City of Langley Industrial Zoning Update

Since 1978, the City of Langley (the "City") has been recognized as an ideal location for industrial activities. With the City's close proximity to railways, highways and a skilled labour force, it has become the location of over 265,000 sqm of industrial space, and a respective increase in industrial investment and redevelopment activity. To respond to this growth, the City further developed industrial provisions in its amended Official Community Plan (the "OCP") in November 22, 2021 and is currently revising its Zoning Bylaw.

Within the OCP's industrial land use policies, the City set forth goals to:

1. Maintain the City’s significant industrial land base;
2. Encourage more industrial uses that provide more jobs and taxation benefits;
3. Support innovation and investment, including new and emerging trends in industrial activity and business; and
4. Modernize industrial zoning and parking to reflect industry and regional best practices, and improved transit service.

In a Council Report prepared for Council consideration on July 24, 2023, the City outlined their intention to update the City's Zoning Bylaw to reflect the goals of the OCP. As a part of this process, the City's "Light Industrial" (I1), "Service Industrial" (I2), "Special Industrial" (I3) and other zones will be updated; however, the City is only amending the "Light Industrial" (I1) zone in the initial stage.

In the Council Report, City staff proposed the following updates to the "Light Industrial" (I1) Zone:

1. Reducing the minimum parking requirements to 1 parking stall per 100 sqm (Previous rate: 2 parking stalls per 93 sqm);
2. Increasing the permitted building height from 15 meters to 30 meters (Note: Due to the City's proximity to the Langley Airport, the permitted building height is subject to the provisions of the Government of Canada’s Langley Airport Zoning Regulations); and
3. Permitting industrial buildings along arterial or major roads to include limited accessory office uses that support land development, manufacturing, utility and technology/e-commerce industries.

On July 24, 2023, the above changes were adopted by the City. With these amendments, the City promotes greater economic competitiveness, land use efficiency and flexibility to accommodate new industrial uses. The efforts of local governments to update their policies in this way assist communities in achieving economic growth, more effectively utilizing scarce industrial lands and supporting a greater variety of business ventures. Pacific Land Group is pleased to actively provide land use and development services for more than 15 industrial projects, including food processing, outdoor storage, truck parking and warehousing facilities within Abbotsford, Burnaby, Delta, Langley, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, Surrey and other BC communities.

References:

1. City of Langley. (2016). Sector profile: Industrial. City of Langley.
2. City of Langley. (2021). Official Community Plan. City of Langley.
3. City of Langley. (2023a). Regular Council meeting agenda: Monday, July 24, 2023. City of Langley.
4. City of Langley. (2023b). Regular Council meeting video: Monday, July 24, 2023. City of Langley.