The City of Langford has abruptly postponed a free speaking event featuring urban planner Brent Toderian that had been scheduled Monday night.
Toderian, who served as Vancouver’s chief planner from 2006 to 2012, said on Twitter the event was postponed because of “unforeseen circumstances.”
He confirmed in an interview that the city called off the event, but did not provide reasons why.
Calls to city hall and some city councillors were not immediately returned.
Toderian’s Building Cities Better presentation was to take place Monday night at Belmont Secondary School and be livestreamed.
The city billed the presentation as a thought-provoking discussion about how cities like Langford can address climate change and housing needs through good urban design, active transportation and place-making.
Toderian, founder of Toderian UrbanWork, has more than 30 years’ experience in international city planning, urban design and transportation.
Langford council is currently grappling with the prospect of levying a 12% property tax increase to cover increasing costs. The amount is causing alarm among some residents and sparked some public protests this month.
Council is expected to consider readings of its financial plan bylaws on May 8 and will likely adopt the increase on May 11, just days before the May 15 B.C. deadline for municipalities to pass budgets.
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