Fraser Highway could see more industrial use under proposed plan

Langley Township will look at a plan for the industrial lands flanking Fraser Highway between Murrayville and Aldergrove, with an eye to boosting employment.

A motion from Mayor Eric Woodward at the Monday, Feb. 27 council meeting called for a report on a new Fraser Highway Employment Lands Area Plan, focused generally on the area between 228th Street and 240th Street.

Woodward’s motion mentioned both the shortage of industrial land in Metro Vancouver, and the Township’s long-standing goal of providing one job for every local resident in the labour force.

Although most of Langley Township east of the Murrayville neighbourhood is either in the Agricultural Land Reserve, or is zoned as rural, a broad strip along Fraser Highway was never in the ALR.

There are also a few pockets of non-ALR land along the highway farther east, such as the Otter Co-op and some adjacent lands around 248th Street.

There is another major cluster of industrial lands near 264th Street.

Woodward noted that he wants to see what’s happening on Fraser Highway formalized, and to look at infrastructure for the area, including water service, which was the subject of a follow-up motion.

Asked about the scope of the plan, Township administrator Mark Bakken said it will only be for non-ALR lands.

“It’s a difficult corridor, because there are segments that are heavily within the ALR, for example 248th to 256th, and then there’s some areas that have very limited ALR, at least along the frontage, which is 232nd to 240th.”

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Before any changes to the area move forward, there would be a neighbourhood planning process, environment studies, discussions with Metro Vancouver, and a public hearing, the mayor said.

Councillor Kim Richter said the idea of putting water service down Fraser Highway had been considered in the past.

“It was prohibitively expensive at the time,” she said.

Woodward noted that water could be extended either through development service agreements, by businesses, or through a Township budget plan in the future.

Right now, Fraser Highway between Murrayville and Aldergrove has a mixture of uses. Everything from private homes to shops and businesses, lumberyards and industrial supply outlets, small car dealerships, restaurants, and corner stores currently or have existed along the strip of Fraser Highway.

The motion was passed unanimously by council.

It followed a motion that is intended to speed up finishing the widening of Fraser Highway by 2030, with four lanes and upgrades that could include bike lanes and bus stops.