Transcript: Council Meeting - 2026/09/21

Speaker A · Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the Regular council meeting on September 21, 2026. I'd like to warmly welcome everyone joining us in chambers and online. Apologies for the slow delay. We were just navigating some sound challenges and wanting to make sure that we were set up for hearing from everybody during the meeting and having some good sound quality. So we are ready to get started. Before we start the meeting, I just want to share that we have a couple more meetings happening before the end of the term. The first one being September. September 28th, the next one being October 5th. And while we look forward to those next meetings, I understand that this is Councillor Morley's last meeting. So I would like to thank Councilor Morley for all his hard work over the term.

Speaker A · Councillor Morley has served on the Greater Victoria Library Board, Parcel Tax Roll Review Panel, Community Advisory Committee, and it has been the alternate for Crest, my alternate for that seat, both the JDF and the Regional Water Supply Commission. So thank you so much for your service and we're going to miss you for the last two meetings, and I just wanted to acknowledge that we're. That today is your last meeting. Thank you very much. So I will call this meeting to order at 7:07, and I'm going to look to Councillor Wagner for the territorial acknowledgment. Please.

Speaker B · Thank you. The city of Lankford sits upon the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people of the Wasabson, Songhees, Shannon nations and the Wasanich peoples, represented by the Sartlop, Bokachan, Sachem and Malahat nations. We thank them for sharing this beautiful land.

Speaker A · Thank you, Councillor Wagner, and I'll look to Ms. Whatmo for the meeting. Conduct rules, please. Good evening, everyone.

Speaker C · My name is Marie Watmo and I will be the moderator for tonight's meeting. Participation by the public is in person or via Zoom, either using the Zoom app or telephone. If you're joining us through the Zoom app and wish to make a comment, please use the Raise hand function in the app, keeping in mind that you're able to both raise and lower your hand and you'll be called on based upon your username. You'll need to unmute yourself when it's time for you to speak. If you're joining us via telephone, you must press Star nine on the telephone keypad to raise your hand. You should hear a recording advising you that the moderator will be notified you wish to speak and you'll be called on using the last three digits of your phone number. Please press star6 on the telephone keypad.

Speaker C · To unmute your phone. If you're attending in person, you can approach the podium one at a time once the public input portion begins. And in all cases, please start by providing us with your first initial, last name and municipality of residence and indicate which item or items on the agenda you wish to speak to during public participation tonight. You can speak to any item on the agenda with the exception of item 10. 2, which has been the subject of a public hearing. And all comments are subject to the three minute time limit at this time. We remind the public that the city doesn't tolerate bullying or harassment of city staff, elected officials or members of the public during council and committee meetings. So please keep your comments respectful.

Speaker C · Any matters not appearing on tonight's agenda, please contact City hall by calling 250-478-7882 during regular business hours. If you experience technical difficulties in getting through tonight, please contact City hall tomorrow. And as always, the city also accepts written submissions and comments.

Speaker A · Much appreciated. Before we go on to the agenda, I just want to acknowledge that Mayor Goodmanson is online and will be joining us remotely. So whenever I see a hand up, I'll be calling on the mayor from online. Next, I'm going to look to council for an approval of the agenda, please.

Speaker D · Thank you, Chair. I'll move that council approve the agenda as presented.

Speaker A · I'll second move and seconded any additions or comments. All those in favor and approved. Next is the adoption of the minutes.

Speaker D · Thank you. I'll move that council adopt the minutes of the council meeting held on September 8, 2026.

Speaker A · I will second and moved by Councillor Harder. Seconded by Councilor Wagner. Any amendments or concerns on the minutes as they have been presented in the agenda. All those in favor and passed. So coming up really quick on our agenda here is we have a presentation on the community safety working groups update with James Bridge.

Speaker E · Welcome.

Speaker F · Thank you very much, Council. What I'd like to do is walk you through work that has been happening in the last few months with three working groups that you requested be created to work on the top issues arising from the community safety survey which was done earlier this year. I served simply as facilitator and want to walk you through the fantastic work that our three working groups have done and the recommendations that come out of that. This is one piece of a much more comprehensive community safety plan which will be presented later in the year. But we wanted to bring forward some of these recommendations.

Speaker F · Some of them are time sensitive and in some cases getting these things rolling is going to have an immediate and positive Impact on the community. Are my slides. Oh, there we go. So tonight I'd like to just again give you an overview of the discussions and outcomes of the three working groups. These were the three highest priority issues identified in the Community Safety survey. I'm going to talk about the process, a little bit of context around each one, because we had deep and interesting conversations with the experts in each of these areas that ultimately led to the recommendations, and then go through the recommendations in a fair bit of detail.

Speaker F · First, a bit of a recap. Langford has adopted a process that is used all across Canada, for that matter, all around the world, which really consists of four steps. First, a community safety survey, which assesses what's actually going on in the community in terms of crime. It augments police crime data, but also assesses how people feel safe in the community and digs into when and where they feel safe and more importantly, when and where they don't feel safe. This generally leads to the creation of a community safety plan, which, as I mentioned, is in development. That plan then informs budget setting, each budget cycle, and then they're evaluative or an evaluation process, and you start the cycle again. The community safety plan will talk about possible evaluation tools for the key areas.

Speaker F · The survey again, was done earlier this year. We're a bit out of sequence here. So as a result of that, what council did is you set aside $450,000 in the budget in case there was a need to fund some of the recommendations that come out of the working group's efforts. And that's exactly what's happened. And I will walk through that in more detail as well. You created three working groups, one on property crime, one on safety in parks and trails, and one on issues arising from the unhoused and open drug use. And again, these were the three biggest issues coming out of the survey. And these were the community's issues too. These were things that were top of mind for the community. So we created these groups.

Speaker F · I'll go through the membership as we go through the presentation. We met as one large group in June to talk about the survey and the process, and then as three individual groups three times each in July and August and September. We met a couple weeks ago to go through the recommendations in detail and get the working group sense of what were their highest priority recommendations. There's some really important considerations. The recommendations I'm going to present tonight are not mine, they're not from me, they're not from the staff. These are from the people who deal with these issues every day. And we went through an exercise again at our last meeting to ensure that we had broad consensus that they were reasonably complete.

Speaker F · And happily say that's the case is the working groups felt strongly that these are the steps that should be taken. We then had meetings with Superintendent Gillespie and with the fire chief to walk through them as well. We made some minor amendments. Superintendent Gillespie had a recommendation of his own, which we think is a incredibly important and powerful complement to this. And I'll give him an opportunity. I won't steal his thunder. I'll give him an opportunity to talk about it a little later. We'll get right into property crime, which was the first working group. The working group included the RCMP Crime Reduction Unit. The corporal from the Crime Reduction Unit was at all of the working group meetings, brought some of his colleagues to some of the meetings. West Shore Chamber of Commerce was there.

Speaker F · The West Shore Town Center General Manager attended Langford Economic Development Staff, Langford Municipal Enforcement, Lauren in particular, and other senior staff from the city of Langford. The context is important here. Property crime is by far the most common type of crime in Langford in the west, as it is in just about every municipality in the country. Breaking it down about 36% of it. It's a little hard to see on that is shoplifting mischief. Under $5,000 is about 24% of it. That's vandalism, graffiti damage to private and public property. Theft under 5,000, often from private property, is about 18% of it. Theft from vehicles is 5%. And then minor fraud under 5,000 is about 13% of it.

Speaker F · When we looked in the survey as well, or the survey results showed that a little over 30% of residents who'd been victims of crime in the previous year had not reported it to the police for whatever reasons. A vast majority of that unreported crime was also property crime. But I should also stress, although it is the number one type of crime in Lankford, as it is in almost all municipalities, Langford's property crime rate is still lower than the BC average. The whole exercise was an extraordinarily interesting education for me and I think everybody who was on it. The RCMP corporal walked us through a really interesting overview of the types of property criminals active in Langford.

Speaker F · Some percentage are youth and they're often stealing just for personal use. Makeup, clothing, perfume, those sorts of things. They are almost always rooted into a restorative justice process where their parents are involved, the victims are involved, some sort of community service or other outcome. And the sense from the RCMP is that it's extremely effective that those people very rarely commit offenses. Again, the unhoused do commit some crime often sometimes for sustenance. Theft for sustenance is almost never prosecuted in British Columbia but is also they steal for goods or exchange for money or for drugs. In some cases There are about 15 to 20 chronic offenders working in in Langford.

Speaker F · Langford is a popular place because of the big box stores. And I should stress that these 15 or 20 individuals are not necessarily as residents of Langford. In fact in most cases they're not. They come from Duncan or they come from SOK or they come from other parts of Greater Victoria. And and that's a common pattern. They go somewhere else to do their their stealing where people don't know their faces if they're caught on a surveillance video, etc. So those 15 to 20 may come from all over the south island and then less frequently there are organized groups often organized crime who come in from the mainland often and do more sophisticated types of theft and frauds of vehicle or construction equipment or frauds and scams involving fake jewelry and those sorts of things.

Speaker F · Some of the key challenge and this is common right across British Columbia as until until very recently property crime often went unprosecuted. Crowns are overwhelmed with more serious crimes. They often just had little or no capacity for minor property crimes, even for chronic offenders. I think the term that Superintendent Gillespie used when we met with Ms. Catch and Release has been the pattern for many many years now. But this is changing and changing very much for the better. The province just in recent months has introduced a new program called the Chronic Property Offender Intervention Initiative. Cpoi it's the inevitable acronym and this is a program run by the Crown's corrections probation and wraps very specific programming around chronic offenders.

Speaker F · And they either agree to go through the program and and take whatever sort of prescription is prescribed for them, whether it's addiction counseling or other things or they can go to jail. So it is modeled after a similar program for violent offenders that has been around for many years and is very very successful and effective. The RCMP crime reduction folks feel this is going to be a huge step in moving forward because it's modeled after this program and because you will start to see some real consequences for the chronic offenders. Other considerations in Langford, as is the case everywhere, only the larger stores have dedicated loss prevention officers. This would be Superstore and Canadian Tire and Best Buy and some of these.

Speaker F · And unusually in Lankford, the loss prevention officers don't talk to each other. In many cities, even one smaller than Langford, they will have a little association. They'll get together for lunch now and then. They'll exchange notes and strategies and pictures of some of the people, people they're dealing with frequently. But that doesn't happen here for whatever reason. And of course, the flip side of the coin is very small businesses often have very little security knowledge, very little security technology, and they're often also targets for precisely that reason. We also have learned in our discussions with the group that the block and neighborhood watch programs, although they're in place and their signs around the city, they've kind of fizzled away in recent decades, perhaps because everyone has a cell phone and just takes pictures of things.

Speaker F · But they're certainly less active than they were in the past. And yet they're good youthful neighborhood programs. And there's also a certain amount of crime, including criminal arson associated with construction sites. And Langford, of course, has a disproportionate number of construction sites compared to some other municipalities. So jumping right into the recommendations, first and foremost we're recommending that the RCMP you add an RCMP officer to deal with property crime, particularly given the implementation of the CPO program. I think the advice from the RCMP officers who worked with us is now's the time where additional enforcement will have real consequences. So this is recommended. This additional officer can be the liaison to the CPO program, can work with local businesses, but can also of course assist with the day to day property crime shoplifting activities.

Speaker F · It's about $225,000 a year, which is the all in cost for an additional RCMP officer. I should stress, and I'll stress this again, this money is already in your budget. This isn't additional money. This is part of the 450,000 that you set aside before we started this process. The next one is one again, the RCMP representatives, everybody for that matter, it was really important to communicate to the public about what was happening and particularly where people were getting serious and consequential sentences for property crime. The perception among criminals and would be criminals right now is it's kind of a punishment free offense. So what we want to do with this recommendation is be much more public, much more actively put out into the world needs of property crime offenders, particularly chronic offenders who get significant sentences.

Speaker F · And that is starting to happen and it should happen even more with the sepoy program. I'm working with the Chamber of Commerce, Citi and rcmp, of course, length of fire and rescue would like to Be part of this, implement a crime reduction program for small businesses. Surrey has one which has been quite effective. Apparently the Surrey police request this service. They will come to your small business, they will bring in somebody with crime prevention through environmental design expertise. They will give you a checklist of things you can do for your small business to improve its security and further reduce theft. Might be equipment, might be layout of the store, might be any number of things.

Speaker F · Again, we think this is good. The Chamber of commerce was very supportive of this and would like to be actively involved to kickstart this. We're proposing that the city allocate about $50,000 one time money at this point to assist small businesses to acquire security cameras, other security equipment, perhaps do other physical renovations to their businesses. We're suggesting this be administered by the Chamber of Commerce. They're interested in doing that. They have some legitimate concerns about the administrative overhead of this. But I think this is a way to give some small businesses a bit of an assist in, in making their businesses more secure and ultimately hopefully reducing crime.

Speaker F · We're suggesting that, and this is an easy and no cost recommendation that the city and the RCMP buy some pizza and bring together the loss prevention officers now and then, even just a couple times a year. And hopefully in time they will form their own association and become self supporting. But if we can be the catalyst to bring them together, put together some initial agendas and get things off the ground, I think there's value in that. We're encouraging the RCMP and I think they're quite supportive of this to think about and consider ways to reinvigorate block watch programs and neighborhood watch programs. And that's again, those are great work programs in their day.

Speaker F · But I don't think it's just in Langford. Around the world they have become less prevalent. This is something I haven't mentioned earlier. The RCMP officers who work on property crime would very much like to see the crowns use red zones. What red zones are are geographic areas that chronic offenders are not allowed to set foot in. If they are, they can be, they can be arrested. It's been used successfully in other jurisdictions. It's not used as much here. The decision would ultimately be up to the crowns. But we would like to make this recommendation to the province that the crowns begin to think seriously about the use of red zones. A red zone might be downtown, it might be the Weckshore center.

Speaker F · But for chronic offenders it's a useful tool in simply keeping them away from places where they might steal. We're recommending that as a council, you advocate to the province to really ramp up the sepoy program. I think one of the small frustrations is although it is up and operating, it's not on the scale that people had hoped for. So again, there's huge optimism about the impact of this program. And the faster and more extensively the province can invest in it, the better construction site monitoring. The construction industry certainly does take crime and theft seriously because it's a big loss to them. But again, the city Langford Fire and Rescue because of criminal arsons, RCMP should continue to work and they are working now with the construction industry to encourage construction site monitoring, crime prevention measures.

