood.

I fully understand that Langford municipality has a continuous goal of creating more options for people to live but why does that have to be at the expense of the tax paying residents that have lived in these mature neighbourhoods for decades?

I request that council reviews this matter from the point of view of the people who have lived in Langford for years, have supported the local economy for years, and have touted the benefits of living in these neighbourhoods to other greater Victoria residents. I mentioned in the paragraph about myself that I lived in Europe. I chose to come back to Langford because I wanted to escape the cramped, over populated life that is a hallmark of European cities and suburban areas so I could raise a family with the experiences such as I had. I chose to purchase a house in an isolated cul de sac specifically to encourage the kind of freedom and enjoyment growing up in this city once offered. It feels like the goal of Langford city council is the march of progress and expansion without considering the people that helped make this happen over the past 15 to 20 years.

I graduated from Belmont in and with many options to live around the world chose to come back to what Langford has to offer. Please review this proposed new development thinking of what is important over the long term to this city. This is likely just one neighbourhood with no pulling power to make you consider this request seriously and most likely the decision has already been made. However, I am still one of the people who has tried to make this city a better place and not being able to have safety on the roads outside of my home, solely for the benefit of another condo block, is a travesty.

Back in January my attended the pre-hearing on this proposed zoning change and their attempts to state Southglen was always planned to continue into the remaining lots. That city plan 30-40 years ago was expected to be large lot family dwellings occupying that land. Turning this development into condominiums specifically to max out the land ruins this well-established neighbourhood. The building will be too high and the amount of traffic will be much more than the “survey” they paid for suggests. Many units will have more than one car. I know your argument being transit and jobs are close BUT many people in this neighbourhood do end up owning multiple cars and traveling for work because not everyone wants to work for the businesses in Belmont Park (fast food or grocery stores) which is really the only place within walking distance.

The city of Langford has a vision for Sooke Road and I understand this would mean you are one step closer to achieving this vision but again the residents of Ernhill, Southglen and Alderglen will be severely affected giving them access to Southglen. The infrastructure is already buckling under the increase of people within the area with all the development, simply having to go pick up from school or day care and navigating Sooke Road in the afternoon clearly shows this. There are so many condos being built on Sooke Road specifically that the roads in and out of Langford aren’t changing enough to cope. Not only does this burden the local area resources (like Happy Valley School) but our kids won’t be able to play on Southglen or Alderglen streets any longer due to an extreme increase in cars using the road and other non residents of these streets using this new route as a short cut. We will lose the community we cherish and our house values will evidently suffer from these changes.

In summary I believe the number of units in this proposed condo complex should be reduced from 90 down to a more reasonable and sustainable number as well as access from South Glen Drive should be removed to preserve our neighbourhood. The amount of proposed parking spots is not enough and having any access off Southglen will change our community and would no longer support our neighbourhood culture. Our kids will not be as safe playing in my neighborhood and it pushes us to look for another municipality that can offer what we will lose if this development goes ahead.

I am open to further questions or inquiries to this message in protest of the proposed Bylaw no. 1883 and the access to this property from Southglen Drive.

Thank you for your time and consideration of these concerns.