Monday - Dec. 9, 2024 - 264 Street too busy for farming, owner says

🌤 High 7C

Good morning!

On Friday I was working on putting together our FVC book guide—something for all of you to peruse as you wonder what to get the readers on your Christmas list. And although we got some great books, I would love to hear the titles you all recommend as well.

Send us your suggestions for books either about the Fraser Valley or by Fraser Valley authors, and you may see it grace our book list this year. If we get enough, we may even make a Reader Recommended section. You can send us your suggestions by replying to this email. Our preference is to highlight new books, but favourite oldies are fine too.

– Grace

Keep local journalism alive by supporting The Current. Become a Current Insider member today and help bring local stories to life.

Traffic & Weather

🌤 Local forecast: Langley | Chilliwack | Abbotsford | Hope (We have had to temporarily change our forecast links to the Weather Network due to a technical error.)

🚘 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 challenge of predicting the future

To be a weather forecaster, you don’t just have to be OK with taking criticism from strangers. You also have to be ready for your own relatives to call you out when your predictions of rain are followed by glorious sunshine.

Last month, a massive low-pressure system hit British Columbia. High winds knocked out power for hundreds of thousands, but in some locations—including the Fraser Valley—the weather remained relatively placid. The lack of disaster following a storm dubbed a “bomb cyclone” led to a number of raised-eyebrows directed towards forecasters (and news organizations).

But Ford Doherty wasn’t surprised by any of it. A weather forecaster for 30 years until he retired in 2018, Doherty says being an Environment Canada meteorologist requires one to admit reality may be different than the future you predicted.

After we wrote about the use of the terms “bomb cyclone” and “atmospheric river,” Ford emailed us with insight into both term’s usage, and his personal thoughts on their history and usefulness.

So we called him up.

• Today, Tyler talks to Ford about bomb cyclones, pineapple expresses, the difficulties of informing the public about uncertain future events, and why a willingness to change one’s mind is critical for both forecasters and the general public.

Related

Need to Know

🏥 Former Chilliwack MLA Dan Coulter suffered a ‘serious medical emergency’ and was taken to hospital on Friday [Chilliwack Progress]

🎒 Fewer BC teachers left the profession last year than in 2022, but those who did leave were more likely to be getting out of teaching entirely [The Tyee]

⚖ A man who stabbed a fellow inmate at Matsqui Institution last year has been sentenced to three more years in prison [Abbotsford News]

💸 Langley Township’s current council has borrowed nearly $400 million during its term; another $169 million in debt has been carried over from before 2022 [Langley Advance Times]

🚔 Police are investigating after shots were fired at a home in rural Abbotsford Sunday morning [Fraser Valley Today]

🏗 The developers of a 41-unit apartment in Mission will not have to pay for a crosswalk, council has decided [Mission Record]

🔎 Langley RCMP are looking for 25-year-old Samia Onesmus, who was last seen in mid-November [Fraser Valley Today]

📭 BC’s Ombudsperson is investigating how the province is distributing welfare checks during the Canada Post strike; in November, 40% of checks were not delivered on time [BC Ombudsperson]

Enjoying our newsletter? Help us make it even better!

Become an Insider member and help keep local journalism and storytelling alive in the Fraser Valley.

SPONSORED BY YOU

Your ad can be here

Advertising in The Current is easier than ever and supports our journalism. Just shoot us an email to learn how you can advertise.

The Agenda

264th getting too busy for farming, property owner says

Increasing traffic volumes are making it harder and harder to keep farming, the owner of a horticulture company near 264th Street highway exit said.

Clearview Horticulture Products Inc. is located on the corner of 264 Street and 56 Avenue, just next to the Highway 1 exit. The company was started by the Wein family in 1970, when they began growing flowers for wholesale purchase. The family still owns the company, and still grows flowers—but they say traffic is making it harder and harder to continue with agriculture.

“Traffic passing in front of the farm and garden shop has increased so much in the past several years (now estimated at 60,000 vehicles per year) that it’s causing significant delays for customers, employees and delivery vehicles to access the farm and shop. It is also impeding access for farm vehicles,” an agent for the family wrote in a letter to Langley Township.

“Without fixing the access problems this site is not viable for farming in the long-term. It is also preventing us from opening all year round.”

The letter noted that the provincial government was planning to expand the 264th interchange—something that would likely make traffic more challenging around the farm.

The letter requested the Township of Langley ask the Agricultural Land Commission to remove the property from the ALR, so the property could transition to industrial or commercial uses in the future. (New rules mean individual property owners can no longer ask the ALC to exclude a property; the request has to come from a larger body, like a municipality.)

The township, though, was not interested in removing the land from the ALR.

Staff recommended council not approve the request, in large part because there were no policies to support an exclusion. The area is not currently zoned for industrial or commercial uses, and the neighbourhood’s plan as a whole is geared towards maintaining rural and agricultural properties. And although council toyed with the idea of sending the exclusion application on for the ALC to make the final decision, a slim majority of council members decided to make the decision themselves.

“If council wants to look at changing the policy context on how to consider applications for this township endorsing removal of land from the ALR, then we should do that first,” Mayor Eric Woodward said. “How many people do not make applications to remove their land from the ALR based on previous very strong signals that the township doesn’t support it?”

“I don’t see a context here that this is fair for all the other property owners that want to be rich as well.”

Share

You can share this newsletter by forwarding it or copy and pasting this link—https://fvcurrent.com/p/december-9-2024/—into a social media post.

Community journalism needs the entire community for it to succeed.

Become a Current member today and join 1,200+ other local supporters who help keep our lights on.

As part of a membership, you get our special weekend roundup of all the things you might’ve missed each week!

🤝 Now hiring

• Kitchen assistant/cook at Hope and Area Transition Society

• Class 1, 2, 3 flight instructor at Coastal Pacific Aviation in Abbotsford

• Relationship manager at Prospera Credit Union in Agassiz

• Junior mechanical engineer at IMW Industries in Chilliwack

• Baker helper at Sugarplum Desserts in Langley

Hiring in the Fraser Valley? Reply back and let us know!

🗓 Things to do

Christmas history: Seniors 55 and older are invited to the Abbotsford Recreation Centre to learn about the origins of Christmas and Santa Claus on Tuesday starting at 10am. Details online.

Harp concert: The Chilliwack Cultural Centre hosts Winter Harp, a concert with poetry, percussion, and rare medieval instruments, on Tuesday. Details and tickets online.

Brew contest: Smugglers Trail hosts a Battle of the Casks on Thursday to see which Kwantlen brewing student has developed the best beer. Patrons can vote on their favourite brews, and the winner will get to collaborate with Smugglers Trail on a future taproom release. Details and tickets online.

Have an event to tell us about? Fill out this form to have it highlighted here.

Catch up

That’s it!

Thanks for reading Fraser Valley Current today ♥️ 

If you found something useful, consider forwarding this newsletter to another local.

Help share The Current

Wouldn’t the Fraser Valley be better if more people had access to local, quality news – and didn’t have to rely on social media? Share The Current with your friends and help us build better communities.