Langley approves Coles Valley land-use agreement

Published 1:30 am Friday, July 24, 2026

Langley council members unanimously approved a new land-use agreement Monday with the owner of a 40-acre property on Coles Valley Road, clearing another hurdle for a proposed affordable housing development.

As city leaders pointed out, the agreement does not approve a housing project. Any future development would still have to go through the city’s normal permitting process.

The land-use agreement would allow for 65 single-family lots and two cottage tracts limited to ten cottages each.

The revised land-use agreement replaces an older annexation agreement that has long constrained development on the site. The nonprofit Habitat for Humanity of Island County is under contract to purchase the property if the agreement is finalized.

Habitat for Humanity has said the project is intended to provide permanently affordable homeownership opportunities.

At the beginning of the discussion Monday, Mayor Kennedy Horstman addressed concerns raised by the community about the contract negotiations.

“I want to be clear,” she said, “the city’s legal counsel was consulted in the negotiations of the land use agreement, and he has confirmed that the process to establish the agreement was legitimate and not coerced or compromised by threat of legal action.”

Likewise, Councilmember Craig Carlson said he wanted to emphasize that the land-use agreement “reflects the city’s desire to encourage the development of more housing.”

“We do not undertake this change under duress,” he said.

Other council members stressed the need for affordable housing.

“It gets us closer to having enough housing for the middle people and the lower salary people,” Councilmember Dominque Emerson said. “And I think that that is really critical. It gets us away from being all mansions and a city of totally retired people.”