Langley Township council voted to move forward on approving almost 200 units of townhouses and rental units on Monday, June 14, but a plan for more rural homes near Tall Timbers Estates was paused for more public input.
The request to rezone a 44.5-acre site at 5759 240th Street to create 39 rural lots has been put on pause.
Councillor Kim Richter called for a referral on the project, allowing the developer to hold a public information meeting.
The proposed development is directly to the south, and uphill, from the Tall Timbers subdivision, which has been in place near the former golf course lands since the early 1980s.
The site has a lengthy history.
The whole area, including the existing Tall Timbers Estates neighbourhood, was once part of the Agricultural Land Reserve from its establishment in the early 1970s.
The current Tall Timbers housing area was excluded from the ALR in the 1970s, and the current site in 1986.
In that year, the landowner put forward a plan for the area to create 183 lots of about one-third acre in size, spread across an area including the current site and another piece of land to the northwest.
That plan was revised in 1987 into a plan for 273 lots (99 of which would have been on the current land), again close to a third in acre in size. That proposal was rejected by the council in 1987, and the land was never developed.
If the new project does go through a neighbourhood comment process and comes back to council, the plan includes a 15 metre wide buffer on its eastern property line where it abuts the Agricultural Land Reserve.
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There would be no access to the site from 56th Avenue, which near that property is sharply curved and has a steep hill to the west and a deep ravine to the east.
Mayor Jack Froese and Councillors Margaret Kunst and Bob Long opposed referring the project back for a community meeting.
At the same meeting, the council voted in favour of first and second readings on rezonings for several developments including:
• 60 units of townhouses in the 20400 block of 80th Avenue
• 32 townhouses, duplexes, and a detached strata unit in the 20600 block of 68th Avenue
• A 133-unit rental apartment complex in the 6300 block of 197th Street