Langley Planning Advisory Board member shakeup

The Langley Planning Advisory Board is getting a new member but losing the group’s leader.

The Langley Planning Advisory Board is getting a new member but losing the group’s leader.

Mayor Tim Callison appointed Rhonda Salerno to the citizen board that oversees planning code formation and updates and shepherds the city’s guiding document, the comprehensive plan.

Chairwoman Sue Walsh resigned after getting the comprehensive plan update through all but one of its elements. She had been a planning board member since June 2013.

The city is also without a planner on staff at the moment. The contract for interim planning Director Jack Lynch expired in February, as was agreed upon when his contract was negotiated in late 2015.

“We’re struggling and we’re trying to accommodate the citizens’ requests for service,” Callison said.

The new planner, Brigid Reynolds, will start later this month, March 29. She is relocating from the southeast area of Vancouver Island, B.C. When she takes over, there will be plenty of work awaiting her. Callison said there are five land use applications on the planner’s desk.