Carvolth Plan Update -Mixed-use coming to 200th Street Corridor?

It’s amazing how one park and ride lot can reshape an entire neighbourhood. In November, I posted about an update to the plan for the Carvolth neighbourhood near Highway 1 along the 200th Street corridor. Currently the neighbourhood is doomed to be a “light-industrial” or warehouse district for the Township of Langley. Due to the new park and ride facility being constructed at 202nd Street, the Township wanted to update the plan. Back in November, I liked an early concept for the neighbourhood called “Transit Nodes”. At Monday afternoon’s council meeting, Township Staff presented the final draft version of the plan that will go out for public open house in the next month or so.

Carvolth Plan Update: Red = Mixed-use, Dark Blue = Office-Mixed-use, Brown = Higher-Density Residential, Purple = Light Industrial

The new plan is a modified version of the “Transit Nodes” concept. Overall I’m fairly impressed with this plan, especially with the plan’s mixed-use future for the lands on the east side of 200th Street. On the west side of 200th Street I’m happy that the Township is looking for mixed-use office/retail, but I have to wonder why “light-industrial” use is back on the plan. I know the Township’s Economic Development Advisory Committee has commented in the past that light-industrial land use is the least economically productive use of land. I’d certainly like to see the light-industrial purple on the plan changed to office blue or mixed-use. With a few tweaks to the plan, I can’t wait to see how 200th Street will now start to develop into a transit corridor and 86th Avenue into a high retail street.