Friday - Aug. 2, 2024 - Langley, Mission told to build more houses

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Good morning!

Today’s newsletter is brought to you by the extremely well-behaved Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever I saw yesterday at Field House Brewing in Chilliwack. That is where I went for part of my work day. Sometimes, if you are in a productivity funk, it helps to shake things up. Get out of the (home) office. Eat some nachos. See a cute dog.

It’s one of the benefits of working from home. If you have your laptop, you don’t need to be at home at all. And you get to enjoy some temporary fuzzy coworkers while you are out.

– Grace

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Traffic & Weather

🌤 Local forecast: Langley | Chilliwack | Abbotsford | Hope

🚘 Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google, and find DriveBC’s latest updates.

🛣 Click here for links to road cameras across the Fraser Valley, including those for the Coquihalla, Highway 7, Hope-Princeton, Fraser Canyon, and Highway 1 in Langley and Abbotsford.

NEWS

The legacy of a builder

I say that if something needs to be done, I will do it.

Mary Agnes Giesbrecht was not usually a big talker.

She didn’t make big speeches. She didn’t talk much about her past or her time in residential school. She was soft-spoken.

Agnes was, more than anything, a do-er: a woman whose personal history, love for family, and desire to be involved in her community led to the creation of some of Mission’s most important community institutions for Indigenous people. A woman who, when she died in December, left behind a legacy found in buildings, organizations, and children.

• Today, Tyler profiles an unsung community leader in Mission who sought to give Indigenous youth the education she was denied.

Related

Need to Know

⚠ The landslide that blocked the Chilcotin River could give way within 48 hours, officials say, potentially causing an outburst flood in the Fraser River downstream to Hope; people are asked to stay off the river this weekend, including the riverbanks [APTN] / The slide will likely have devastating impacts on fish migration and salmon spawning [Global]

🚓 One man is in custody after attempting a ‘smash-and-grab’ robbery in Langley last week [Langley Advance Times]

🤼 Abbotsford wrestler Clint Istace is returning to the ring after facing battles with mental health; he will be at the Abbotsford AgriFair this weekend [Abbotsford News]

🚔 Two people were arrested after a man was seriously injured in a Chilliwack shooting Wednesday [Chilliwack progress]

🚨 Mission RCMP say a 61-year-old Langley woman assaulted some officers after she was pulled over for dangerous driving last week [Mission Record]

🚑 One man is in custody and another seriously injured after an early morning assault in Chilliwack Thursday [Chilliwack Progress]

👉 Eight people were charged in a Langley drug trafficking sting that brought in millions of dollars worth of street drugs [Langley Advance Times]

💵 Otter Co-op members who purchased feed last year will get a kickback from profits; other co-op members are not impressed with the decision [Aldergrove Star]

🍻 Chilliwack’s Old Yale Brewing will be expanding to Beaumont, Alberta next year [Fraser Valley Today]

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The Agenda

Langley, Mission told they are next in line to build more houses

Langley City and Mission are among the most recent group of municipalities being told they need to build more houses.

The province’s Housing Supply Act was put into force last year, identifying housing targets for 10 municipalities across BC. Abbotsford was part of that first cohort, and told it would need to build 7,240 homes by 2028. Chilliwack was added in the spring of this year as part of the second cohort, and needs to build 4,594 homes by 2029.

Now, Langley City and the City of Mission have been given their housing orders. They will need to build 1,844 and 1,798 homes, respectively, by 2029. More than 60% of those homes are intended for owners to live in, and the remainder are rental units. The province is suggesting that the majority of the homes should be studio or one-bedroom units, although it has said that 1,032 units should have three bedrooms or more. (Those could prove tricky to get built, as one Langley City developer has said building three-bedroom apartments is just not economical.)

Although the province has set the targets, and is offering some resources for local governments, it will be up to the municipalities to ensure they meet their mandates. That includes finding partners for supportive rental units and ensuring developers build affordable rentals as well as market housing.

Abbotsford released an interim progress report for its housing targets in March. It said the city had completed 427 new units since it was given its housing target, but 24 homes had been demolished in that same time. It had approved 710 new units that were still under development, meaning the city has four years left to build more than 6,000 homes.

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🗓 Things to do

Free concert: Hope's Concerts in the Park continues with a performance by Tyler del Pino & the Brasstronauts tonight. The concert starts at 6:30pm, and a food truck will be on site at Memorial Park starting at 5:30pm. Details online. You can find more free concerts happening this month here.

Dive-in movie: Langley's Al Anderson Memorial Pool is hosting a dive-in movie night on Saturday, Aug. 3 starting at 8pm. Regular admission applies. Details online.

Outdoor art: Langley's Outdoor Fine Arts Fair returns to Douglas Park from Saturday, Aug. 3 to Sunday, Aug. 4. Enjoy free face painting, meet local artists, participate in workshops, and listen to live music. Details online.

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