The sale of a controversial piece of property in Langford along the Trans-Canada Highway is off the council table — at least for now.
The 4.6-acre parcel at the south end of Langford Lake was put on the market this year for $7.9 million. Langford council was set to discuss the sale of a 2.9-acre portion of the land for $2.9 million to Seacliff Properties for development.
However, a spokesman for the City of Langford said Thursday the Ministry of Transportation has intervened.
“The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure requires a further and more detailed review of both access to this property and other potential infrastructure needs in this general area,” he wrote in an emailed statement.
Langford had acquired the property, at 2885 West Shore Parkway and 1365 Goldstream Ave., about 15 years ago for a highway overpass development, but plans for a flyover changed. This year, the city put what Mayor Stew Young called the “orphaned” properties on the market to recoup costs to taxpayers.
The city had been exploring interest from potential residential and commercial developers after a public hearing to rezone the property from amenity to residential and hotel use.
Seacliff Properties had submitted a bid for a portion of the land. The Vancouver company is active in the region with developments at Colwood’s Royal Bay and Langford’s Skirt Mountain and along McCallum Road, where it is preparing a mixed-use site across from Costco.
The Langford Lake area property sale has been controversial, with some groups saying the property should be preserved as parkland.
A group called Langford Voters for Change has collected about 2,700 signatures on a petition in an effort to convince council to save the parcels as green space and expand the park area along the Ed Nixon Trail.
“These two properties are an integral part of the ecosystem that maintains Langford Lake as portions of the parcel flood every year, thus helping to regulate the lake level and maintain drainage patterns,” the petition group said in a statement.
It also said the area serves as an important habitat for the endangered western painted turtles and nesting birds of prey.
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