A 90-unit apartment building has been proposed for 2627 Sooke Rd. in Langford. (Screenshot/City of Langford Council Agenda Feb. 3)

A 90-unit apartment building proposed for Sooke Road near Jacklin Road in Langford is another step in creating a neighbourhood centre.

The Planning, Zoning and Affordable Housing committee resolved to bring a bylaw forward to Langford council, asking for a first reading of the bylaw is to rezone the land at 2627 Sooke Road. The application to rezone the land was made on behalf of Woodsmere Holdings Corp.

Currently, the property is primarily treed with a home and detached garage near Sooke Road. The properties nearby have single-family homes on them.

Langford’s Official Community Plan designates the property and area of Sooke Road as a Neighbourhood Centre, meaning it is a predominantly residential area with medium and high density housing, including affordable and rental housing. Neighbourhood centres also have schools, community facilities, open spaces, transit stops and commercial uses.

READ ALSO: Proposed Sooke Road development clears another hurdle

Langford Coun. Denise Blackwell said the City wants the area to be developed and become more walkable.

“There are little nodes like that in Victoria too … like if you look at Cook Street Village,” Blackwell said. “In the long run certainly this will create more jobs and more places to live and help make it a more vibrant community.”

When development happens, streets and sidewalks in the area are beautified as well, she added.

Just up the road and across the street, another development was proposed for a roughly five-acre parcel including 2683, 2684, 2696, 2702 and 2706 Sooke Rd. The property is near Glen Lake Road and borders the Galloping Goose Trail. Two years ago, Langford approved rezoning for 2668 and 2674 Sooke Rd. – one of which is where Bucky’s Taphouse stands.

The development would result in a realignment of Glen Lake Road to Sooke Road at the Happy Valley intersection. Glen Lake Road would be closed where it meets Sooke Road, and instead, traffic would be re-routed down an extension of the roadway that would meet Happy Valley Road. It would be a four-way signalized intersection and would have a dedicated left-turn lane at Sooke Road as well as bike lanes, street lighting and a red brick sidewalk.

READ ALSO: Realignment proposed for Glen Lake and Sooke Road intersection in Langford

As of right now, little movement has been made in the way of that development, Blackwell said.

At the end of January, the Planning, Zoning and Affordable Housing Committee recommended that Langford council give a first reading to the bylaw to rezone the property at 2627 Sooke Rd. subject to the applicant providing, as a bonus to increased density, $610 towards the City’s affordable housing fund per unit and $2,074 towards the general amenity fund.

The applicant must also provide a memo from an engineer verifying that storm water can be managed on site and agree to frontage improvements, the creation of a storm water management plan, the construction of a parking and traffic management plan and ensure that parking is assigned to each unit in accordance with the City’s zoning bylaw.

The resolution was received by council on Feb. 3 but was not on the agenda for first reading at the time.

shalu.mehta@blackpress.ca

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