A group of residents, farmers, and even some truck company owners asked Langley Township council to take a hard line on illegal truck lots on farmland.
Brian Harder, a south Langley resident, was one of the speakers at the Monday, January 29 council meeting asking for stricter enforcement.
“We want the illegal creation of truck parks and depots in Langley on the ALR stopped, flat out,” Harder said.
He said there has always been the odd large truck parked on agricultural land, but in the last few years it has expanded fast.
He pointed to a few properties that have full truck depots, with multiple big rigs and trailers parked there.
Dr. Christine Bishop, a director with the Little Campbell Watershed Society, also spoke, emphasizing the impact that large trucking sites, and the runoff of chemicals associated with large vehicles, can have on watersheds.
The Little Campbell River, she noted, hosts spawning coho salmon.
“For the survival of this species and others, it’s the quality of the water that comes into that river, and the quantity of water that comes into that river, and into the groundwater, and the aquifers,” said Bishop.
She asked the Township to work with its neighbours, including Delta, Surrey, and Abbotsford on this problem, and to call on higher levels of government to help as well.
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The Township recently announced it has been cracking down on such activities.
On one site in particular in the 24700 block of 16th Avenue, Mayor Eric Woodward said the Township has just received a court injunction against the owners.
“They have 60 days to remediate the property back to its original state and cease all trucking operations,” Woodward said.
The court order gives the Township the authority to enter the property and do the remediation itself if the owners don’t.
The Township has handed out $50,000 in tickets in its crackdown in 2023.
Bylaw officers investigated 64 reports of commercial trucking operations in rural areas. That includes commercial trucking operations, vehicle storage, and repairs.
Under local zoning bylaws, most rural residential properties can have a maximum of three commercial vehicles parked on site.
More than that requires a business licence, but that can’t be issued if a business is not permitted in that zoning.
