Planning board approves Langley housing development

"For the first time in more than a decade, Langley is going to grow a whole lot.Make that 19 whole lots.Considering the first proposal for a major new subdivision since The Cedars subdivision was approved in the early 1990s, Langley's planning advisory board recommended Wednesday that Wayne and Jennifer Weimer's Woodside be approved by the city council.The 10-acre plat, which is adjacent to The Cedars on Sandy Point Road, is planned to be the site of 19 new homes. At Wednesday's meeting, the PAB and the Weimers fielded dozens of questions from neighbors concerned about the aesthetics of the project. Designed with a large greenbelt and planned around clusters of large trees, the Woodside homes are to be screened from those in The Cedars. Most of the homes will be built at a higher elevation than those in The Cedars, further obscuring them from sight.But Cedars residents wanted to know if the trees preserved by the Weimers during the development phase would just be cut down by homeowners. That, said PAB chairman Chuck Scurlock and city planner Jack Lynch, should not happen. Preserving a greenbelt and mature trees is one of the conditions of the development permit. Scurlock said the development's covenants should prevent any major changes in the vegetation screen between the two developments. However, he said, the city cannot be 100 percent sure of that.We can't have watchmen down there watching all the time, Scurlock said.However, Wayne Weimer said the development's covenants will not be too strict. He said homeowners will be able to design their yards as they wish as long as they preserve certain trees.That's our intent, to let them landscape it however they want to, Weimer said.Following a public hearing at their September meeting, PAB members and the city's planning staff placed a number of conditions on the development. The Weimers will be responsible for installing a 5-foot-wide walkway between Woodside and The Cedars along Sandy Point Road and must provide an easement to expand city water and sewer lines. "

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