Langley Township drops appeal of overturned development fees<\/p>\n
Published 11:05 am Friday, May 15, 2026<\/p>\n
Langley Township has abandoned its appeal of a court ruling that overturned a Township development fee policy that once raised millions for community facilities.<\/p>\n
According to the B.C. Court of Appeal Registry, the Township filed its appeal of the case \u2013 known as Lorval Developments v. Langley Township \u2013 last July. Mayor Eric Woodward had said the Township was likely to file such an appeal shortly after the June 2025 ruling.<\/p>\n
Notice of abandonment was filed on May 11, so there will be no hearing nor argument before the Court of Appeal.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter some additional consideration since filing the right to potentially appeal, council decided that there was no practical need to proceed further,\u201d Woodward told the Langley Advance Times about the reasons for dropping the appeal.<\/p>\n
The case was a legal landmark, setting limits on how municipalities could charge what were known as community amenity contributions (CACs) to builders. Funds raised through CACs could be spent on things such as rec centres, new firehalls, and affordable housing, and over the past 20 years CAC policies had become common at other cities.<\/p>\n
CACs have since largely been replaced by Amenity Cost Charges, a new system implemented and regulated by the provincial government. The Township has an ACC bylaw in place for new and upcoming developments.<\/p>\n
The case saw Lorval Developments and Martini Film Studios challenge the Township\u2019s CAC policy, saying that it would have cost them between $32 million and $39 million in CAC fees to build a planned soundstage project near the 216 Street highway interchange.<\/p>\n
Lorval argued that there was no basis in provincial law for the Township to collect CACs \u2013 the taxing and fundraising powers of local governments are set by the province.<\/p>\n
The Township argued that CAC funds collected were voluntary contributions by developers.<\/p>\n