A DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE
DRAFT WHOLE LANGLEY CODE
At their meeting of March 10, 2010, the Planning Advisory Board voted to recommend that the City Council approve the amendments to the Whole Langley Code. The City Council has created a subcommittee to establish a timeframe to review the proposed amendments to ensure consistency with future plans for ordinances. No timeframe has been established for the review or the adoption of the proposed code amendments at this point.
_______________________________________________________________________
This page is meant to act as a detailed guide for individuals that would like to understand the changes proposed to the new Whole Langley Code.The proposed code has the following structure and individuals that would like to learn more about a chapter can click on any of the links below:
16A. Foundation
16B. Guiding Principles
16C. Community Geography
16D. (RESERVED)
16E. Community Land Use
16F. Resource Lands and Critical Areas
16G. Division of Land
16H. Permit Processes
16I. Code Administration
16A. FOUNDATION
The Foundation chapter lays out the basis for the Whole Langley Code including the purpose of the code, its relation to the Comprehensive Plan, and the agency responsible for implementing the regulations. The chapter is comprised entirely of existing material from the Langley Municipal Code, but all the information has been rearranged to promote ease of use and understanding. Areas where the material is from the existing code have been noted with a code citation .
To view the draft Foundation chapter in its entirety, please click here.
16B. GUIDING PRINCIPLES
The Guiding Principles chapter presents the four principles for land use identified within the Langley Comprehensive Plan (context-sensitivity, connectivity, diversity and sustainability) and is meant to act as a bridge between these principles and the regulations described later in this title. The chapter is not meant to act as regulation by itself. The entire Guiding Principles chapter is new and all of the material is based on the goals and policies of the Comprehensive Plan update of 2007.
To view the draft Guiding Principles chapter in its entirety, please click here.
16C. COMMUNITY GEOGRAPHY
The Community Geography chapter presents the new zoning framework for the City of Langley. The chapter articulates the proposed community design zones, and allowed uses and standards for each zone. Sections contained within this chapter are presented below.
Community Design Zones
The new Community Geography chapter calls for replacing the existing zoning map with a community design zone map. As a result, every property in Langley will have a new zoning designation, at least in name. The table below translates the existing zoning district names to the proposed community design zone names.
EXISTING ZONING DISTRICTS |
PROPOSED COMMUNITY DESIGN ZONES |
Central Business (CB) |
Village Center Design (VCD) |
Neighborhood Business (NB) |
Dispersed Business Design (DBD) |
Mixed Residential (RM) |
Traditional Village Design-Mixed Residential
(TVD-MR) |
RS-5,000
RS-7,200
RS-15,000 |
Traditional Village Design (TVD)
Modern Subdivision Design (MSD)
Sensitive Environment Design (SED)
Rural Village Design-6000 (RVD)
Rural Village Design-4000 (CD) |
Public Use (P-1) |
Public/Institutional Design (PI) |
As can be seen from the table, the three existing single-family residential districts have been broken into five new districts and four of the existing districts have simply been renamed. For a description of each proposed community design zone, please click here.
The proposed Community Design Zone Map
|
|
To compare the existing and proposed zoning maps:
Uses within Zones
While the boundaries of some of the zones have changed, the uses allowed in each of the zones have by and large remained the same. Some uses have been removed from certain zones (for example, libraries and museums were not deemed to be appropriate for certain neighborhoods), and other uses, such as “non-residential uses,” have been added in certain locations (please see the description in 16E below or visit 16E.36 to learn more about non-residential use standards). All the changes to the existing allowed principal, secondary and conditional uses have been noted on Table 16C-1 within the draft chapter, which can be viewed here.
Density, Maximum Height and Setback Standards
Standards associated with setbacks, height, and density have similarly remained the same for most neighborhoods, especially when no subdivision is proposed as part of a project. One large change, however, occurs within the Rural Village Design, Conservation Design and Sensitive Environment Design Zones when a subdivision is proposed. Within these areas, a new subdivision triggers a set of standards based on the allocation of square footage. This square footage allocation is based on habitable floor area per acre (rather than number of units per acre) and is meant to encourage a range of housing types, including small dwellings in new developments. For more information about the square footage allocation, please see Table 16C-2 and 16C.44 and 16C.48 at the link below.
To view the draft Community Geography chapter in its entirety, please click here.
Subdivisions will also be subject to the proposed subdivision design and improvement standards specified in Chapter 16G. To find out more about this chapter please click here.
16D. COMMUNITY DESIGN
The Community Design chapter has not been written and as a result has been left vacant. It is anticipated that community design standards will be placed within this section sometime in the future.
16E. COMMUNITY LAND USE
The Community Land Use chapter combines and organizes the standards associated with different types of uses found within the municipal code. The material in the chapter is largely unchanged from the existing municipal code, but has been reorganized to group the various uses into similar categories (see for example the grouping of residential uses under 16E.20 Standards for Residential Uses). Sections from the existing code are noted with a citation and language that has been changed is underlined.
One major change is proposed for the Community Land Use chapter. A section on Non-Residential Uses has been added to the document to replace the existing regulations on Home Occupations. This new section is intended both to provide additional flexibility in allowing non-residential uses in residential neighborhoods, and to provide additional specificity regarding how those uses might fit within the neighborhoods. For more details about the section please see Section 16E.36 and Figure 16E-1. The existing Home Occupation section is included within the document (with a cross-out) to allow comparison with the proposed Non-Residential Use section.
To view the draft Community Land Use chapter in its entirety, please click here.
16F. RESOURCE LANDS AND CRITICAL AREAS
The Resource Lands and Critical Areas chapter comes entirely from Chapter 16.20 of the existing Langley Municipal Code. The chapter has changed very little, though punctuation errors have been corrected, and code citations have been altered to reflect the new organization of the code. Headings have also been added to the document to promote ease of use.
To view the draft Resource Lands and Critical Areas chapter in its entirety, please click here.
16G. DIVISION OF LAND
The Division of Land chapter blends new material with material from the existing code. Areas from the existing code are identified with a citation and areas that are new are highlighted with an underline.
The largest change to the chapter is the addition of section 16G.60 - Design and Improvement Standards. This section is intended to translate the four principles for land use specified within the Langley Comprehensive Plan (context-sensitivity, connectivity, diversity, and sustainability) to the design of subdivision projects. The section articulates a number of standards including street layout and design, park and open space design, and the design of pedestrian space to be incorporated within subdivisions. The Design and Improvement Standards section can be found on pages 16G-16 to 16G-28.
To view the draft Division of Land chapter in its entirety, please click here.
16H. PERMIT PROCESSES
The Permit Processes Chapter combines the various permitting processes found within the existing Chapters 16, 17 and 18. The material has changed very little, though punctuation errors have been corrected and some code citations have been altered to reflect the new organization of the code. A new purpose statement has also been added to the beginning of the chapter.
To view the draft Permit Processes chapter in its entirety, please click here.
16I. CODE ADMINISTRATION
The Code Administration chapter groups the various sections pertaining to code administration found within the existing code. The material in the chapter has changed very little, though punctuation errors have been corrected and code citations have been changed to reflect the new organization of the code. The definition section has also been expanded and a new purpose statement has been added to the chapter. Areas where the material is from the existing code have been noted with a code citation and areas where the material has been added are underlined.
To view the draft Code Administration chapter in its entirety, please click here.
WANT MORE INFORMATION?
-
If you would like to review documents related to the Whole Langley Code, please
click here.
DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?
Drop a line to the City Council at council@langleywa.org or by regular mail to PO Box 366, Langley, WA 98260.
