Public Hearing Materials and Notices – Z21-0019 (1000 Gade Rd)

Notice of Public Hearing

The City of Langford has received an application to amend a condition of rezoning approval. All persons who believe that their interest in the property is affected by the proposed amendment will be afforded an opportunity to be heard by presenting written submissions prior to the Public Hearing or by making oral submissions at the Public Hearing. Please be advised that no submission may be received by Council after the close of the Public Hearing and any submissions made to Council, whether orally or in writing, will form part of the public record.

PLEASE NOTE: This meeting will be held electronically, and not in-person. Information about how to connect to this meeting by phone may be found on the City’s Website: www.cityoflangford.ca

The Public Hearing is not an information session and Council will not answer questions about the proposal except to provide clarification. The purpose of the Public Hearing is for Council to hear the views and opinions of those members of the public who wish to make comments. Please have all your questions answered in advance of the Public Hearing by contacting the Planning Department as noted below.

Should you wish to make a submission to the Council in writing we require your name and civic address and that this be received, either electronically or by mail, no later than 3:00 PM on the day of the Public Hearing so that your submission may be included in the Council’s agenda package.

Requests for COPIES of the complete information package that the Council may consider in relation to the proposed amendment, or questions related thereto, may be submitted by emailing to planning@langford.ca, in writing to Langford City Hall, 2nd Floor, 877 Goldstream Avenue, Langford, BC, V9B 2X8, or by calling 250-478-7882.

Braden Hutchins
Director of Corporate Services

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News Extracts (selected articles from pages 26–29)

Survey shows falling rental rates

One Canadian rental analyst sees Victoria becoming slightly more affordable.

According to PadMapper, rent for the average one-bedroom apartment dropped 3.8 per cent in April to $1,540 a month. The cost of a two-bedroom dropped 1.5 per cent to $1,970 in April.

The decrease places Victoria rents fifth among Canada’s most populous metro areas, falling one spot behind Barrie, Ont. Vancouver’s rents of $1,900 for the average one-bedroom are the most expensive in the country, followed by Toronto at $1,750.

“For the first time since January 2020, one-bedroom rents in both Vancouver and Toronto were flat on a monthly basis. (Though rent prices were still down in the double-digits year-over-year.),” according to PadMapper. “These flat rates may be a result of a recent migration of renters who never lived in these pricey cities but wanted to take advantage of the cheap rent and unheard of move-in specials currently being offered.”

Doug King, executive director with the Together Against Poverty Society in Victoria, said the dip in rental rates is the kind of news they’ve been waiting for.

“It’s the first indication that rents will start to decrease as a result of (rising vacancy rates),” he said. “Hopefully, this is the crest of the wave and a sign that perhaps the measures the NDP (government) have taken are starting to pay off.”

King said the group is still awaiting the latest figures from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, and must determine whether the slight decrease in rates is due to the pandemic or the recent increase in Victoria’s rental stock.

“These rental-designed buildings will help relieve some of the pressure on other parts of the market,” he said, adding that those on low incomes or who have been renting their current home for a number of years will still have trouble finding affordable homes.

“For people on income assistance of disability, rent is so high they would have a hard time getting into the private market and will still depend on government assistance.”

King said that is why renovictions are such an important issue and more needs to be done to make sure protections are in place.

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CRD transportation committee wants study on West Shore to Victoria ferry

The Capital Regional District (CRD) transportation committee voted April 21 to ask for a full feasibility study on a passenger ferry between the West Shore and downtown Victoria.

“In a region surrounded by water, it would be irresponsible not to fully explore the feasibility of marine travel as one approach to addressing traffic congestion and achieving our active transportation and clean energy goals,” said Colwood Mayor Rob Martin, a member of the committee.

Two years ago BC Ferries commissioned SNC Lavalin to do an initial study, which found that a passenger ferry from Royal Bay in Colwood to Ship Point in downtown Victoria could help reduce traffic congestion and promote transit use, thereby reducing dependence on cars as a mode of commute.

The ferry is also looked to as a potential boon for the economy and tourism industry.

Royal Bay has undergone a profusion of development, with thousands of more homes and an upgraded waterfront in the neighbourhood’s future plans.

The transportation committee’s recommendation will be submitted to the full CRD board at the May 12 meeting. The province and other partners would then be petitioned to undertake the study.