Speaker F · And this could include marking tools, it could include trackers on heavy equipment and those sorts of things. The city should also work with the Building officials Association of B. C. to ensure that crime prevention considerations are built into buildings. We heard about buildings in the area where there could have been some simple changes made at the design phase to make them much more secure and much more theft resistant. So again, this is collaborative work with the building officials. Front porches are a good example. They get eyes on a community in a neighborhood in ways that doesn't happen if you don't have a front porch. We're suggesting, and this is done in other municipalities that you consider a bylaw requiring retailers to put spray paints and lock displays. There's some evidence that it reduces graffiti. In particular, it certainly reduces the theft of spray paint.

Speaker F · So that is an option. The other thing that we're considering, and I'll give you a brief explanation on this, is that there be fairly significant controls on bear spray. There are few informal youth gangs in Langford and the West Shore. And in recent years one of the initiation rates is you have to randomly bear spray a stranger or strangers. It's happened a couple times at the West Shore center. It's happened elsewhere in the municipality. So we're suggesting you examine what's in place now for controls on the the purchase of bear spray and see if there are any additional steps the municipality needs to take. So those are the recommendations for for property crime safety in parks and trails.

Speaker F · Whether it was our other issue and it was a quite different conversation we had city of Langford bylaw staff there, the Capital Regional District bylaw staff, of course, their big CRD trails through the municipality. The RCMP again park staff, Ruth King, parent advisory committee representative was there and the RAD Society which does adaptive recreation had a representative there who was also very insightful from that particular perspective. The survey showed that many people felt Unsafe in parks and trails at night, especially women and oddly, especially younger people. However, the reality is there is very, very, very little crime in parks of trails at any time of day, let alone the night. The key complaint, in fact, is unruly dogs. So they are not inherently unsafe places anyways.

Speaker F · People struggle to remember the last time there was a serious offense in a city park. And moreover, city parks are closed at night, so people shouldn't be there in the first place. And people are, but they are closed at night and should not be there or the public should not generally be going in the parks. Our newer parks in the city do the great work of the park staff are designed with visibility and view corridors and view lines considered as they're designed. Some of the older parks don't quite have that. And there are blind spots or dark spots. And the city has a security patrol every night goes out, I think it's from 7pm to 9pm to 5am and goes around checks parked, check city facilities and calls the RCMP if support is needed.

Speaker F · And it's a complex jurisdictional picture too. We did not drill into in the survey. Were you on a CRD trail? Were you on a city trail? Were you on a provincial trail in Goldstream Park? Were you in a park next to a schoolyard? So there are multiple jurisdictions and it gets even more muddled because on parts of the ENN the paved trail itself is CRD jurisdiction and either side of it is the Island Corridor foundation jurisdiction.

Speaker G · So.

Speaker F · So there are multiple jurisdictions at play in terms of recommendations. There's this strong consensus that just some additional public education about the fact that there is very little crime in parks. City parks are closed at night that so there are polls out there. Checking them all the time might help allay some of the concern about safety in parks all through the day. There is a recommendation here that the city expand its bylaw officer bank proposals, which currently don't run year round. There is value, the group agreed in having uniform municipal presence in the parks and going through the parks on a regular basis, not just for a number of months a year, but for the entire year.

Speaker F · Cost for that is about $120,000 a year to build that out all year. The city bylaw staff and park staff are in the parks, as are the crd, but rarely together. So there was agreement in the group, particularly between the CRD team and the city team, that if they can do more joint patrols, more joint educational activities, that's going to be seen, I think is seen more powerfully than if they're out there working individually. More active parks make people feel safe. So one of the recommendations is the city and CRD should use social media, other tools to encourage active use of park. Talk about keeping dogs under control, given it's one of the key complaints and inform people new to the region of just what's out there.

Speaker F · People generally feel safer when the parks are in use and occupied by others to the extent possible. It was recommended that the city parks perhaps another look through crime prevention, through environmental design lens and if there can be changes made to make them safer, to make visibility into the parks easier both day and night, that those steps be taken. The crd, and this is mainly a CRD recommendation, not a city one, is in the process right now of looking at some of the heavily used parts of their trail network, particularly the Galloping Goots and and enn. They're widening it. They're adding lighting at the moment that does not include any segments within Langford.

Speaker F · But it's valuable, I think, to keep an eye on this program and encourage the CRD to look at segments that are in Langford that might be used heavily both for recreational and commuter use. And one of the things is people said the parks and trails are now very well maintained, very clean. Yuri and his team do a fantastic job of looking after them. That we maintain that and we keep a focus on that because graffiti, litter, all the broken window stuff makes people feel inherently unsafe as well. So keeping up the great work on that both through the CRD trails and in city parks and trails was an important outcome.

Speaker F · And finally and again to encourage activity in the parks, we're recommending that collaborate with the school district, community partner organizations to expand free accessible recreational use. Meet with the school board rather than running around the track, which has to be boring, get out on city trails and city parks and use those more actively. Again, activating the parks, the group felt very strongly the more we can activate the parks, the more people are going to feel or the safer people are going to feel in them. And onto the last area unhoused and open drug use. We had a big working group rtmp Again, the bike squad was part of this one because they're the ones who interact most frequently with the unhoused in the city.

Speaker F · City BYLAW staff CRD BYLAW STAFF BT Housing Mental health was there. The backpack project which deals right across the region with people who are unhoused. Threshold housing which provides transitional and other types of housing. Salvation Army Connection Point Pastor is here with us today. Island Health S Family Resource center and we had an individual who is previously unhoused and addicted and now housed and clean, who is incredibly courageous in helping us understand her personal experience going through all of this. The context is really important. A very small number of people living unhoused and living rough and length are typically 6 to 8 fewer in the winter. To put that in perspective, there's 1700 in the Greater Victoria area.

Speaker F · So we have six to eight of the 1700. That was the last point in time count. They camp in city property. I think as everybody knows behind the 7:11 on Rex Row. That's city property. The city is required by law to find space for people to camp overnight, but they are not allowed to have shelters up during the day. So Lorne and his team go out every morning, ensure the the area is clean and that people pack up their belongings and move on. Some of those folks do spend their days in parks and trails around the city in the winter, in libraries, etc. They are entirely have every right to do so.

Speaker F · There's also an unknown number of people living in their vehicles in their west shore. And there isn't a good count on those. They tend to move around to wherever there aren't 24 hour parking restrictions. But the other reality with those folks is often one breakdown away from being completely homeless. In the opinion of the rcmp, the local unhoused are not a major source of crime in the city. The unhoused coming in from other parts of the south island often are. But our local 6 to 8 are not a great source of crime. It's important to note that studies everywhere in the world show that people feel less safe in the presence of the unhoused, even when the unhoused are not a risk.

Speaker F · And in terms of illegal drug use, important point to make is the vast majority of illegal drug use in the city of Langford, as is the case in every city, is by the house, not by the unhoused. The unhoused are more likely to use illegal drugs. But the great majority of the illegal drug use happens behind closed doors and private property. And the fire department goes to far more overdoses in homes than the unhoused. And it's important to note the unhoused are 30 to 50 more times to be likely to be victims of crime than the general population. There are numerous groups, we were surprised actually by how many who work to support the unhoused. In the West Shore in Greater Victoria.

Speaker F · Some were part of our working group, the Salvation army run the connection point in the downtown. Here it is a one Stop location for numerous services around housing, food, security, health and addiction services. Ministries have representatives there at various times, but its hours are very, very limited. The working group felt, I think I can safely say unanimously that the services to the unhoused everywhere, not just in Langford, they're fragmented, they're complicated. One ministry representative said, even my ministry, the protests are so complicated, they're difficult for anybody to navigate. I won't name which ministry that was, but so. So they're fragmented, they're complicated, they're very difficult for anybody to navigate.

Speaker F · And everybody felt strongly that the One Stop model, similar to what the Salvation army is currently providing, is absolutely the way to go. Somebody can go to one location, get access to all the services, and hopefully get the services they need, whether it's through BT housing or addiction or health or other types of services. People pointed to a similar model in Nanaimo. If you've been to Nanaimo recently, you will probably notice that there are far few invisible homeless people anyway. And it apparently has been very, very successful there. I want to be candid. There are philosophical differences in the group about how directly the municipality, all municipalities, not just Langford, should step in to fill the needs that are properly provided by the provincial government.

Speaker F · A number of people took the position, no, that's a provincial responsibility. Municipal government should not be filling that void. And other people felt there was a humanitarian need for the. For the municipalities to step in if the province wouldn't. There was broad agreement, and again, this was some advice from the individual who'd been through the system, that transitional housing, which is intended. It's short term, it's intended to people, to get people into permanent housing is far more effective than shelters or supportive housing. And information was also provided about useful training and resource material for bylaw officers who work with the unhoused. And I'll get to those recommendations in a minute.

Speaker F · What happened at our last meeting, which I certainly didn't see coming, is the group really appreciated being together. They all kind of knew each other informally, but they'd had almost no opportunities to sit down as a group, compare notes, strategies, problem solve, et cetera. So they'd like to continue to do that. So one of our recommendations, as you'll see in a minute, is that again, like the loss prevention officers, perhaps buy some Timbits every now and then and bring that group together because they were very vocal about how much they valued the opportunity. So into the recommendations, the city should grant this, provide a grant to the Salvation Army Connection Point to expand their One Stop services And this is not just for the unhoused.

Speaker F · It's for people who are living on the margins. It's for people maybe living in their vehicles. It's people who may be at risk of becoming unhoused. They provide this service now. It's not new. Again, the working group was incredibly positive about the services that Connection Point provides. And so we're suggesting $50,000 through a service agreement with possible renewal in the future to allow the Connection Point to expand both the breadth and particularly the hours of the program that they're already providing. We're suggesting that CRD and city staff receive trauma informed care training. The RTMP already receive it. It's excellent training for people who deal regularly with the unhoused.

Speaker F · And when we met with Fire Chief, he would like all of his staff to receive the training as well because they deal from time to time with the unhoused. It's provided through the Justice Institute and other sources. A number of people in the working group brought forward to us best practices from other nations, new legal decisions, policies and practices for dealing with the unhoused. We got quite a library of information. So one of the recommendations is both the city staff, the Wylloff staff in particular, and the CRD staff go through these policies and make any necessary adjustments to their own policies and practices. And everybody was again, quite supportive of this. And it is a low cost or no cost recommendation. An advocacy role, West Shore municipalities.

Speaker F · Ideally it would be all the West Shore municipalities would advocate to the province for a wider range of housing. I know you have been doing this for some time and somewhat alarmingly, the province is actually pulling back money for needed housing. But again, agreement that transitional housing is more valuable than other types of shelters and supportive housing. One of the things that has been used in other jurisdictions that came up from the working group is the assignment of somebody, we call them the navigator, somebody to help somebody who is either unhoused or at risk of being unhoused, navigate all these systems, even if they come into a one stop center such as Connection Point.

Speaker F · We think this is a provincial responsibility, not a municipal responsibility. So we're suggesting some advocacy for that service. It doesn't appear to exist.

Speaker A · Now,

Speaker F · The city should continue to hold the property at 889 Hockley, which you've been holding for some time now, awaiting for the province to provide housing for, for or providing funding for transitional housing, but hasn't come forward yet. This is one that we talked about. One of the core roots of both addiction and being unhoused is Simply poverty. Universal Basic Income, which is discussed across Canada from time to time and never seems to get a whole lot of traction, but has been demonstrated wherever it's been tested or implemented to bring huge numbers of people out of poverty. There is a working group that has been around for a while called the region's Homeless Encampment Working Group Response Leadership Table. Quite a mouthful.

Speaker F · The West Shore has no representation on it, so we're recommending that you advocate for that. Again, for the West Shore, not Langford specifically. The sub region should have a seat at that table and as I mentioned earlier, create ongoing opportunities for the folks who are on the working group to continue to get together and meet regularly. I'm almost done. Financial implications, very quickly. $225,000 for an additional RCMP officer, the grant program for small businesses, 120,000 to expand the bike patrol year round, and 50,000 to connection point. And again, that money is already in your budget. One thing I do want to mention, and again, I'll put Superintendent Gillespie on the spot, when we met with him, he made a recommendation that we immediately thought would be hugely complimentary to all the recommendations that I just went through.

Speaker F · It's called a situation table. He has familiarity with it elsewhere. But can I. Can I put you on the spot? Superintendent Gillespie,

Speaker A · Welcome. Superintendent. Thank you so much for being here today.

Speaker H · Thank you. So, yeah, when we were kind of working through all these recommendations, one of the things I was surprised not to see was, or I was surprised to learn is that Langford didn't have a situation table or the West Shore in general didn't have a situation table. These had been advocated by the province about five years ago. And at that time, I think there was a pot of money to get them going. I don't think that exists anymore. But all a situation table is, is all of these partners that Mr. Ridge had mentioned who were talking about how much they liked getting together, and a few others like the Ministry of Children and Families, Probation and that type of thing.

Speaker H · And it's getting those people together in a room and discussing actually specific cases like this individual is homeless, and this individual is having a lot of contact with police and this individuals in the court system, and how can we look to resolve that? And, you know, what are the primary issues here? Is it addiction? Is it homelessness? Is it whatever? And then kind of getting an agency to take a lead on whatever we think the solution is to see if we can get them out of that cycle. So I was a part of this in Smithers and Terrace They're, I mean, not always effective. You know, you might try to support eight or nine people that are coming, your highest flyers during the year, and it might only be effective on one of those nine, but. Oops.

Speaker H · But even still, you know, if you hit 1 out of 9 or 1 out of 10, that is making a difference every year. And if you do that over a number of years, you do end up taking people out of that cycle and gradually reducing prime. So that was just one suggestion I had that may be worth us looking into.

Speaker F · So, yeah, so that. That recommendation will absolutely be in the community safety plan that come forward a bit later. Oh, sorry. Next step, as I mentioned, a full community safety plan will be finalized and presented to council before the end of the year and it will obviously include all the recommendations we talked about tonight. And again, I really want to stress, these are recommendations that came from the people who deal with these issues every day. We didn't filter them, we didn't edit them in any meaningful way. And the relative priorities that you see in the slides as well was established by them. At our last meeting, we asked them what they thought the top three priorities or the top four priorities were, and there was, again, a high degree of consensus. But taken together, they should make the city safer.

Speaker F · We think they're a good collection of recommendations. They certainly should reduce property crime, improve the public's understanding of crime and their personal safety, and we are very hopeful that it will help move some of the unhoused in the city out of homelessness. Happy to answer any questions.

Speaker A · Thank you so much, Mr. Rich. You've covered a lot of ground. Thank you for providing such a. What seems like productive conversation environment for these three working groups.

Speaker I · You've been.

Speaker A · It's a pleasure to hear so much came out of them. Before I open up to council, I'm going to look to our superintendent because I'm sure that there's going to be a question on your comment on some of the recommendations. So if you have a comment or a response, that would be a great way to start us off. Thank you. Feel free to stay where you are if you'd like.

Speaker D · Okay.

