LANGLEY — The Langley City Council unanimously voted Wednesday night to extend the moratorium against building in residential zones for another six months. But while it quickly became clear that the extension was a done deal, lots of talk focused on a potential new extension in December.

The emergency ordinance was passed last night, exactly one year after the city passed a moratorium to bar taking applications for subdividing land for residential use.

City officials have said the extension would give planners more time to work on subarea plans and other planning tools.

Langley Planning Director Larry Cort said it is possible that the city can get the groundwork done to lift the moratorium by December, but there is one uncontrollable factor.

“Our work plan is manageable,” Cort said. “But it depends on how much time the community wants to talk about these things.”

Audience members were concerned that the ban would be lifted before the work would be completed.

Councilman Robert Gilman said the city is striving to complete the work, but that the moratorium could be extended if necessary.

Gilman added that not all of the subarea planning needs to be finished before the moratorium could be lifted. Even so, the city’s new “planning tools” need to be implemented, he said.

“It’s like we’re trying to remodel a 747 and it’s a lot easier to do on the ground than in the air,” Gilman said.

“The measuring stick is: Do we have enough tools in place that if an application comes in, we can deal with it consistent with the comp plan?” Cort asked.

The new ordinance does not allow the city the ability to lift the moratorium subarea by subarea, but the council could lift the entire moratorium at any time.

Gilman said if the city has to continue the moratorium again in December, that option could be written into the ordinance.

Cort said the city’s legal counsel has already warned Langley about an new extension unless the city can make a solid case for it. He added that Washington courts have come down hard on Samamish and Bainbridge for extending building bans.

“We have to be thorough in explaining why we need it,” Cort said.

The city council also followed a recommendation from lawyers who work for the city’s insurer to not allow any exemptions.

Cort said creating exemptions would undercut the city’s claim that Langley leaders needed more time to wrap up work on growth planning issues.

“In her view, if we open up that door just a little bit, we are hurting our case,” he said.

“Bottom line, since a new subdivision proposed under our current development regulations might have at least some potential to be inconsistent with our newly revised comprehensive plan, the recommendation at this point is to bar all subdivision applications until we have reasonable assurances that our development regulations and comprehensive plan are internally consistent,” Cort added.

The city council was quickly on board.

“I am glad to say I agree with the lawyer,” Councilman Bob Waterman said.

At a council meeting earlier in May, some council members had still been sympathetic with the dilemma a Langley couple was facing.

Dave and Cathy Schmidt want to subdivide their downtown Langley property and sell their home.

The Schmidts have been working with the city to get an exemption from the moratorium. The couple owns a 1.14-acre parcel on Third Street and they want to subdivide their property into three lots, with their home on one. Timing was important for the Schmidts, because the couple planned to sell the home.

Councilwoman Rene Neff said the moratorium extension was manageable for the owners.

“Since this is only six months, it doesn’t appear too terrible of a hardship to the property owners, given the current real estate market,” Neff said.

Gilman pointed out an exemption that would be granted would get hung up and possibly denied in the process anyway, because the city’s rules are inconsistent with its growth plan.

The roughly 15 audience members in attendance welcomed the councils decision.

The moratorium extension was passed as an emergency moratorium and takes effect immediately.