@langford.ca
LANGFORD – The City of Langford, in partnership with the Capital Regional District (CRD) and the Capital Regional District’s Regional Water Supply Commission, announced the acquisition of 13-acres of land at 2955 Sooke Lake Road to expand recreation and park space in Langford.
The CRD land, currently zoned as residential, had previously been used for industrial uses, both as a source of gravel and for construction fill. Since 2017, the land has not been used for operational purposes and is considered surplus to the CRD’s future needs. The City purchased the 13-acres for $5 million dollars, with funds from Parks Development Cost Charges, funded by development, at no cost to the Langford taxpayer.
The proposed concept for the newly acquired land includes baseball fields, a spray park, a playground, and parking. Further public consultation will follow at the Parks and Recreation Open House on Saturday, September 10th from 10am to the 2pm at Eagle Ridge Arena located at City Centre Park, 1089 Langford Parkway.
“The additional 13-acres of land will provide Langford residents with more space to get outside and enjoy Langford’s parks and recreation facilities. We are grateful to the developers who have been investing in Langford as it allows us to purchase this land at no cost to the taxpayer,” said Langford Mayor, Stew Young. “The proposed concept for the land includes baseball fields, a splash park, and a playground. Further community consultation will take place this Saturday at the Parks and Recreation Open House. This project is another example of Council’s commitment to adding park and recreation land as our community grows. This new addition will be Langford’s 139th park and adds to the approximately 2400 acres of existing green space and parks. Council has been trying to acquire this land for the last 30-years and we are pleased to make this announcement today.”
The City of Langford heard the need for additional programmable ball fields from the public during the parks and recreation needs assessment process. In the last five years, Langford has continued to grow and has been recognized for doing so.
This land transfer includes a covenant to limit future land-use to community parks and recreation uses. Statutory rights-of-way will be in place to enable the CRD to retain, manage and protect the existing underground CRD infrastructure on the site. The transaction completes in January 2023.
“Transferring this land to the City of Langford allows us to create community value, in the form of recreational green space, from out-of-service land,” said Lillian Szpak, Chair of Regional Water Supply Commission. “The funds from the sale will be used to offset the costs of construction of a new watershed field office facility in Goldstream.”
“Triangle Baseball is excited for the opportunities this proposed facility offers to help meet our current and future field requirements. This concept of new fields and facilities will give us flexibility to continue growing our membership, enhance our grassroots baseball programs, and provide us opportunities to retain higher performance athletes in the Westshore. Triangle Baseball would like to thank the City of Langford for their commitment to youth sports and we look forward to working with the City and other partners during the consultation process,” said Darren MacDonald, Future Fields Committee of Triangle Baseball.
The City has applied for a $6 million dollar grant from the Canada Community Building Fund – Strategic Priorities Stream administered through the Union of British Columbia Municipalities to assist with improvement costs.