Speaker J · Yeah.

Speaker K · Yes.

Speaker H · So I got to work with city staff on the recommendations and I can say it was really great process for us and the detachment. I actually got really positive feedback from the officers which we assigned to each committee, which, of course, we also handpicked as well. So they were very knowledgeable on each of the subjects, subjects that the committees were meeting on. But it was also great for members at that level to Kind of be engaged in the strategic thinking and you know what we need to do to meet the goals of the communities we serve. So I think it was a really good exercise overall for the detachment, for the city and for those parties involved.

Speaker H · I'm sure it'll surprise no one that I endorse a plan that gives the RCMP an extra police officer, but he or she will be very busy implementing many of the recommendations from the plan, assuming that they get adopted. So, yeah, I think a lot of worthwhile ideas came out of those committees and certainly happy to answer any questions that council may have as it pertains to the versing p pieces of the puzzle.

Speaker A · Thank you for that additional context. That's great. Thank you. So I'm going to look to council to see if we have any questions on the presentation. I will just comment that we have public participation coming up next and then we're going to be coming back to this topic. So if we could keep it to one or two questions maybe clarifying on the presentation and then if there's questions more on the content that would have to do with your decision coming up later, then that's probably a more appropriate time for those I see. Councillor Wagner, you have your light on right away.

Speaker L · Thank you.

Speaker B · Through the chair, I did have a question about the Block Watch programs and how to support them. My understanding is that it comes from community members who need to potentially do quite a bit of work to organize their neighbors. And it's lots of emails and then maybe there's challenges of are we actually having results? How do we make sure that they're feeling like they're effective and also to encourage other neighborhoods if there's not somebody who was able to put in that time. Just wonder if you had some experience about encouraging blockwatch in different neighborhoods and supporting the ones that already exist.

Speaker H · It's interesting because we kind of had a similar discussion. My experience over the kind of last 10 years is block Watch participation has been decreasing and some of the Block watches have even kind of lost steam and dissolved. So, yeah, certainly I think it would be definitely some work to get some momentum in the Block Watches again. And it's not a solely kind of RCMP led initiative. Like you say. Someone in the community really has to do a lot of work to get Block Watch running and keep it running. So I think it would be important to find those leaders in the community that would be willing to take that on to kind of jump start Block Watch again.

Speaker B · If I could just follow up quickly on that. I wonder have you ever done a call out to encourage people to step forward? Is there a way to, I guess tie it in with public engagement sessions or something that could be RCMP led to let people know, like recruit almost?

Speaker H · Yeah, I wouldn't say we've done like a formal one with like, you know, advertising or anything like that. Usually what we've done is go through our existing volunteer group and just see if there's kind of people linked into that and anyone interested in taking that on, as we do have a fairly good volunteer group right now at the RCMP detachment. And sometimes those people will know people who may be interested in taking that on.

Speaker L · I like the grassroots approach.

Speaker D · Thank you,

Speaker A · Councilor Harder.

Speaker E · Thank you.

Speaker D · Through the chair. Thank you, Superintendent. Thank you, Mr. Ridge, for the presentation. Just hoping you could clarify the red zone recommendation a little bit more. Is that something that's currently in place in other areas outside of British Columbia? I just didn't follow along to that part of the presentation.

Speaker H · It has been used in British Columbia, you know, giving offenders basically no go areas for where they've been committing crime. It's had sometimes some traction in court and other times not, you know, just based on the kind of legalities of doing it. So it kind of falls in and out of favor over the years back, I would say like 2014, 2015 was really popular for a while and then kind of dropped off the radar. So again, it's just kind of engaging with Crown and seeing if there's a way to navigate through, you know, the latest case law and that type of thing to implement an effective version of no go zones for our frequent flyers.

Speaker H · So, yeah, that's one where we don't solely control whether that happens. Ultimately the decision lies with the Crown, but also their decisions have to be in line with current base law as well.

Speaker D · Thank you.

Speaker A · Anything further? You have another one, Councillor Wagner?

Speaker B · I do, and I'm not sure through the chair if this is for superintendent or for Mr. Ridge, but I was wondering about the responsibility of the big box stores or the construction sites to be paying for their security and then what role we might have. We don't want to start taking on even more costs at the city that really belong to other organizations. But of course, sharing information and encouraging this kind of, you know, security measures. So it might be an educational component. I just wondered if we could have a couple more comments about that and making sure that we're not taking on additional financial responsibility. We still want to work together.

Speaker H · Yeah, I can go first, I guess, and then I'll Pass it on to you? Yeah, for that one. I mean, as the officer in charge of the attachment as well, you know, I'm very careful to make sure that we don't become private security for private corporations and making sure that they're aware of that. Usually where our role comes into that is the crime prevention through environmental design, which is alluded to in the report. So making sure that they do have the proper measures in place to secure their property and know that, you know, they can't rely on us to drive past the place ten times a night because we are not their private security.

Speaker H · They need to have their procedures in place and then obviously see if there's crime occurring. We respond to that because that's our role is to deal with any of the crime that actually does occur.

Speaker B · From understanding it's more that they would monitor and if there is a crime then they would call you. But we're asking them to make sure they're doing the due diligence there.

Speaker F · They have primary responsibility for their own security and whether it's a big box door or construction site.

Speaker A · Anything further from council? So I actually had a question similar to Councillor Wagner's. She picked up on the block watch and probably we're of a similar generation where we grew up with block watch and so we know the symbols on the windows and this is before the time of social media, neighborhood groups. And my memory of block watches is that the effectiveness comes from folks being out on the street. Mr. Ridge, you mentioned the having eyes on the street, which is a Jane Jacobs way of having safe feeling streets. And so my question is, do you feel just based on where we are with social media and how folks are kind of feeling that's the way that they engage with each other, that maybe that we need a reintroduction to what the program is or if it just doesn't work well with the way folks are communicating anymore?

Speaker H · Yeah, I definitely don't think education piece would hurt for sure. And then yeah, it would definitely be connecting with the right type of people to make that succeed. If you don't get the right type of person there, then it's probably going to fall flat on its face. And I don't know if you have any other kind of thoughts on that.

Speaker F · No, I think in the age of camera phones and ring cameras and things like that, probably different types of eyes on the street than there used to be. But there's no substitute, I think, for people having personal eyes on their street. One of the things I didn't mention, but it's A good example of that is one area of the ENN that generates the most concerns is along Station Avenue precisely because there are huge numbers of eyes from the residential areas on that stretch of the trail.

Speaker D · Great.

Speaker A · Well thank you both. As I mentioned, we're going to be coming back to this and not too long. So hopefully you can stick around because I'm sure council will have some more clarifying questions when we come back to this agenda item.

Speaker M · For sure.

Speaker D · Thanks.

Speaker A · So next on our agenda is public participation. This is the opportunity for our community to let council know feedback and help us understand business that we are talking about on the agenda today. So I see we have new folks in council chambers and online. I will go to chambers first and we'll look to see if you have any feedback to come forward. Thank you. Ms. Hamilton. If you'd like to come forward first, if you are online, if you'd like to just start getting ready to find your hand if you'd like to participate and then we can start knowing folks that like to be to participate online.

Speaker A · And as Ms. Hamilton approaches, I'll just remind that we start if you could share your first initial last name and your municipality of residence and then what you're speaking to on the agenda. So welcome.

Speaker B · Hey, Hamilton Langford resident.

Speaker I · Good evening everyone. I want to thank thank you for the presentation and I do have an immediate question.

Speaker B · Several raised my hand so I wouldn't forget.

Speaker I · The RCMP has still has a program for checking on seniors. It's a voluntary program but I read recently that it's very small and not consistent and I'm wondering if there in any of this presentation where there has been any thought to providing a greater coverage for that sort of safety and also for maybe some information for seniors and how they can keep safe, especially

Speaker B · seniors who live alone.

Speaker L · Great. Thank you.

Speaker D · Thank you so much.

Speaker A · And this is a great example if you do have a question. This isn't really a back and forth but council will often take notes and bring up these items later and questions could come up when the item is discussed. So is there someone else from the gallery? Thank you. Please come forward.

Speaker G · Good evening. D. Hickman, Captain D. Hickman with the Salvation Army Corps Officer, Executive Director at the Salvation Army Connection Point. I would just like to speak to James's presentation along with my wife. We were appointed to the Salvation army connection point in 2022 and we have become ground zero for assisting and helping vulnerable individuals in the community, particularly the unhoused. And it was extremely refreshing and and I think it was extremely valuable to be invited participate in a working group on the initiation of the city of Langford. I think I can count on my hand, one hand, over the course of the last four years, how many times the city of Langford has tried to engage with the Salvation army on this issue.

Speaker G · So I think it's very important, as James pointed out, that this working group, which was filled with very professional individuals from a lot of different agencies and organizations, I think it was a very valuable exercise. Lots of great information was shared. And I think that this recommendation to keep something like a working group going or sporadic invitation once in a while, I think is a very good recommendation. I'm very grateful for my colleagues who recommended that the Salvation army be considered for a grant for $50,000 to expand our services. Four days a week. We feed our community. Many of the people we do feed are unhoused.

Speaker G · And I think you will find when you feed people and you provide for their basic human needs that you mitigate some of the problems around theft crime. I think it was at the first meeting it was mentioned that one of the local grocery stores has told their employees not to pace after people leaving their store with a sandwich they have stolen. So I think there is extreme value for the city of Lankford to consider ways in which they can support. I know there's a whole conversation about whose jurisdiction is it, Is it provincial or is it municipal or is it federal to help the vulnerable individuals in the community.

Speaker G · But I would just highly recommend that any help that you are able to leverage to helping the unhoused population will come around and help strengthen the community and mitigate.

Speaker A · I'm really sorry to interrupt you, but we're just at the end of the time.

Speaker G · All right.

Speaker A · Thank you. Yes, much appreciated. Wouldn't. So anybody else from chambers like to speak to council? Thank you.

Speaker D · Please come ahead.

Speaker I · This is my first time, so please bear with me. As Faux Bear, I am home care nurse within the West Shore. I provide services to people in the West Shore and Squamil and sook, but 99% of it, it's out here in the West Shore. I'm a homeowner in Langford as well. I have two things come to mind with the presentation is when we talk about graffiti. I'm curious about what areas are being graffiti and could we pay artists to install murals? Could we also give access to residents to have more ownership over public land where they feel like they can engage with their space? Not that this would be 100% solution, but I feel like when people have ownership over where they live, there's usually less crime. I'm also an artist myself, so I like to advocate for my comrades in that department.

Speaker I · I'm also curious about the Block Watch party. I'm wondering if there's any studies that actually prove its efficacy. The studies I'm familiar with actually oppose it. From what I understand, these usually occur in suburbs where there's a false, inflated sense of unsafety. I would be concerned about this pitting neighbors against each other and having more marginalized folks falsely accused of crimes that they're not committing. If we value welcoming different people, I wouldn't want to see us pitting people against each other. I really don't think that's a matter that needs to be put into the hands of people who have a knee jerk reaction to fear.

Speaker D · Thank you.

Speaker A · Thank you very much. Anyone else? Excuse me, from the gallery. Thank you. Come on forward.

Speaker B · Is it hot or is it off?

Speaker A · Okay.

Speaker L · B. Armstrong, Rodney Road. Yeah. B. Armstrong, Rodney Road. Great presentation. Really glad to see that at least one position I'd like to see that implemented right now. I think it's really necessary, you know, when I was looking at courtsheets tonight to see, you know, one guy in custody, but seven counts of possession for trafficking, chronic offender from downtown, another theft, lots and lots and lots of thefts on the courtsheets.

Speaker L · It's just incredible. But a lot of aggravated assault caused by assault, caused by the harm assaults. So I think it's really necessary to have that and then again increase it next year. I do. Like I. I'm aware that, that you've got a lot of new members and you've got a program where you're bringing in retired members that are able to take some of that load and help them, you know, transition from depot into policing. And I think I'd love to see that continue, whether it's them being hired as officers or in the civilian capacity that some of them are doing. The other thing is I'd like to see the crime stats published.

Speaker L · People need to know what's going on in their neighborhood. I do want to see bike. I'm not sure where the bike people are going to be for the full year, but I certainly can say in the Centennial park neighborhood we've had an uptick in crime. Thefts from the apartments and also drug use. And there have been some encampments. But I have not seen any drug paraphernalia hanging around though. So it's people who are coming in. I could probably point to two residences that are facilitating this, but yeah, great. And the other thing is 10. 8. Sorry, that was 8. 1. 10. 8. Development is shown.

Speaker L · I love seeing that statement in your thing because too many of the buildings that are being promoted have these wonderful pictures there in relation to what the actual neighborhood is. So I'd like to see the development proposals that are coming in having real

Speaker B · artistic

Speaker L · interpretation of what the neighborhood is like. Thank you.

Speaker A · Thank you so much. Is there anyone else from the gallery that would like to speak to an agenda item? Come on forward. Welcome.

Speaker E · Sorry, I should know this by now. Thank you. Lisa Foxall, going to speak to 8. 1, 10. 7. Just like to thank James Ridge and Superintendent Gillespie and the working groups for the presentation. That was great. Thank you. First, I'd like to speak to Block Watch programs. I have run one in my neighborhood since 2018. I believe it's been very effective. We've had a lot of reports about bicycle theft, car theft. We've got many neighbors with surveillance set up. So we found that very useful. I think it's a very effective way that's inexpensive to help with neighborhood crime. So I'd love to see that rolled out into, into neighborhoods.

Speaker E · I definitely wouldn't want to see neighbors, you know, being hit against each other. I haven't seen much of that, but definitely that's been my experience so far tonight. I didn't hear much about fraud. While these are more invisible crimes, there has been an increase 2024 for 2025 in the City Resource Review. There were 520 files, 298 being in Lankford. Maybe a future goal would be to have some focus on some digital forensics. Maybe Superintendent Gillespie could speak to that. I know that you know that is a major concern for many residents in Lankford. And then 10. 7. I do not support a six story building at 3213 and 3217 Happy Valley. I'm concerned the size of a building is too large for that lot.

Speaker E · It will add to even more traffic on an already busy area, making it unsafe. Don't get me wrong, as a nurse, I 1000% support and am behind more doctors in Langford. I think it's better suited for townhouses. I don't know if we could do that with one of the townhouses. If we could do townhouses there, have one townhouse, put doctors in there or at a different location for doctors. I just don't think it's the right for six stories. Thank you.

Speaker A · Thank you very much. Just going to look back to Chambers to see if we have anyone else that would like to speak to an agenda item this evening I am seeing a couple hands online app user JPR's

Speaker C · iPhone15 please unmute yourself in the app, provide your first initial, last name, municipality of residence for the record and indicate which item or items on the agenda you wish to speak to.

