Dear mayor and council,
Thank you for the opportunity to weigh in on this important topic. To begin, the mere call for this public hearing is indicative that there is a problem and you, the mayor and council, are aware of it. I applaud the decision to put this to public hearing but once again I find myself at the mercy of the majority on council that have in the past shown a preference to make decisions that benefit developers first and residents a distant second.
In regards to this proposed bylaw, my personal feeling is that the 50 per cent maximum that is currently proposed, falls well short of what is needed to enact effective change. To support this position I offer the following.
A little over a year ago when my youngest son was contemplating entering the housing market in Langley, I went along to numerous open houses and private showings. It’s important to note that the few double garage units we viewed were at virtually the same price point as the tandem units the townhouses he was looking at were primarily in Willoughby and almost all were tandem garages. None of these tandem garages were used for the parking of two vehicles. The realtors doing the showings claimed that all of these owners were two vehicle families. When queried as to “where do they park the other car”? Answers were usually, “on the street,” or “they have temporary permission to use visitor parking.” Whether or not the latter is true is beside the point. The rear of these tandem garages were being used for, storage, watercraft, bicycles, dirt bikes, workshops and also some suspect DYI rec rooms and sleeping areas.
There’s nothing wrong with these other uses with the exception of the DYI examples, however; townhouse complexes need to be self-sufficient with regards to resident and visitor parking. The impracticality of tandem garages makes any notion of self-sufficiency impossible.
Townhouse developments need to be held accountable for the provision of sufficient and practical parking for residents and visitors. I view this mayor and council as stewards of the community and as such have an obligation to ensure developments are not just good but “great,” especially so when these type of development decisions create a negative impact on the surrounding community that is cumulative as development continues.
As solutions I’d like to see limits on tandem garages that are realistically achievable and limits that will work towards parking self-sufficiency. I’d like to see the bar raised for quality and livability. I see this bar at 15 per cent to 20 per cent. Tandem garages need to become the exception in developments rather than the norm.
When it comes to “great” in developments, I challenge mayor and council to ask yourselves: What does great look like? I further challenge you to apply the ideal of great when you are considering the next townhouse development proposal. Hopefully a commitment down this path will not allow the tandem garage debacle to continue in Willoughby or be repeated in Brookswood.
Brian Cameron, Langley