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SPORTS Dream Come True
Once it is complete in December 2015, the new Timms Community Centre will drastically change the look of Langley City Hall. The design for the 35,000 square foot, $14.3 million facility calls for the centre to be connected to the existing building, via a long concourse. The new centre will feature a gymnasium and indoor track, as well as a host of other recreation facilities and amenities. s u bmitte d image
Design for new Timms Centre unveiled B REN D A AN D E R SO N Ti m e s Re po r t e r
It’s been a project several years in the making, but on Thursday, June 26, Langley City residents finally got their first look at plans for the new Timms Community Centre.
The design of the 35,000 square-foot, $14.3 million facility was unveiled in front of a full gallery in the City of Langley’s council chambers on Thursday afternoon. Created by Vancouver-based Hughes Condon Marler Archi-
tects, the plan calls for a range of dedicated recreation facilities, including a weight room, gymnasium and indoor walking/ running track, as well as change rooms, a games room, multipurpose rooms, a community kitchen, coffee shop and a secure
enclosed patio on the building’s west side. In addition to sports and recreation opportunities, the centre will offer a range of classes — from cooking to art — and child minding services as well as a number of youth-only activities.
Rather than use the former centre’s existing footprint, designers have integrated the new structure with the existing City Hall — joining the two buildings with a long concourse — featuring main entrances at both ends. Continued Page 4
Grow-op decision is bad news for Langley PROVINCE OVERRULES BAN ON U SING FARM LAN D TO GROW MEDICINAL MARIJUANA D AN F ERGUSO N Ti me s Re po r t e r
A Langley Township bylaw that would restrict medicinal marijuana cultivation to industrial areas and ban it altogether on farmland has been rejected by the provincial government. The Township was informed of the decision in a June 24 letter from Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick. The letter said he would not approve the proposed Township regulation banning medical marijuana growing in the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR), which covers 75 per cent of the Township’s 316 square kilometres. The letter arrived several months after
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the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC), the provincial agency that regulates farmland, issued an information bulletin on marijuana production that said the crop is “consistent with the definition of farm use … and as such is an allowed use.” Letnick said the ministry of agriculture supports the ALC position, and “the ministry’s policy position is that medical marijuana production in the ALR should not be prohibited by local governments.” Mayor Jack Froese called the decision “unfortunate.” “We recognize there is a need for medical marijuana, but these are intensive operations that our council feels are better
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suited for industrial areas,” Froese said in a written statement. “We were looking forward to being able to control them in a location where they could be properly regulated.” Under the new federal marijuana growing regulations that took effect this year, small grow-ops in residential areas have been replaced with bigger commercial-style grow-ops. There are 19 proposed commercial grow ops in the Township, most of them to be located in the ALR. When the Township first proposed its ban, one of the growers came to council to complain the law was drafted without
consulting farmers. Koch Greenhouses owner Bruce Bakker said he has been operating his greenhouse in the 3300 block of 240 Street for 30 years, mostly producing “indoor ornamental plants” until this May, when he began producing four varieties of medicinal marijuana. The provincial government did have some good news for the Township, however, announcing medical grow-ops in the ALR will be excluded from farm classification for assessment and property tax purposes and will be taxed at the full industrial rate, rather than the substantially lower farm rates.
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