Speaker N · Yep, Jeremy Bradshaw and I live at Ocean Spray Court just off Happy Valley Road and I'd like to speak to the six story building as well. This is a highly residential area with a lot of little kids. There's already terrible traffic in the area. Building a six story building is going to make it way worse. You're also having these medical offices there which is going to bring the unhoused there looking for their methadone and stuff like that. Now that you're bringing them into our residents residential area, this council is all about going green. My strata across the street, which I'm the president of, is putting solar panels on our third three story roofs and you building a six story building right there is going to block us.

Speaker N · So it's going to be $20,000 down the drain for each resident who wants to go through with that. It's not okay to put in that area. It's too big and it's too congested. There isn't even a sidewalk on the other side of the street. So it's causing, it'll cause huge problems with the traffic in that area and I think you guys can find a much better location.

Speaker A · Thank you. I'll look to the next person online.

Speaker C · Please app user L Plump Please unmute yourself in the app. Provide your first initial, last name, municipality of residence for the record and indicate which item or items on the agenda you wish to speak to to.

Speaker O · Hi, it's Elle Pomp, Lankford resident and I'm speaking to item 8. 1 speaking about the Community Safety Working Group presentation. This was an innovative project for Langford to undertake and it seems that it was very successful judging by the thoughtful, decisive and compassionate recommendations that are being put forward. Thank you to James Ridge for his expertise in leading this program process of examining the existing COP to POP funding model and whether there are more effective ways Council can ensure that the RCMP are supported in their efforts to keep our community safe. I think the recommendations that have been put forward show that that process has been successful.

Speaker O · I don't know any of the participants, but I'd like to thank them for their time and energy and willingness to be a part of this vital conversation. I hope they get the opportunity to continue to contribute. Some of the results were surprising in a good way, one of them being that property crime in Lankford, while always troublesome, is lower than the BC average. I think one of the real benefits of the telephone survey and working groups was to identify how much crime goes unreported in Lankford. The RCMP can use that information to identify targeted neighborhoods, particular types of crimes, vulnerabilities in a way that isn't possible if they don't know those crimes are happening.

Speaker L · Happening.

Speaker O · I'd like to add a suggestion to Superintendent Gillespie in terms of communication. Crime maps that would show the types of crimes and the neighborhoods where they're occurring, published regularly, monthly on the RCMP website or possibly in the Goldstream Gazette, would, I think, be a very effective tool to letting people know what's happening in their neighborhood and what they need to watch out for.

Speaker O · The number of unhoused people in Langford is also low at six to eight individuals, which to me really reinforces the idea that effective, compassionate steps to address the issues surrounding homelessness at a municipal level could potentially make a real difference in such a small population. Supporting the Connection Point Facility, which is an existing facility in our city that already provides services, feels like an easy decision to make. I hope council chooses to use the already allocated funding to approve the recommendations as presented. Thank you for your time.

Speaker A · Thank you very much. Okay, seeing no hands online, I'm just going to check back with the gallery one more time before we close. Public participation for tonight. And we have another hand online.

Speaker C · App user sg. Please unmute yourself in the app. Provide your first initial, last name, municipality of residence for the record, and which item or items on the agenda you wish to speak to.

Speaker A · Hello. S. Gary Langford, resident. Very quickly, I just want to say that I support the adoption of the comprehensive housing strategy and appreciate all of the work that's gone into that. Thank you. Thank you very much. Okay, so I am not seeing any more hands online or coming from the galleries. So I am going to close Public Participation and we'll move on to the agenda. And we are coming right back to Community Safety. Community Safety working group recommendations at 8. 1 now we've had a presentation. We're going to have an introduction as well. Thank you.

Speaker C · Yes. So just to recap, at the direction of council and as a result of the community safety survey that was Undertaken in early 2026, staff formed three working groups to address safety concerns as identified by the community. The mandate of the working groups was to address issues related to property crime, Safety in parks and on trails and homelessness and open drug use. As part of the budget process for 2026, council approved the funding for two new RCMP officers and additional funding of $450,000 to be allocated based on the recommendations of the community safety working groups. As James said, we had an initial meeting with all three groups and then individual group meetings in July. Sorry, June. July and September. At the September meeting for each group, the recommendations were finalized for presentation to Council.

Speaker C · And in addition to the meetings with each of the groups, staff did meet with both the West Shore RCMP Superintendent Gillespie and with Langford Fire Chief Chris Aubrey to review those recommendations and receive their input. That input was reviewed with the groups at their September meeting and has been incorporated into the final recommendations. Staff are now seeking Council approval for the implementation of the community safety working group recommendations, and these recommendations will ultimately form part of the community safety plan, which is proposed to be considered by Council before the end of the year. And Mr. Ridge, Superintendent Gillespie and staff are all available for questions.

Speaker A · Thank you very much. So I'm going to look to Council to see if you have any clarifying questions. You're welcome to entertain a motion motion right away if you'd like to start motivating Councillor Wagner.

Speaker B · I would. Pretty excited about this and I'm afraid I'll probably stray into comments right away. So if I can start with option one. I move that Council approve the following expenditures for the funds allocated in the budget for initiatives arising from the community safety working groups. A. Authorize the hiring of one additional RCMP officer and annual cost of $225,000. E. Creation of a small business grant program in the amount of 50,000 could be administered by the Westshore Chamber of Commerce for security improvements. C. Authorize the addition of one full time equivalent bike patrol officer. D. Authorize staff to enter into a service agreement with the Salvation army for up to $50,000 for the purpose of providing space where members of the community can connect with social services with other supports to mitigate and prevent homelessness and let Council direct staff as follows.

Speaker B · Create a program wherein the Fire Department and RCMP visit small businesses, review their layout and make recommendations to minimize risks of theft while still ensuring the exits are clear and accessible in the event of an emergency. 2. Work with the RCMP to facilitate coordination of meetings of loss prevention officers.

Speaker I · 3.

Speaker B · Prepare and initiate a community campaign together with the RCMP encouraging block and neighborhood watch programs. 4. Work with the building officials association and developers to ensure crime prevention measures are included in the design of new housing.

Speaker L · 5.

Speaker B · Work with the development community to protect construction sites and equipment through theft prevention programs such as tool marking and identification. 6. Explore options for broad public communication around property crime prevention ideas as well as reporting out on enforcement activities and outcomes to enhance public awareness and preparedness. 7. Draft a bylaw for consideration of a future council meeting that places restrictions on the purchase and sale of spray paint and requiring that spray paint be locked up rather than freely available.

Speaker I · 8.

Speaker B · Work on a robust public awareness and personal safety education campaign with respect to park and trail safety and a coordinated use of social media and other communication channels to encourage active use of parks and trails and remind people of their obligations with respect to having dogs in parks and on trails. 9. Explore options for CRD bylaw officers to join the City's bylaw officers in undertaking joint patrols and hosting joint information sessions in parks in Montreal's and for the City and CRD to actively engage with the school district and community partner organizations to expand, expand free and accessible recreation, educational and stewardship programming in city parks and trails.

Speaker B · 10. Ensure all bylaw officer sorry Ensure all bylaw enforcement employees and firefighters receive trauma informed training and that the City encouraged CRD bylaw enforcement employees to also participate in the training either as part of the City's group or on their own.

Speaker E · 11.

Speaker B · View all the City's policies and practices to ensure that they are in alignment with Human Rights Commission findings, federal housing policies and recent legal decisions. 12. Facilitate semiannual meetings of the working group meetings to allow them to come together to discuss issues in a less formal, supportive environment and the Council further directs staff to send letters to the CRD and the Province advocating for the following 1. The CPOI program to be fully funded through the province with an eye to expand 2. Province allocate ongoing funding to create a support resource to help those in need navigate a complex system, to find appropriate services, to allocate additional spending on health and addiction services and improve disability and other social programs and to establish a guaranteed minimum income.

Speaker I · 3.

Speaker B · The CRD continue to improve the regional trail network with additional lighting, trail paving and the CED design considerations for those portions of the regional trails within West Shore and the Council worked towards permanent solutions in conjunction with our West Shore neighbors to seek a seat at the region's homelessness encampment Working Group Response Leadership Table advocating to the province for more varied social housing types, especially transitional housing and the Council directs staff to bring back a draft community safety plan for consideration before December 31, 2026.

Speaker K · All second

Speaker A · you covered all of the ground Counselor thank you if you have questions or would like to start with motivation, the floor is yours.

Speaker B · Thank you. Yeah, this is fantastic. It's something I was looking forward to all term is how do we move away from the simplistic view of coffee pop and really look at what are we able to do to meet our community's needs, both real safety concerns and also the feeling of safety, which is really important. There's a lot of change going on in Langford and how do we make sure that people feel safe, that they want to be out in our parks and trails, that they understand what crime is really happening and that the are prepared for it or taking steps? You know, growing up here at Langford, I didn't used to lock my door and now we do.

Speaker B · There's some basic things that as we've become a bigger city and I always try to get my, you know, Amazon deliveries in right away because we did have something stolen. There was a, you know, an incident where whatever was delivered was taken. So. And we didn't report it because we thought, okay, that's just a normal thing that happens. So I think there's a lot of great details in the presentation and in these recommendations. I am so excited how thorough the recommendations were. I guess before I forget though, my one question was did we want to include bare spray? It said spray paint in one of the things I was reading out, but it didn't say bear spray.

Speaker B · So if I could look at that.

Speaker C · Yes, that was an oversight.

Speaker B · Can I add this time an amendment then to say to include in the bylaw. Now let's see where that point was. There's a lot going on here. Seven. Yes.

Speaker C · So it would be to amend option seven to add following spray paint,

Speaker P · bare

Speaker C · spray in both sections of the recommendation.

Speaker B · And is it acceptable if I say so moved or do you need to reread second? Thank you. Okay, thanks. As I was reading that out, I noticed that and I guess before I get carried away, I think we're going to be really able to support local business this way. I know there is a lot of.

Speaker A · Councilor Wagner. Sorry, I'm just going to bring it back because now we have amendment. Yeah. If you wanted to speak any more to that or we can, we can.

Speaker B · No, I just have remembered that from the presentation and wanted to make sure it was included.

Speaker A · I can come back to you after. Those are harder. Did you have anything to the amendment? All those in favor? Wonderful. Thank you, Councillor Regner, I'll look to you again.

Speaker B · Thank you. I'm sure others have great comments as well, but I did want to just talk about the local business aspect and how important that is. We know our local businesses really do need our intentional support from the city. And working with the West York Chamber of Commerce, I think that's a great way to leverage our. We have a lean staff. So if we can look to our partners also partnering with the Salvation army. And I just want to thank them for all the work they're doing. Really just amazing. The whole working group concept, I just loved it and I think you can just see how effective it was. These are really practical solutions that can actually be implemented. Some of them right away. So very excited about this.

Speaker B · As I mentioned. And the other question I would have while I'm thinking about it is from the public we heard about the seniors program. If I could ask through the chair to potentially Superintendent Gillespie, do we have a seniors check in program that could be expanded? Or just a bit of a comment about if you heard the question from our public participation, do you have anything to offer by way of comment on that?

Speaker A · Thank you, Superintendent.

Speaker H · Unfortunately, I actually don't know, so I have to look into that and find out. I do know that we do run through community policing, a bunch of volunteer programs and stuff like that, but I don't actually know if the senior check in program is included in that or not. So I'll have to find out.

Speaker B · Thank you. Yeah, just from my own experience, I had heard of the senior check in program and I know it was very active during the COVID years, but I don't know what its status is. So be interested to at some point hear more about that and that, you know, last comment. Community safety plan, that's awesome. And I really look forward to it being able to inform the budget because the timing of if it does come back before the end of the year or whatever the new council might look like, they'll be able to consider those recommendations of a community safety plan to have them inform their budget decisions.

Speaker A · Councilor Marley, you were a seconder.

Speaker K · Thank you again. I think I got the easy route on that item that went on forever. So yeah, I'm going to go right into motivation as the report was, both the staff report and the presentation were very comprehensive. So it didn't leave a lot of questions in my mind as to what was being presented or what was the action wanted to be taken. But so I did want to thank the members of the working group, our staff, the RCMP and community partners who contributed to the process. These recommendations reflect what we heard directly from the residents about property crime, safety in parks and trails, and concerns related to homelessness and open drug use.

Speaker K · I appreciate that the recommendations strike a balance between enforcement, prevention, education, passionate community support as our bylaw officers always do, and they also focus on practical actions that are within the city's control while advocating for the province. Resources need to be address broader challenges. For those reasons, I'm going to be very happy to support Option one is read by Councilor Wagner and the implementation of the community safety working group recommendations.

Speaker A · Thank you Council Murley Greg Comments or questions? Councillor Yakucha thank you.

Speaker Q · I just want to similarly echo Councillor Morley. There's a huge thank to the working group there and to staff for pulling this off. I recall during the budget discussions when this motion was first brought forward, there was some worry about the ability to get robust working group done within this time frame that council was looking at and hearing about the community groups, the members of the public that was able to pull together, hearing about the RCMP members present from sounds like multiple divisions.

Speaker Q · I'm thoroughly impressed with the work and the effort that went into this by staff, by our RCMP and by our community members and community partners. So huge thanks to everybody for recognizing we did put a tight timeline on this and I'm definitely impressed with the results and I think this is the exact reason why we wanted to see this. Being brought to forward is saying how can we address the concerns that our community partners and residents are seeing on the street and make sure that our money is actually delivering on what we're expecting for community safety. So thank you to everyone involved in that process.

Speaker A · Thank you Councilor Harder thank you.

Speaker D · Through the chair, I actually have a few questions before I provide my comments. First off, sorry, let me just find my place here. Through you to staff. I appreciated the comments around I guess delicately finding the balance of having parks accessible and trails accessible and recognizing that they're sort of in the midst of transforming from purely being a recreational space but also turning into transportation corridors. I know the CRD is looking at that at our regional trails from this perspective. And so I'm wondering if there were any specific trails identified in Langford. I know the Hall Roads Trail or the Rexroad Trail is an area that people do frequently use after after hours walk home or walk to wherever they're going.

Speaker D · So I'm just wondering if there were any specific trails that were identified as potential spaces that council or the city could explore, adding lighting.

Speaker R · Through the chair. The only trail that did come up that is Langford owned Halls is one that we discussed there People might not feel too safe on. Lighting's a tricky subject because of course the halls, trailbacks on there's a lot of properties there. I know there's a lot of discussion on whether or not light attracts sort of undesirable people gathering in the night versus safe passage. So as we discussed in our working group, there was a few, you know, people talking about how although the parks are closed, for example, like the new Veterans park expansion where we've closed Aldwind, obviously people are going to cut through the park from fairway to whole stream to catch the bus, et cetera.

