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Residents' group aims to uproot long-serving Langford council

Langford Now says it will field and support candidates who balance the city’s rapid development with social and environmental needs.
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Langford City Hall on Goldstream Avenue. DARREN STONE, TIMES COLONIST

A grassroots group of Langford residents hopes to field a slate of candidates who can shake up city council, some members of which have been there since the municipality’s incorporation three decades ago.

Langford Now says it will field and support candidates in October’s civic election who balance the city’s rapid development with social and environmental needs in the Island’s fastest-growing community.

“We’ve been hearing from so many people that they’re frustrated with traffic, construction noise and the loss of green space. People are ready for a new vision in Langford,” said Corrina Craig, the authorized principal official of Langford Now. “[We] support candidates for mayor and council who believe in thoughtful and balanced development with meaningful and genuine community consultation.”

Craig said Langford Now has about 50 members and no specific candidates as yet. She said the group will provide information on key issues and candidate positions in the months leading up to the election.

As a registered electors organization, Craig said, the group will also endorse independent candidates who align with the concerns of its membership.

Toppling Mayor Stew Young will be a tall order. He has been elected or acclaimed as mayor for the past seven municipal elections — winning the 2018 campaign with 82% of the vote — and is credited with turning Langford from “dog patch” into a regional powerhouse for housing, business development, and a sporting and recreational mecca.

Young, born and raised in Langford and first elected a councillor in 1992, still hasn’t announced whether he will stand for an eighth consecutive term as mayor in the Oct. 15 election.

He has been criticized for running the city and council meetings with an iron fist, and for his close ties with local developers. Young’s detractors say people expressing concerns at public hearings about mega-projects such as highrises in Langford’s downtown, construction noise and tree protection have been curtly dismissed and even criticized by the mayor for bringing up the issues.

Young frequently clashes with Coun. Lillian Szpak, most notably this past year over a potential tree protection bylaw and Szpak’s attempted motion for the city to develop a code of conduct for council members, both of which were rejected, with harsh criticism, by Young.

“We think a code of conduct needs to happen. The way [Szpak] was treated was very disappointing,” said Craig.

“We also think the Official Community Plan needs to be looked at again because it hasn’t been updated for 14 years. We believe Langford needs new voices and perspectives.

“Thirty years is a long time for one person’s vision. We think a fresh vision is needed.”

Craig said Langford’s growth has outpaced its infrastructure, which is showing in traffic congestion and the shrinking green space around rapid development.

“We need a community centre, we need a youth centre and a place where our young people can go,” she said. “We haven’t had a skate park since they ripped it out for the Belmont Park subdivision.”

The group also feels Langford’s demographics are changing, and there are concerns about the rapid pace of development projects and loss of natural areas.

“Parks, green space, trees … people need these, and there isn’t enough around these new developments,” said Craig. “Whole mountains are gone.”

Kristen Awram, another principal official of Langford Now, said members particularly want to see an “effective, broad-based” community consultation process to create an inclusive vision for the future of Langford and to update the Official Community Plan to guide the city’s evolution.

“It is possible to find a balanced approach to development and we should embrace this opportunity to come together as a whole community and evolve Langford in a truly unique, innovative and forward-looking way,” Awram said.

Coun. Denise Blackwell, chair of Langford’s planning, zoning and affordable housing committee, has also been on council since 1992. Councillors. Lanny Seaton was elected in 1996. Coun. Roger Wade is serving his fourth consecutive term, while Matt Sahlstrom has been on council since 2002, as has Szpak.

The newest member at the council table is Norma Stewart, who won her seat in the 2018 election, replacing 25-year councillor Winnie Sifert. Stewart had served 12 years as citizen representative on Langford’s planning and zoning committee.

Szpak said Wednesday morning she will not run in the next election to make way for “fresh faces” around the council table.

dkloster@timescolonist.com

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