Langley PAB continues zoning debate

Work on zoning-code revisions for Langley will continue at Wednesday’s meeting of the city’s Planning Advisory Board.

Work on zoning-code revisions for Langley will continue at Wednesday’s meeting of the city’s Planning Advisory Board.

The volunteer board will meet at 3 p.m., earlier than usual because of the holidays, at city hall on Second Street.

The board will continue work on re-crafting development regulations to reflect the city’s natural, cultural and built character, and to mesh with the latest revisions to the city’s comprehensive plan.

Earlier this month, a 2½-year moratorium on subdivisions in three city neighborhoods was extended again, this time until March, while city officials complete the changes to Langley regulations on development.

City planners have been approaching the project from a citywide focus down to the smallest neighborhoods.

At the last council meeting, City Councilman Robert Gilman, the council’s liaison to the board, threw in a monkey wrench of sorts. He urged that planners should start at the neighborhood level and work outward.

There was some worry that years of effort by the PAB would be wasted if a change of direction is made, but Gilman assured board members at their last meeting that most of their work could be retained.

Also at the meeting on Dec. 23, the PAB will discuss work items for the coming year, including subsequent phases of the zoning-code rewrite.