Speaker R · And there's, you know, there's a few. There will be some bollard lighting and such in there, but it could become a pretty costly endeavor should council wish to start installing lights on a lot of our trails. And like I said, one of the only ones that really discussed were a few of the connections, sort of like through parks, orchard, the new vets or halls. So of course something could consider, but I think it would come by price and it might not make everybody happy, especially people who gone to those trails.

Speaker D · Thank you for that. I appreciate the comments. It's certainly not something I'm prepared to do tonight, but I do think that it may be something for future councils to discuss to ensure that the community feels safe. I had another question and that was with regards to the findings that dogs are actually the primary concern. Unruly dogs specifically. And I do recall council receiving an email just looking or seeking out clarification on enforcement. And I believe they were referring to some school owned property. And so I'm wondering if we have an opportunity to work with SD62 to help people understand what the expectations are, what the rules are for having dogs off leash in our public spaces.

Speaker F · Certainly through the chair, the school board.

Speaker K · School District 62 has its own policies

Speaker F · with respect to how people use the school fields after hours.

Speaker K · And primarily the city has no involvement

Speaker F · in enforcement of that policy. That's strictly a school district area of responsibility.

Speaker D · Thank you for that clarification. I think this is just my own feeling, but I feel like that may not be common knowledge within the public and there may be an opportunity to clarify who to call, perhaps if there is an incident that occurs on a specific property.

Speaker Q · Certainly.

Speaker F · And if I might add to that,

Speaker K · that report and the presentation tonight goes

Speaker F · to some commentary around how we can improve communications and allow the public to benefit of a little more information so that items like that can be better understood.

Speaker D · Thank you for that. I did have one other question with regards to the proposed crime reduction program for small businesses, I think. Oh, I do note that our manager has just stepped out of the room. I do want to ask the question, so maybe it can be asked by stuff or responded to by other staff.

Speaker A · But I'm just wondering if there have

Speaker D · been any discussions with the West Shore Chamber of Commerce of how they would initiate this program. I think it's a great idea, but I'm just wondering if there's been that level of discussion yet to make sure that businesses that may not already be tapped into the West Shore Chamber of Commerce are invited to participate as well.

Speaker C · Thank you. Through the chair, we're just at the initial stages. Once the recommendations get approved, then we'll go into that, and it will be a city program that's just administered by the Chamber of Commerce. So we would set the parameters for participation.

Speaker D · Okay, thank you for that. And then lastly, I did want to ask if there were any further recommendations on specific forms of transitional housing that were brought up during the working group discussions, if there was specific models that the city could investigate or specific cases that were identified as a success.

Speaker C · Thank you. Through you, we did not get into that level of detail other than for

Speaker F · the individual who had spent a significant

Speaker C · amount of time in the system to say that transitional housing was the only form of housing that that individual found to be effective in helping them to

Speaker F · get off the street.

Speaker D · Thank you. I appreciate the caveat. It's anecdotal. It's something that I am hearing more of around support for transitional housing and other models that would support dry, dry spaces for individuals that are transitioning away from addictions or being unhoused. I don't have any further questions, so I just want to jump into my comments. I really appreciate the presentation, the report, and the body of work that has come forward before council tonight. We've heard so much throughout the term that there is an appetite for greater community involvement and participation. And I'm just so grateful and honestly impressed by the recommendations that have come out of this pilot initiative for the city.

Speaker D · I think that at the start of this program or the start of this initiative, I can cast my mind back to council really wanting to explore ways to improve how we are resourcing policing in our community, recognizing that it is a significant budget driver. We've added 15 RCMP officers this term and now a 16th, perhaps, if this motion does pass. And I think that it is important that we look to identify root solutions to the problems that we are facing so that we can continue to live in a really safe community relative to the rest of the province. I also want to thank Foster, David Hickman for coming out tonight. I appreciated your comments and I appreciated the tone of the discussion around maintaining compassion for the untouched individuals in our community.

Speaker D · It can be really challenging to do that when you feel like you are being victimized, perhaps, and not being able to enjoy public spaces as you have in the past. But our community is in a state of change and I think that it requires creative solutions and discussions to identify ways that we can help these individuals rather than continuing the cast plan. So I appreciate the discussion tonight and I'm really looking forward to the work that comes out of this motion.

Speaker A · Councillor Yakuchev.

Speaker Q · Yes, thank you, Chair. It was Councillor Harder's questions that reminded me I had a few questions on another page that motivated me there. It was either to Superintendent Gillespie or Mr. Ridge. I'm not sure who this is best for, but we heard two sides of a comment tonight around the efficacy of Block Watch programs. Just wondering, given that through either of your experience and, and that that is one of the recommendations of this, if there are any further insights into that that council could be considering this evening.

Speaker H · Yeah, I don't have too much to add to that. I mean, I think it's worth exploring Blockwatch. I don't think the recommendation is that, you know, we must have the best Block Watch program on the planet, but it's, I think, a good recommendation that we should look into it and figure out if it's something that we can boost up and see if it has measurable results. And again, you know, we tried. If it doesn't work or, you know, it's not right for today's day and age, then at least we explored and at least we'll know. So, yeah, as far as, you know, actual data or knowledge about the program in the community right now, I don't have a ton of tangibles for you, but it is something, I think it's worth exploring for sure.

Speaker A · Something further.

Speaker Q · Thank you. Yes, and just on that same stream, it was some additional comments around place making, around murals and ownership over the spaces. And just wondering if there was any comment from city staff around either the efficacy of that or where the city may be and our ability to facilitate some of those steps, if any, at this time.

Speaker A · And just to clarify, I believe this was in regards to graffiti.

Speaker B · Graffiti.

Speaker A · Is that correct?

Speaker Q · That was with respect to graffiti, yes.

Speaker A · So I'll look. Thank you.

Speaker C · Thank you for the questions from the chair. Well, it is. It's just not something that came up at the committees or that we discussed. So I would be remiss in providing your answer than that.

Speaker Q · Thank you.

Speaker A · I'm going to look to our director of engineering.

Speaker P · Thank you, Chair. The engineering department currently has a contractor to remove graffiti off of any public infrastructure. And we also have a program to wrap utility boxes with. And so that is something that could be explored and expanded further with budget.

Speaker A · Councilor Harder.

Speaker D · Thank you. Hearing the discussion on the floor, I think I may propose an amendment. I would like to amend the main motion by having council direct staff to work with the local artists, with local artists and community groups such as the West Shore Arts Council and West Shore Chamber of Commerce to explore the creation of a mural program using MRD funding, if possible, to add community murals in areas, in commercial areas and in areas where reoccurring tagging is identified as an issue.

Speaker A · Clarification. Just where on the motion were you thinking this was?

Speaker D · My apologies. I was looking to amend the main motion or the motion as amended as item 13.

Speaker C · Under. As item 13, we'll know where it is.

Speaker D · Thank you. Yes, that would. That would make the motion make sense within the context of the motion that's on the floor.

Speaker B · I'll second for discussion.

Speaker A · Thank you.

Speaker D · Thank you. I apologize to bring this up at the end of the discussion, but it is something that was identified during public participation and something I have been considering quite a lot following the recent adoption of the art strategy. Arts and Culture strategy. We have a few murals in the city of Langford right now, but it is something that I think we have an opportunity to increase. I note that it is an area that has multiple benefits that would align with our strategic plan with regards to improving economic development as well. Murals are a great attraction and they help bring people in commercial areas. And I appreciated the comments during public participation that it could help create a more preventative, positive barrier to repetitive tagging or recurring tagging if there are specific areas that constantly need to be cleaned up and addressed.

Speaker D · I did include MRD funding in the motion as I have had comments with staff in the past about the potential to hopefully use funds to support a mural program. I would look to staff, though perhaps further comment on if that would be appropriate within this motion

Speaker M · through the chair to Councillor Harder with the MRDT program specifically around murals. That's something I'd want to check with Destination BC on eligibility for. We certainly do use MRDT funds for events and wayfinding signage for two examples, so it's something we can explore. And as staff have already started working on the next year's Budget. I have considered the fact that we do have a new arts and cultural development strategy has been approved, but we'll need some budget power behind it to see the vision in that document forward. And part of that could be for this type of program in terms of murals. And then we also have the place making program staff will be showing in an RFP for before the end of this year.

Speaker M · And there could be some consideration for that as well once we finalize the scope of the rfp. But it's certainly something that aligns with the arts and cultural development strategy more broadly and is something we would definitely work with the local arts community and beyond, not just the West Shore Arts Council, but beyond. We do have really strong arts councils surrounding us, and we are finding out more and more that Langford artists are members of other organizations as well. So we can conduct more broad engagement on that.

Speaker D · Thank you. I appreciate that.

Speaker A · Councillor Wagner, as a seconder.

Speaker B · Thank you. Yes, I thought it was an interesting thing to discuss. I was having a similar question, so I might even for further clarification through the chair, just because we do have a place making strategy and I'm not sure where that is at. And we just adopted the arts and culture strategy. So I wasn't sure if it made sense to have this motion in this context when we may already have a neural program identified as an initiative in a different context. And also the question about funding. So not sure if I would propose an amendment. I'm looking for a bit more information about, you know, maybe the wording of the motion was quite involved.

Speaker B · And I wonder if not identifying funding might be more helpful

Speaker C · through the chair. I think the motion was MRDT funding, if available. And so I think that that's broad enough. If it's not available, we can explore other sources.

Speaker B · Thank you. And maybe before I ask maybe a better worded question, could I ask the mover to repeat the motion?

Speaker D · Councillor Herder, thank you. I do note that there was a recommendation from staff to word it slightly differently, but the intent would be to direct staff to note or to work with local artists and community groups such as the West Shore Arts Council and West Shore Chamber of Commerce to explore the creation of a mural program using MRDT funding, if available, to add community murals in commercial areas and in areas where reoccurring tagging is an identified issue.

Speaker D · And it would be in addition to the main motion, as amended.

Speaker B · So I guess my clarifying question to staff would just be, is there. Is that creating any conflict or at cross purposes with anything that's already Happening at the place making strategy level or the arts and culture development strategy implementation

Speaker M · to the chair to Councillor Wagner. I don't believe so we can take take that broad direction from council and consider the place making hasn't been issued yet. That will be issued before the end of the year. So that work hasn't started and there may be some wording it would be more broad than specifically murals. However in the arts and cultural development strategy that is definitely something that would make sense to be considered in that and I have already like I mentioned work. We've already started working on budgets for next year and there will be budget associated for the next council to consider because we do need budget behind type of initiative wrapping those boxes, it's not inexpensive to do.

Speaker M · So we could look at and we have to work obviously with utility providers from a safety perspective to make sure that what we're doing. I don't know if you can paint directly on them. That's that's wider discussion we'd have to have. So it really depends on how many boxes in the cost and in addition to if there's murals as well side of the utility boxes.

Speaker B · Thank you. Yeah. So just a comment. I think the motion this amendment could be broad enough to be. It does say explore. So that seems reasonable that we could explore and if it was, if any issues were identified by staff they would bring it up in the future. So I believe I could support the amendment.

Speaker A · Any further comments from council? Mayor Goodmanson, I have not forgotten about you. I am checking regularly so feel free to put up your hand. Anything further on the amendment. I do have comments. I'm questioning whether this is the best space for this conversation and I just want to uphold the work that came out of the committee and the intention and the focus and the energy that our working groups put into some of these solutions after. You know, I've had a number of conversations with the place making folks about mural programs and mural initiatives. I know Saanich includes murals as part of their place making strategy and having a very clear funding source and working within the integrity of some of the master plans that we are working under.

Speaker A · I just want to make sure that as we move forward we're working along the trajectory that some of our master plans have worked along. So I'm going to vote against this. Not because I don't think it's a great idea. I'm just not too sure this is the space for this particular conversation and I'd like to make sure it has merit for its own discussion and debate and Community impact or community. Community feedback? Because I do want to hear from the community about murals. And this is kind of just coming up within this discussion. Anything further from council? All those in favor of the amendment and those opposed and Mayor Goodmanson, thank you. I'm seeing your hand there. So that fails. Thank you for the amendment, putting that forward. So we are back to the main motion.

Speaker A · Any further comments? We've had some really great discussion on this so far, Mayor Goodmanson.

Speaker J · Oh, yes, thank you, Chair. One of the things that's great about a robust discussion around the council table is it just brings forward new ideas on what you already have brought forward. So kudos to Councillor Harder. That was a great, great suggestion. It didn't pass in the end, but what this shows is having that conversation builds further conversations for the presentations. I want to thank Mr. Rich and Superintendent Gillespie for speaking. I'm in full support of this. This is new for Lankford. We have not done something like this in any one near recollection. We heard routinely from our former Superintendent Andy RCMP that the present cop to pop ratios that we're using for police allocation was by not the best and only metrics, but it was the one we were using.

Speaker J · And council and the city has taken the steps to try and look for a new metric. And this is what we come up with. I doubt and I expect that this is not going to be a final written in stone document. I expect that as we go forward, if this is passed, that it will be a living document and adjust it as needed. But it is something different than just X number of officers for X number of people. And that's the only thing looked at. So the fact that we have support from the RCMP and from numerous other city organizations, I have full support in it. Thank you.

Speaker A · Thank you, Mayor. So just coming to the end of this discussion. It's been a great discussion, but there was a lot to discuss. So I appreciate council weighing in and asking questions, particularly coming those that came out of public participation. I, like the rest of council, am extremely happy with what has come out of this process. The working groups seem productive, collaborative. The feedback was specific and solutions based. It went above and beyond my expectations about what would come out because it was the intentions were so focused on positive outcomes for the community as a whole and the investment that came out of the discussions.

Speaker A · You can see that just based on what came out of the recommendations,

Speaker E · part

Speaker A · of what we heard a number of times was the importance of ongoing communication about coming together, connecting about, talking about what's working about what's not working and I feel very encouraged about what we've seen for this process that those further conversations are set up for success. So I have a lot of gratitude for the working groups, the folks that participated. I have a lot of group for the appreciation for the leadership that guided those discussions, because sometimes there are challenging discussions to come in a room together and have different opinions and stay focused on coming together with something to come back to the community with.

Speaker A · So I'm very happy with the attention and the specific recommendations that came out of out of this and I'm happy to support. So I will call the question all those in favor on the motion as amended and that's unanimous. Thank you very much. So looking ahead on Our agenda

Speaker L · is

Speaker A · 8. 2 Adoption of the Housing Strategy, and I'll look to our Director of Planning.