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Highlands fire department reaches new aid agreement

Residents in Saanich, Central Saanich and Highlands can expect to see firefighters from other jurisdictions lending a hand in their municipality as newly updated partnerships ensure automatic aid and a response from the nearest fire station have been implemented.

This month, the districts’ fire departments finalized the implementation of updated mutual aid agreements – tools that enable departments to assist one another, share resources and provide support in major incidents across jurisdictional boundaries – and new automatic aid protocols that allow resources from the station closest to an incident to be dispatched.

The agreements, signed earlier this year, help each department provide faster, better and more cost-effective service through streamlined collaboration. To reimburse departments for their cross-boundary service, a cost recovery process was also put in place. In order to give each department time to implement the required computer-aided dispatch and communications protocols, the Automatic Aid Protocol Agreements weren’t implemented until April.

“Through collaboration, joint training and aligned procedures, these agreements ensure that our approach is modern and provides citizens with the best service possible,” Saanich Fire Chief Michael Burgess said in a statement.

Highlands Fire Chief Dean Ford added that safety is the top priority for every department and by working together to establish agreements, the departments can rely on one another for assistance “when responding to high-risk incidents, such as wildfire,” and trust that additional resources will be available immediately.

Central Saanich Fire Chief Chris Vrabel noted that the agreements will increase operational efficiency and allow each department to be more effective – “resulting in a higher level of fire and life safety for our citizens and firefighters.”

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Water Conservation Bylaw – Stage 1 (advisory)

In effect May 1 to September 30
For more information, please visit www.crd.bc.ca/water

For multi-unit properties, the street address applies—not the individual unit number

Residential watering is permitted as follows:

RESIDENTIAL LAWNS

• Even Addresses: Wednesday & Saturday 4-10am & 7-10pm
• Odd Addresses: Thursday & Sunday 4-10am & 7-10pm

ESTABLISHED TREES, SHRUBS, FLOWERS

• By Sprinkler: Any day 4-10am & 7-10pm
• Hand Watering or Micro/Drip Irrigation: Any day and time

VEGETABLE GARDENS

• By Sprinkler: Any day 4-10am & 7-10pm
• Hand Watering or Micro/Drip Irrigation: Any day and time

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Federal budget bill includes $15 minimum wage, tax changes

JORDAN PRESS — The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — The federal Liberals’ bill to enact parts of their budget includes changes to emergency aid, taxes and a $15 national minimum wage alongside other items such as an election-law amendment.

The change to the Canada Elections Act would specify that it is illegal to “knowingly” make false statements about a candidate or party leader.

There are also provisions in the bill to give the National Research Council a mandate to produce “drugs and devices” to protect or improve Canadians’ health.

Other measures in the bill were supposed to have been in an implementation bill last year, but weren’t when the Liberals eschewed tabling a budget due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among those measures are changes to the Social Security Tribunal that adjudicates Canadians’ appeals of rulings on their requests for employment insurance and Canada Pension Plan benefits.

Another such change is easing access to a benefit for parents of murdered or missing children, and doubling to 104 weeks the leave available to them under the Canada Labour Code.

A spokeswoman for Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said all the measures in the legislation were detailed in the April 19 budget. Katherine Cuplinskas said in a written statement that the government hoped other parties would back the bill.

The fate of the minority Liberal government rests on getting support from one major party in the House of Commons, without which the government would fall and trigger a process that would likely lead to an election campaign.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said there were several measures in the bill that were positive, pointing to the $15 minimum wage that his party had pushed for during the 2015 federal election before Singh became leader.

At the time, the Liberals under Justin Trudeau panned the New Democrat proposal because it left out the majority of workers whose hourly wage floor is set by provinces.

The bill would set the minimum wage at $15 per hour, or the corresponding provincial minimum if it is higher, with annual increases to keep up with inflation.

But Singh noted it wouldn’t come into effect for six months until after the bill becomes law, which he called an unnecessary delay.

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Opposition furious after debate to call PM’s top aide cancelled

(The Canadian Press)

OTTAWA — Opposition parties are up in arms after a parliamentary committee meeting in which members were planning to continue debating whether to call Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s chief of staff, Katie Telford, to testify was cancelled without notice.

[Excerpt continues in original coverage...]

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U.S. begins reuniting families separated at Mexico border

(The Associated Press)

SAN DIEGO — The Biden administration said Monday that four families that were separated at the Mexico border during Donald Trump’s presidency will be reunited in the