Speaker S · Thank you Chair the purpose of the report on tonight's agenda is to present Council with the final housing strategy for consideration of adoption. The strategy establishes a framework for supporting Lankford's housing needs over the next 20 years and enabling the delivery of approximately 17,000 new homes that meet the needs of residents at different income levels and stages of life. It addresses all forms of housing, from market ownership to affordable rental and social housing. The strategy also recognizes that livable communities require more than just housing alone. Access to parks, public spaces, services, transportation and community amenities all play an important part of creating a complete community. To support these objectives, the strategy identifies 32 actions aimed at increasing housing affordability, suitability and choice.

Speaker S · While the strategy is based on a 20 year planning horizon, the actions are intended to guide implementation over the next five years and will be advanced in accordance with the City's budgeting and council decision making processes. This approach allows the City to respond to new housing data, demographic trends, economic conditions, legislative changes and emerging opportunities while maintaining a consistent long term direction. As community needs evolve, future updates may introduce new actions, priorities and implementation approaches. Development of the strategy included targeted engagement with representatives from the nonprofit housing, real estate and development sectors, as well as input from more than 190 residents through a community survey.

Speaker S · A draft of the strategy was made available for public review and comment from August 27 to September 9, 2026. A summary of the feedback received on this draft along with the key changes incorporated into the final strategy is presented in the staff report and happy to answer any questions.

Speaker A · Thank you so much for that introduction. Council Any questions to start? Perhaps a motion if you'd like to get started right away.

Speaker B · Ms. Wagner, I was thinking of a question just about this Document being a little bit of a high level strategy. So through the chat, honey, just these initiatives, I think that they're, you know, they're all quite important, I guess I just wondered if we could have a little bit more about how we would fund these. I mean one of them is leveraging the affordable housing fund, but there's many others that I think this speaks to. Hiring a new staff person as a liaison as well. I was just looking for just a little bit more in the introduction. I know we had the presentation but just wanted to be clear about how we're going to action some of these and tenant supports and that kind of thing.

Speaker S · Yeah, thank you for the question. Through the chair, many of the actions included in the strategy can be completed in house with staff resources. So we have the in house time and resources to do some of the background research and analysis and discussion with, you know, other municipalities that have implemented some of our actions through their strategies to really flesh out, you know, the bylaws or policies or programs that would be developed through some of these actions that are suggested.

Speaker S · So I would say most of the actions can be completed in that manner. The housing liaison role that you mentioned, the initial quick start action action included in the strategy would be with existing resources. We would look at potentially adding staff resources if that role was expanded as anticipated through the updated action that was fleshed out further through the draft engagement that we just completed recently. Some members of the community had similar comments as what I believe came up at council after the presentation where how that role could play a broader role with supporting small scale builders, the small scale multi unit housing types developments where the developer may not be, you know, intimately familiar with the approvals process and what is required.

Speaker S · So potential expansions may require additional staffing resources. But we would anticipate that many of the actions would be completed with existing staff and many of them involve kind of developing, you know, bylaws or policies. And those types of actions certainly can be completed in house.

Speaker B · Well, that's good news. If you would entertain a motion, I could just go for this one's much shorter move the council adopt the City of Lankford's housing strategy as presented.

Speaker Q · Happy to second that.

Speaker B · Thank you.

Speaker A · Councillor Wagner, if you'd like to motivate.

Speaker B · Yeah, I think this is really a great example of how we need to do our evidence based decision making and really be strategic, you know, how do we leverage the affordable housing funds that we have to really make a difference. Unfortunately, the province has really pulled away from affordable housing funding which is exactly the wrong thing to do. In my opinion. That's where we really need support from the province, the city of Langford. We don't build housing, we need partnerships. And so leveraging the affordable housing fund is something that's giving me some hope

Speaker A · that we can be able to move

Speaker B · forward in a meaningful way. Just monitoring the city's housing stock in a very detailed manner, looking for more family sized units or, you know, can we make our affordable housing, our housing agreements really be specific units.

Speaker E · Can we

Speaker B · find a way to get to that core housing need, reducing that impact? So I think there's just so many great initiatives in here. Tenant supports and other things. We hear from renters, from people in manufactured home parks, seniors. There's a variety of folks that are just feeling really squeezed. And so if we can try to be much more intentional, how we support our community, having the diversity of housing, sign that market housing is not meeting the needs of many people. So this is a great starting point. Again, it would be a living document and I look forward to reviews and any future council will be able to, you know, massage this and see what trends are emerging. I think it's a very thoughtful and excellent document.

Speaker A · Very supportive.

Speaker D · Thank you.

Speaker A · Councillor Yakutcha has a seconder. Do you have some comments?

Speaker Q · Yeah, thank you. Just to be brief and echo what Councillor Wagner said, I think it definitely helps to ensure that we're focusing on the family friendly housing and access accessible housing that's of need in our community. I just want to highlight the one aspect it was around, the potential for a role for a housing liaison, if not serendipitously. Over the last week, maybe two weeks, I've actually had a run in with at least a half dozen residents who are now looking at the potential of SMU that it's come on their radar. I think she's been at that leg. Provincial regulation comes in, takes a while to figure out, oh, hey, I might be able to do something with that.

Speaker Q · And now just that, trying to figure out what are those steps forward, how do I access the city in order to move something like this forward? And I see a role like that being potentially very important to help these small scale builders be able to, you know, navigate the system either within the city or at times with the province on a whole.

Speaker A · Councillor Harder.

Speaker D · Thank you. Chair. I threw you a question first. And it's just with regards to some of the tenant protection approaches and specific to Langford's context around manufactured home parks, I note that other municipalities are adopting tenant protection bylaws in the Review for the housing strategy. Were there any municipalities you came across that we're exploring similar approaches for manufactured home parks?

Speaker S · Oh, thanks for the question through the chair. That is a less common policy approach that we've seen. Typically they focus on the redevelopment of purpose built rental buildings where a large number of tenants are displaced at once. And that's part of the reason why the recommendation in the strategy from a broader purpose built rental tenant relocation displacement approach is to kind of keep an eye on what's happening in the industry. This is a fairly new tool and power that has been introduced just over the last few years from the province through some of the, the proactive planning legislation. So we'd like to see, you know, how in what context they are deployed, how effective they are and just keep an eye on that. As Langford's housing stock is quite new.

Speaker S · You know, the large scale purpose built rental, you know, renoviction or kind of tear down replacement is not something that we're facing today, thankfully. But this is something that we'll have to keep an eye on as we continue to move into the future and continue growing. And some of the, you know, first buildings that were built maybe approach their end of life. But as far as the manufactured home park side of things go, Langford's existing policy is really, you know, one of the only ones that, you know, I'm aware of. So of course it very greatly predates a lot of the legislative changes that have even been done to the Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act.

Speaker S · So it's certainly worth a deep dive into that legislation, how our policy lines up and some of the lessons learned after utilizing that policy in two instances over the past, you know, 15 years or so and you know, how those processes went. So there are certain certainly room for a lot of review and improvement and incorporation of, you know, best practices as far as the legislative updates go and our experience working with the existing policy.

Speaker D · Thank you for that. I appreciate the clarity and I would agree. I think it's probably an area where the province perhaps needs to review if this if Manufactured Home Park Tenancy act needs to be updated to support tenants as more manufactured home parks across the province for redevelopment. You provided or you kind of led into my comments, so I'll just get into it. I really appreciate the housing strategy. I think one of the biggest takeaways that I had for it was just the significance of doing this now, respecting the fact that I think it was 40% of our housing stock has been built within the last decade or 15 years.

Speaker D · I can't quite recall, but it's a significant volume of housing and I do kind of pass my mind forward to, you know, 30, 40, 50 years from now and what our community is going to look like when things start to age all at the same time. You don't necessarily try to plant trees in a forest all at the same time to ensure forest health. And so I think the strategy will ensure we take a similar approach to building housing in our community. I would just echo the comments around dedicating staff resourcing to help people navigate the approvals process, the submission requirements, especially to support nonprofit housing operators and some of the smaller scale builders that are going to be able to help build our community out with more gentle forms of density.

Speaker D · I hear a lot of support for that in the community. We don't just want condos. We want more family friendly, ground oriented housing. And this is a strategy that will help us get there. So thank you.

Speaker A · Thank you, Councilor Morley.

Speaker F · Thanks, Chair.

Speaker K · So this strategy provides a balance and practical framework to address Langford's housing need over the next 20 years with clear actions to improve housing affordability, choice and sustainability while supporting complete communities connected to services, transportation, parks and amenities. It reflects extensive engagement with the residents housing providers in the development community and includes meaningful improvements in response to public feedback, particularly around family friendly housing, vulnerable populations and tenant protections. Most importantly, it gives Council a roadmap to help deliver the approximately 17,000 homes our growing community will need while maintaining flexibility to adapt as conditions change.

Speaker A · Thank you Council. Marley, anything further from Council? Well, just I'll add my comments and I might have a question that comes out of them. I'm really happy to see what came out of this last round of engagement and the feedback and the summary and just the gaps that I hadn't seen that came out from the community were quite meaningful. The supporting needs of two SLGQIA residents was something that I hadn't thought about in our initial draft review. And having attended the Affordable Housing conference where we had presentation from threshold housing society that is working with vulnerable youth who shared that 52% of the youth that they serve are two SLGBTQIA.

Speaker A · So, you know, just understanding that these are very real impactful experiences when it comes to housing and our community. And so I guess my question is how are we constantly connecting with our housing affordable housing experts? One of the great things that got out of this conference, which was last fall, was the affordable housing providers were quite blunt. This was like we were just at the cusp of understanding the withdrawal of funding from the province, but may have a lot of very innovative solutions to making dollars stretch very far. And so how do we. How do we. How are we having those constant conversations, as we heard in our previous agenda item, that these communication pieces are very productive.

Speaker S · Yes, thank you for the question. Similar to the community safety working group, we had a few focus groups as part of the development of the housing strategy. And through that process, we engaged with a wide range of interest holders, including, you know, nonprofit housing providers, organizations that support people in their navigation of the housing continuum, as well as private developers and government agencies like CRD staff, et cetera. And we found that a really valuable conversation to have because everybody did bring a unique perspective. So one of the items in the strategy action number 29 is to kind of set up an ongoing advisory working group that pulls in folks from all those different sectors.

Speaker S · So, you know, the private market development community, as well as nonprofit agencies and community groups that support housing. And just to make sure that we keep our finger on the pulse of what's happening in all sectors of the housing industry as well as, you know, and we can keep them up to date on any initiatives that the city is pursuing. They can let us know if they're having any challenges with working with the city or just developing generally in the market that they're experiencing at the time. So just keeping that conversation going is an important outcome of this plan because we did find that process really valuable and insightful.

Speaker S · So keeping that going kind of on an ongoing basis is one of the key actions of the strategy.

Speaker A · Thank you so much for that. So just some final comments. You know, I don't think I was the only one that was looking forward to this housing strategy. You know, our duty to our community and understanding their vulnerabilities of accessing something as simple as an essential like shelter, and understanding what municipal tools are available to us and being able to have a strategy to action those, those and move them forward is just really important work. We're looking at our community as a whole finding out what's working just based on if we let things happen organically and what the gaps are showing up in our community about where some folks are being left behind.

Speaker A · So really appreciate everything that's come out of the housing strategy. There's some very interesting solutions that I'm excited to see move forward and. And also just the intention to constantly check back in. I think it's really important because this is an organic conversation that is constant. We'll have constantly moving targets, and we'll need to adjust as we go forward. Mayor Goodmanson, I see your hand up before I call the question, I'm happy to open the floor to you.

Speaker J · Oh, yes, thank you, Chair. Honestly, I think you just summed that up nicely. We don't need to rephrase the same thing again and again. So I will defer back to your comments. Thank you very much.

Speaker A · Thank you, Mayor. So with that, I will call the question all those in favor. And that's unanimous. So that passes. Thank you very much. On to the next item. On item on the agenda is correspondence 9. 1 letter for letter from Minister Lisa Baer in regards to AHRQ foundation funding. And we have a motion that is suggested.

Speaker D · Thank you. I'll move that council receive the letter from Minister Lisa Baer regarding ARC funding, AHRQ foundation funding for information.

Speaker B · I'll second.

Speaker A · Thank you. Any comments?

Speaker D · I just want to acknowledge your work. Mons Guy re for bringing this to the floor. It's great to have a response so quickly from Minister Behr and it was wonderful to see that there's still going to be the opportunity for districts to access the resources to support the great work that's been started.

Speaker B · Councillor Wagner, I actually had kind of a question about the letter. Just wondering if it was satisfactory. So hadn't expected that you would be chairing the meeting this evening. And I wonder if since you were the one who had advocated for this letter,

Speaker A · it.

Speaker B · Does it seem to have any resolution or is it an effective solution here or is it just saying, well, we're, we're doing it anyway. I wasn't sure it was that satisfying.

Speaker A · Sorry, fair question.

Speaker P · And that.

Speaker A · That does kind of lead into. I did have some comments to add over the past week. A few of us were at UBCM and part of that conference is meeting with different ministers. I was in the role of acting mayor when we met with Minister Behr along with Councillor Morley and our MLA minister from our minister for us. So it was a great discussion. We had other, you know, we kind of have to start the conversation with our. We said we were going to talk about because the ministry likes to have answers and be productive in these discussions. I asked for some room to talk about the letter that came from council and Minister Behr was very gracious for that. And we talked about the intention and behind council's decision and the debate at that time.

Speaker A · And I was pleased to see such a quick turnaround after that meeting of the letter coming and being able to receive counsel. So part of the intention was to reinstate the ARC founding ARC funding. So that's kind of the big ask. Which is. Which is not something the ministry is prepared to do. I understand that they had intentions to reduce and then pull funding over two years. I pointed out that there's, you know, the political side of this is something within the realm of our provincial understanding. They know the political impacts of removing funding. And so I highlighted that it is the youth that kind of feel the impacts of those decisions.

Speaker A · And however, the second part of our discussion was about just affirming the ARC foundation being available to schools because that is what I understood the ARC foundation was concerned about. Given that the province had withdrawn funding. There was a larger assumption that the. The ministry no longer supported SOGI123 and there was an ask to affirm the province continued to support this education resource and that AHRQ was a. Would be continued to be available to school districts and SOGI reps at schools if available. So the latter part was. Was responded to in the positive. And so that is a half one. But I'm taking it what we can because at the end of the day having SOGI reps in our schools is incredibly valuable.

Speaker A · I did highlight to the Minister that I do feel like we could be developing more resources in the French programs and that there could be growth in that opportunity. And she was very receptive to that.

Speaker E · Yeah.

Speaker A · So I hope that answers your question. Councillor Wagner. It was a good meeting and I think the fact that we had a letter so fast is also a positive because the ministry is taking the letter that council sent to them so seriously.

Speaker B · Thank you. That is somewhat reassuring. I guess my concern was the way I was reading this is yes, districts are welcome to contract services but they're facing funding cuts so their ability to pay for things is challenging to say the least. So I guess I was thinking of just similar to how we have downloading from the province and we have increased costs as they cut funding. I was worrying about the school's ability to or the district to be able to pay for services when they have just so many pressing needs. But appreciate you providing that context and those conversations at the conference. The Union of BC Municipalities. It is a really important aspect of those meetings is to build the relationship and raise the issues. And I think I really appreciate how you answered my question.

Speaker A · Anything further from council before we call the vote? All those in favor and that passes and we are moving into the bylaws section of our agenda. So 10. 1, bylaw number 2236 Lankford zoning bylaw number 300, amendment number 752 for 7097-1175-1571-9721, Massie Drive, bylaw number 2236, 2026, and this is for adoption.

Speaker B · I will move that council adopt Langford Zoning,law number 300, amendment number 752-7097-117157-19721 Massie Drive, bylaw number 2236, 2026 as presented.

Speaker J · False.

Speaker K · Second.

Speaker A · Thank you. Any comments, Councillor?

Speaker B · Not a lot to say at this point of adoption. I think, you know, when we look at all the conditions that are put on these developments and that it was a. I think there was some interesting aspects to it. I guess just to highlight that there was a minimum of 10 dwelling units designated as three bedroom units that was, was quite interesting and different. So that's really the only thing I wanted to make sure that was brought forward is that there was some aspects of this development that were I think going to be important additions to the community. And that at this location when it's a six story building, it is quite much the city center. So the fact that we're close to shops and services, close to transit, there's always challenges with traffic and parking.

Speaker B · So I don't want to minimize those. However, I am supporting this application.

Speaker D · Thank you.

Speaker A · Anything further from council? I will call the question all those in favor? And that passes unanimously. On to 10. 2 bylaw number 2253, 225 and 2254, Langford Community Official Community Plan bylaw number 2200. Amendment number one for 602 Madonna Place bylaw number 2253, 2026 for adoption. And Lankford zoning bylaw number 300, amendment number 757-4602 Madrona Place bylaw number 2254, 2026 for adoption. And I will just remind council that this has been the subject of a public hearing.

Speaker D · Thank you, Chair. I will move that Council adopt one Lankford Official Community Plan bylaw number 2200, amendment number 1602 Madrona Place bylaw number 2253, 2026 and two Lankford Zoning bylaw number 300, amendment number 757602 Madrona Place bylaw number 2254206 as presented so moved by Councilor Harder.

Speaker B · I will second.

Speaker A · Thank you Councilor Widener. And I have no motivation.

Speaker D · Thanks.

Speaker A · Thank you. Anything further? Thank you. All those in favor. And that passes unanimously. Next 10. 3, bylaw number 2284, City of Lankford permissive tax exemption bylaw number 2147, amendment number three, bylaw number 2284, 2026, first, second and third readings.

Speaker D · Thank you, Chair. I will move that council give city of Lankford permissive tax exemption bylaw number 2147, amendment number three, bylaw number 2284, 2026, first, second and third readings.

Speaker A · I'll second council harder, any motivation?

Speaker D · Thank you. Yeah, this is just with regards to the new location for the West Shore Chamber of Commerce. Very exciting with the opening of Veterans Memorial park later this week. West Shore Chamber of Commerce has been operating for a very long time in the old residential property that is located on site. I think that space has served them very well over the years and it is fantastic that we were able to or that we were able to locate a central location to continue having the West Shore Chamber of Commerce located in our city center. I think especially this location on the ground floor of City hall will help bring greater visibility to the West Shore Chamber of Commerce and I'm supportive of continuing to support them through a permissive tax exemption.

Speaker A · Councillor Wagner.

Speaker J · Yes.

Speaker B · Thank you.

Speaker D · Yeah.

Speaker B · As I was wrestling my papers to figure out which permissive tax exemption this was, this one being the Westshore Chamber of Commerce, I did have a comment, but Councillor Harder did already generally touch on the fact that the Westshore Chamber is changing locations. I think it's fantastic that they'll be in the city center and we're building a partnership. We heard at a previous item on this during this meeting that we're going to partner with them for services such as working with local businesses on their public safety measures. Having them located right in the building I think is going to be really important and it ties in with our economic development strategy.

Speaker B · So I just wanted to highlight back to that economic development strategy and I hope that the West Shore Chamber has a successful move. It's very exciting that we will then have that public space opened up at Veterans Memorial park and this new location for West York Chamber, it is more accessible. There was some challenges with them using that space in the park as it was generally it was a house that was being used repurposed. So I think this is a great. Even though this item is about a permissive tax exemption, it's a great opportunity to highlight some of the changes that are happening.

Speaker A · Thank you. Any further comments from Council. Council Yakucha. Thank you.

Speaker Q · Just to briefly comment on the permissive tax exemption itself. Just really excited to see that there's been the formalization of the relationship with the Western Chamber of Commerce. And through a lot of this just benefits that come with this and the city working in partnership with them. And as you mentioned, Councillor Wagner, just as that supports our economic development plan.

Speaker A · Thank you. Any further comments? Thank you. Mayor Goodmanson.

Speaker J · Yes, Chair, thank you. I just want to put my hand in for this one. There was good negotiations between the city and the chamber which has led to us being able to provide the space and with that offering the task to tax exemption. This is a great example of partnerships with groups outside of the City hall entity and I'm full support of it.

Speaker A · Thank you for those comments. Mayor. So just before I call the question, I'll just add that this is not the topic of the conversation, but it's great to have a way to welcome new neighbors that we are intending to have a very great relationship with. And I will thank Councilor Wagner for being council's representative at the West Shore Chamber and being that voice and making sure that they feel like they have an ear with council as well. So thank you so much for your work over the term. I do think having these productive discussions does lead to these good outcomes. With that I'll call the question.

Speaker A · All those in favor and with noon opposed that process unanimously. So 10. 5 bylaw number 2297 City of Lankford Housing Agreement for 2124 Longsburg Dr. Bylaw number 22972026 and this is for adoption.

Speaker D · Point of privilege. Chair, I believe you've skipped an item

Speaker A · agenda or an agenda item two permissive tax exemptions. You are correct. So I'm going to jump back to 10. 4 bylaw number 2,295 City of Lankford permissive tax exemption bylaw number 22952026 first, second and third readings.

Speaker B · I'll move that council give city of Lankford permissive tax exemption bylaw number 22952026 first, second and third readings.

Speaker A · So moved by councelor Wagner. Second that and seconded by Councilor Harder. Councilor Wagner, did you have the motivation

Speaker B · briefly? The the construction foundation of BC is listed here. So that's an opportunity to talk about the forge, which is really a fantastic place to offer recovery for people in the trades. And they just had an event that was really fantastic to celebrate the building there and just wanted to highlight some of the great stuff that's happening in our community. It was just so well attended and there were so many partnerships that were highlighted through this mountain, the forge. So that was awesome. And of course the Sikh Family Resource Society does Great work. We do support all of our places of worship with permissive tax exemptions. And the McCullough Housing Society is as a long term partner for Lankford. And I hope that we can potentially have more affordable housing in Lankford.

Speaker B · They're doing a great job as well. So these organizations are really worthy of our support and I am happy to see this coming.

Speaker A · Councilor, Harder, as a seconder, did you have any motivation?

Speaker D · Thank you. I think. Councillor Wagner,

Speaker A · any further comments from council and I will call the question all those in favor. And that passes unanimously. And now we are back to 10. 5 bylaw number 2297, which I'm happy to read twice. City of Lankford housing agreement for 2124 Longsburg Drive. Bylaw number 2297. 2026. And this is for adoption. Councillor Wickner.

Speaker B · Councillor, I'll move the council adopt City of Lankford Housing Agreement 2024 longs for drive. Bylaw number 2297. 2026.

Speaker A · So moved by Councilor Wagner. Second and seconded by Councilor Herder. Councillor Wagner, thank you again.

Speaker B · Just very briefly, but anytime these housing agreements come forward, they are worthy of celebration. I am very pleased to see more units being referred as affordable housing housing.

Speaker A · No comments. I'm going to take this time to ask a question because this housing agreement is part of our process and we have our new development tracker online. And so where does this fit in with the process about where we would see and what would come next in an application?

Speaker S · Thank you for the question. So with this particular application, the development permit has been issued, so that's likely up on the tracker for the public to see. So after the adoption of the housing agreement, the developer will be able to proceed with building permits on the site. The registration of the housing agreement is required prior to that. I believe they are anxious to move forward with construction. So I believe that will be forthcoming fairly quickly after council adopts the housing agreement and if and when that building permit is applied for and issued issued, that would also appear on the tracker.

Speaker A · Thank you. Any further comments from council? All those in favor? And that passes unanimously. Thank you. On to item number 10. 6, bylaw number 2298, City of Lankford Housing Agreement for 2797 Scafe Road. Bylaw number 2298. 2026.

Speaker A · And this is for adoption. Councilor Wagner.

Speaker B · I will move that the council adopt the City of Lankford Housing Agreement, 2797 SCA Road. Bylaw number 2298. 2026.

Speaker A · So moved by Councillor Wagner. I will second that. Thank you. And seconded by Councilor Harder.

Speaker B · Councilor Wagner, Just similarly affordable housing is so needed. And this is a location very close to City Hall. So pleased to see this. Come forward,

Speaker A · Council Harder. Anything further? Any further comments from council? And to all those in favor and any opposed. And I'm seeing your hand as in favor. Mayor Goodmanson, if you could just let me know if. If that's incorrect.

Speaker J · No, that's correct. In favor.

Speaker A · Thank you, Mayor. Next is item 10. 7, bylaw number 2302, Langford zoning bylaw number 300, amendment number 7683213 and 3217 Happy Valley Road. Bylaw number 2023 02, 2026, first, second and third readings. And I'll look to council.

Speaker A · Perhaps we have questions first or we can go forward. Thank you, Councillor Wagner.

Speaker B · I was hoping there would be a presentation from.

Speaker A · My apologies. Please proceed.

Speaker S · Thank you, Chair. Yes, I'm happy to provide a bit of an introduction to this item. So this application proposes to rezone city owned lands located at 3213 and 3217 Happy Valley Road from the C1 and R2 zone zones to a new MU6A zone to allow for the development of a mixed use building six stories in height. This application follows a request for proposal issued by the city in July seeking submissions for the development and purchase or long term lease of these city owned lands. The city's objective is to facilitate a mixed use development that delivers a critical community benefit in the form of approximately 4,500 square feet of medical clinic space as well as approximately 2,400 square feet of active ground floor commercial uses serve the surrounding neighborhood as well as an associated plaza or outdoor seating area and up to four stories of residential units above all of this with the intention of creating a vibrant mixed use neighborhood hub at this location.

Speaker S · While the final design of the development will be prepared by the successful proponent of the RFP when that is awarded. A preliminary concept design that was done to assess site feasibility and to illustrate one potential development scenario was included in the report. Report the proposed MU6A zone has been drafted to implement the design and land use objectives of the official community plan that relate to new neighborhood villages. And happy to answer any additional questions.

Speaker A · Thank you for that introduction. Does council have any questions to start? Council Wagner, let's see if I can

Speaker B · come up with a good question here.

Speaker A · Just

Speaker B · this is coming forward. Instead of going through committee, it's coming straight to council. And so I just Wanted to give a little bit of thought. We did hear from community about the neighborhood being a feeling that six stories was a lot to go here. Traffic challenges. We know that's a very busy corner. I'm wondering if there is any comment from staff about how this maybe fits into the official community plan. It's close to the corridor designation that is on Sook Road, but I just was noting the sense of feeling it's a bit much for this location. And I wondered if we could hear from staff about maybe envisioning a neighborhood hub in this location and how that fits in with the bigger picture.

Speaker S · Yes, thank you for the question. So the official community plan land use strategy does anticipate that new neighborhood villages will emerge in South Lankford. In particular, while the land use map identifies kind of purple dots in some of the key intersection locations where staff felt like that they were very appropriate through engagement in the official community plan, residents in South Lankford expressed fairly clearly that they are underserved by mixed use development and you know, housing choice.

Speaker S · So the policies of the officials community plan were broadened as it relates to South Lankford to allow neighborhood villages to emerge in appropriate locations that maybe weren't identified on the land use map with a purple dot. So just to acknowledge that they're starting a little bit further behind than a lot of areas of Langford as far as having access to, you know, walkable kind of commercial services and amenities. That was felt to be an appropriate inclusion in the official community plan. And this location does meet the policies that relate to the emergence of new neighborhood villages in South Lankford.

Speaker D · Thank you.

Speaker B · Be prepared to put a motion on the floor at council Give bylaw number 2302 first, second and third readings to amend the zoning designation of the properties located at 3213 and 3217 Happy Valley Road from neighborhood commercial C1 and 1 and 2 family residential R2 to mixed use neighborhood village MU6A and to direct staff to ensure that the following occurs with this proposed development at 3213 and 3217 Happy Valley Road that any future permits that are to be issued include the features that are identified as mandatory and non severable by the request for proposal associated with this development that the properties be consolidated prior to issuance of a development permit for former character the following be provided and implemented to bylaw number 1000 standards to the satisfaction Director of engineering and Public Works prior to the issuance of a building permit, full function improvements and a stormwater Management plan that following be provided and implemented to bylaw number 1000 standards to the satisfaction of the Director of Engineering and Public Works prior to any land alteration a parking construction management plan and a mitigation plan that a covenant be registered prior to issuance of an occupancy permit for the proposed development that ensures residential parking is allocated to each unit and visitors as required by the zoning bylaw and is not provided in exchange for compensation separate from that of a residential unit that the building be constructed with electric heat pumps for individual unit or a central electric heat pump system.

Speaker B · All concrete used on site will utilize ready mixed concrete that meets or exceeds the weighted average global warming potential targets based on concrete BC baseline average mix data and that prior to the issuance of building permit the applicant shall provide a type 3 environmental product declaration that is third party verified specifying the total global warming potential value and confirming that the proposed development meets the requirements of low carbon concrete policy.

Speaker B · P L A N

Speaker A · so moved by Councillor Wagner. All second and seconded by Councillor Marley. Councillor Wagner, thank you.

Speaker B · Yeah, this is a bit of a challenge because we I miss the committee process. I really like when we have the opportunity to hear more from the public through the Sustainable Development Advisory Committee. However, this is quite an opportunity where we we have limited opportunities of city owned land. So this is a place where we've found a way to try to attract a new medical center and I don't see a lot of other options for this creative solution to try to work with the South Island Primary Care Society to be able to bring more doctors to Langford. I think that is worth. There's always going to be pros and cons. I think that's worth it and I am supporting this application.

Speaker A · Thank you Councilor Wagner. Councilor Murley, as a seconder did you have any motivation?

Speaker F · Thanks Chair.

Speaker K · Yes, I support this rezoning application as advances the city's vision of creating complete walkable neighborhoods by providing new housing neighborhoods serving commercial space and much needed medical clinical space on city owned land. The proposal represents an efficient use of existing infrastructure, enhances access to local services and contributes to the development of vibrant neighborhood village for South Lankford residents.

Speaker A · Councillor Yakucha thank you Chair.

Speaker Q · Question to staff if I may. Didn't get the time before the motion was on the floor there. I just noticed underneath frontage improvements that it's noted that no traffic impact assessment is required and just given some of the traffic concerns that were brought up in this area I was hoping that could be spoken to

Speaker A · through the chair.

Speaker P · Thank you for the question. So the city recently adopted a transportation master plan and active transportation plan. It was done so to the levels of reasonably anticipated development in accordance with the density that is provided for in the official community plan in this area along Happy Valley Road. Beside this development is Firehall Creek Road which connects to Isabel Avenue, Lodmill and Walford Road. In the transportation master plan there's recommended upgrades to the intersection of Walford Road and Happy Valley Road to have traffic control for that area so that as this area densifies and grows that the residents of this area will be able to get onto Happy Valley Road in a controlled manner.

Speaker P · Meaning that there will be a full turning movements controlled intersection at Happy Valley

Speaker B · Road and Walford Road.

Speaker A · Thank you Councillor Kitchen.

Speaker Q · Yeah, thank you. Just want to really recognize the difficulty with this as it is a big change to the area recognizing that it's OCP compliant and I think on its own given the traffic that's potentially through here, I'd be a lot more hesitant to support this. However, seeing the potential mass community benefits that come with this project from the multi use having a community hub here, potential for storefront as well as an additional family medical clinic. We've seen the tremendous success that partnering with South Island Primary Care has provided with the Bryn Mawr Clinic and the potential for the expansion there to see many many more families having access to a family doctor coupled with the potential benefits of commercial use on this I think is a tremendous benefit for the neighborhood.

Speaker Q · Having lived in this neighborhood, I definitely recognize that it was a bit of a commercial desert. To get a coffee was at least a 10 minute drive or half an hour walk and having something within the neighborhood is definitely a definitely a benefit altogether. Recognizing that yes it is a little bit off that Sooke Road corridor. However, taking a look at the typical sun maps, this actually is pretty beneficial as the primary shadow that I'm seeing being caused is over the fire hall which sorry to our fire members, but my understanding is that it won't have a huge quality of life impact to anybody in the region, not substantially then in that state.

Speaker Q · So given kind of that weighing of the cost and benefits of this altogether, I do find myself supporting this project

Speaker R · right

Speaker A · further Comments Oh, Councilor Harder.

Speaker D · Thank you Chair. Thank you Council for your comments. This is definitely a bold proposal. It's interesting getting the opportunity to be out in the neighborhood talking with neighbors as this comes forward and hearing concerns specifically around this intersection and the challenges of Souk Road and having many developments brought forward along Sook Road and having our Director of Engineering and Director of Planning, explain some of the challenges around land use and transportation and the chicken or the egg problem that we find ourselves in.

Speaker D · I, on balance, am supportive of this proposal because of the significant community benefit that it stands to provide through the addition of a new medical center. I want to just remind council of the support that we've received from the community for the medical clinic on Bryn Mawr, the Goldstein Medical Clinic. This is an area where Consul Yakucha has noted there's not many things to walk to. And I have been stopped by residents on the street in the downtown core thanking me for building medical center, thanking the city for building a medical center in an area where they can walk because they no longer have to rely on their family members to get themselves to the medical clinic.

Speaker D · They're able to access those services directly in their neighborhoods and not take time off from work. So there's a significant potential benefit there. I like the idea of adding in a commercial component. I acknowledge the challenge of six stories in what is currently mostly a single family, mixed use neighborhood. It's right on the cusp. So it is, I think, new territory in some regards. But I think that there, there are, as Councillor Wagner noted, always going to be parking and transportation challenges. And I like the fact that this proposal aims to provide a different type of housing typology for this community too, so that, you know, down the line, neighbors that do establish themselves in the Happy Valley area may be able to stay and Happy Valley area by finding an affordable housing option or something that they can downsize into.

Speaker D · So my gratitude to staff for bringing this report forward. I'm looking forward to the next steps and I hope we can find a

Speaker A · way to bring more doctors to this proposal. Thank you. So I have some questions first because I think I just wanted something that came out of public participation and maybe just some clarity around why six stories is important for this conversation and why we couldn't have something smaller. As far as I understand, the financing of a project like this is quite tight and the viability. So maybe just a comment on what the city thought was possible.

Speaker S · Yes, thank you for the question. As we've heard fairly regularly from development community at this table, and as the city brought forward the inclusionary zoning and amenity cost charge bylaws where financial feasibility testing was required under the provincial legislation, it's a very tight market to have viability in the development industry right now.

Speaker S · And six stories is really, you know, required to make the numbers work on this location. You know, this was a, I think A comment brought forward by council with the six story building on Sook Road recently, as well as that, that similar comment was brought up in that context. But you know, taking two stories off of a building, really reducing the residential component by half since there are two floors of commercial in this space, you know, one of which being the medical clinic at that, you know, not a super high rate of leasing just due to the way that the RFP was structured to maximize the benefit to the community.

Speaker S · In that sense, that would really reduce the viability of the project to the point that it likely wouldn't be able to proceed.

Speaker A · Thank you. I know we do hear a lot from the community about why not smaller, why not less. And they're good questions because to help the community understand the cost benefit analysis of what the as part of the decision. So Councillor Yakutia brought up shadows and I know sometimes at committees we do see shadow studies that come out of applications. Is there any way that we can understand or is that happening at all within this process about understanding the impact so neighbors can have a better understanding of what, how the sun would be shading them or the building would be shading them from the sun.

Speaker S · Thanks for the question. The city doesn't typically require shadow studies as part of submissions. Sometimes the architect on a larger build will provide that as part of just the review process to give neighborhood, you know, a sense of what that might look like at various parts of times in the year. But that's not, you know, requirement imposed by the city, but something that's been kind of voluntarily provided by certain architects, typically for taller buildings like towers. Not typically for a six story building. It has happened on occasion, any, any new buildings. Of course the contract hasn't been awarded at this point. So there would be a comprehensive, detailed design process with a successful proponent and any design would be subject to the new form of character design guidelines that were adopted recently by council and that does include some, some type of, you know, consideration for that transition to, you know, lower density adjacent land uses and such.

Speaker S · So all of that will be reviewed with the successful proponent and their architectural team and compliance with the design guidelines will be sought through that process.

Speaker A · Thank you for that. So I will just add some comments then I will share that. Council's had a number of letters from the neighbors that live directly around sharing concerns about traffic. And so I want to thank having that local perspective on what the anticipated stressors are, what it's like to live in that area and the very real concerns around what growing their community with a six story Building here would mean to them in particular, it matters to kind of have that local understanding.

Speaker A · And like Councillor Yakucha, I have not had the benefit of doing this in the area. So I don't have the day to day experience. At the end of the day, when we have these really challenging decisions around the impact we do have to consider cost benefit analysis about what the trade off is towards having growth in your community. And what the benefit is is because there is a cost and there is something that's being given up and that is, you know, the way that your community has existed to this day is. Is changing with every. With every new development.

Speaker D · The.

Speaker A · The benefit is having a doctor's office in a location that has. Is accessible by. By vehicle. Although I understand the traffic concerns, I'm not being flippant to what I've heard about the challenging issues of traffic in this area. There's also the galloping goose that is nearby. There are multiple buses that go to Sook and Machosin. And so just kind of acknowledging that doctors when they're brought on board as we understand from the Gulfstream Medical Clinic are taken off their provincial registry list. They're not necessarily Langford residents. They could come from anywhere. So being having multiple ways for folks to access medical clinic is an important part of the conversation.

Speaker A · Was one of the reasons that I was okay with venturing towards the Goldstream Medical Clinic which has been very successful is that it was leveraging the transportation and land use conversation in a way that brings the community the most benefit. We have a lot of density around the corner and the opportunity for folks to be able to walk to amenities to, you know, make certain trips. Maybe not all their trips, but a few of their trips in a way that using walk different modes of active transportation generally helps the city overall. I get concerned about, you know, when we think about having some of these solutions up in one of our mountain communities because they're only accessible by folks with cars.

Speaker A · And so I know the city looks at our land opportunities which is not that much. There isn't a whole smorgasbord of selection for the city to look at opportunities for different solutions that works for the city. I think this is a creative solution that uses the resources that we have now. Uses the understanding of the community and how we are growing and changing and stands behind a model that has been effective. It is really hard for me to stand in a way of a solution for that's proven now. It's not just a prototype anymore. It's proven of getting doctors to Langford and having residents attached.

Speaker A · When I understand their, you know, when I hear about pregnant mothers that don't have a doctor or a midwife, when I hear about people that are need the ongoing care, that don't have a doctor, these are life changing situations about having a primary caregiver. And here we are as a municipality with tools and we are using them because we know it's important to communicate. So I'm going to support this and I'm going to support it with the request to the residents that reached out to have patience to hopefully see that this will be a benefit to your community even though it is going to have an impact and it's going to change the way your community exists.

Speaker A · And I hope it's for the better and that the costs or the benefits outweigh the costs. Mayor Goodmanson, I'm happy to give you the last word on this.

Speaker J · Yes, Chair, thank you. Through you, this is an example of where council has to make a decision and there is no perfect answer. We have the opportunity to provide doctors for 12 and a half, 15,000 people eventually. And in a building that is going to be there for hopefully 50 plus years, how the community around it looks 20, 30, 40, 50 years from now. None of us can say exactly there will be additions, there'll be new buildings, larger buildings, new councils will make changes, sidewalks go in or not. It depends on what happens in the future. But what I do like about this, it is that prime example of what we continued to push that no single entity can do it all alone.

Speaker J · This is working with the city, with a private developer with a non profit to provide a public amenity to provide that doctor space that is desperately needed and we can never make a decision that will make it okay for everyone. That is part of being counsel. We know that when we make decisions we virtually will upset somebody regardless of how altruistic we think our decisions are. I am hoping that if this passes and it goes through that the process is smooth and inclusive of the neighborhood and provides what the neighborhood needs as well as what the greater area needs in terms of medical facility. So this does have my, my approval 100% and I will leave it at that.

Speaker A · Thank you. Seeing no third, seeing no further lights, I'm going to call the question all those in favor? And that's unanimous. So that passes. Thank you. So the last item on our open agenda is item 10. 8, bylaw number 2303, Lankford zoning bylaw number 300, amendment number 769, omnibus number 69 text amendments including 2140 Caribou Drive, landscaping, EV charging and parking bylaw number 2303, 2026 first, second and third readings just before we we

Speaker C · can go to the floor there. I just time.

Speaker A · I will look to council to extend the meeting as we are approaching 10 o'.

Speaker R · Clock.

Speaker D · Thank you Chair. I will move that council extend the meeting to 10:30pm I'll second.

Speaker A · All those in favor. Thank you. Okay, so we will. Is there an introduction to this item?

Speaker S · I'm sure I can do that for each. So the purpose of bylaw number 2303 is to amend the text of the BP9 zone to allow indoor and outdoor recreation facilities on the Property located at 2140 Caribou Dr. As well as to make various housekeeping amendments with respect to electric vehicle charging and long term and oversized bike parking and ground oriented housing by clarifying definitions parking for home occupations, landscaping and visitor parking, working signage requirements and by adding a new section to authorize bylaw enforcement and or director of Planning to the ability to issue an order to comply with the requirements of the zoning bylaw to ease enforcement.

Speaker A · Thank you. And I'll look to council for Councillor Wagner.

Speaker B · I'll start us off with a motion. We can always have questions as needed. So option one that council give Lang for zoning bylaw number 300, amendment number 769, omnibus number 69 text amendments including 2140 Caribou Drive, landscaping, EV charging and parking bylaw number 23032026 first, second and

Speaker A · third reading moved by Councillor Wagner. I'll look to council for a seconder. I will second and seconded by council harder. Councillor Wagner,

Speaker B · I'll be fairly brief here. I just think we can see there's some interesting uses that would be opened up here that we're trying to activate this area. And so if you're reading through the particulars, it's encouraging different uses and potentially increasing public benefit to this land parcel.

Speaker A · Councilor harder

Speaker D · not much further to add. I appreciate that we're looking to proactively align the zoning regulations with the intended use of this this land that the city received as part of a subdivision that happened I believe back in 2021, many years ago now. So I'm happy to see this coming forward and we'll look forward to next steps after this.

Speaker A · Councillor Yakutra, thank you.

Speaker Q · I was actually hoping we could speak a little bit to the changes to zoning bylaw number 300, particularly around the removing the requirement to have the EV charging capabilities within single family homes duplexes and townhomes. Just a little bit more clarification on what's happening there.

Speaker S · Yes, thank you for the question. Just over the past six months or so that staff have been working with the new parking regulations, this particular area has posed a bit of a challenge to the development community as well as to staff. It does require, you know, the provision of drawings and memos by electrical engineers which aren't typically engaged in that type of housing. And most duplexes and single family homes and townhomes even often have an energized outlet kind of already in the garage where the vehicle parking would be. So it's kind of redundant in that sense wherein most, most dwellings will kind of automatically have this.

Speaker S · And it was creating kind of a, a bit of a, an onerous process both for developers of those smaller, more ground oriented housing types. So proactively just brought that forward for council's consideration.

Speaker Q · Thank you. That does provide adequate clarification for that.

Speaker A · Further questions or comments on the motion? Seeing none, I will call the question. All those in favor? And that is unanimous. And that passes. So we are at the end of our open meeting. Before we go in camera, I would just like to thank everybody for coming out tonight in council chambers and online. And one final thank you to Councillor Morley and thank you for joining us with your last meeting. We'll look to council for a motion to go in camera, please.

Speaker D · Thank you. Chair. I will move that Council close the meeting to the public pursuant to section 91 D, E and K of the community charter to consider the security of the property of the municipality, the acquisition, disposition or expropriation of land or improvements, if the council considers that disclosure could reasonably be expected to harm the interests of the municipality from negotiations in detail and related discussions respecting the proposed provision of a municipal service that are at their preliminary stages and that in the view of the council, could reasonably be expected to harm the interests of the municipality if they were held in public.

Speaker A · So moved by Councilor Harder. I'll second and seconded by Councilor Wagner. All those in favor? And that passes. Thank you. We're just going to take a moment as we move in camera.