Langley Township has abandoned its appeal of a court ruling that overturned a Township development fee policy that once raised millions for community facilities.
According to the B.C. Court of Appeal Registry, the Township filed its appeal of the case – known as Lorval Developments v. Langley Township – last July. Mayor Eric Woodward had said the Township was likely to file such an appeal shortly after the June 2025 ruling.
Notice of abandonment was filed on May 11, so there will be no hearing nor argument before the Court of Appeal.
“After some additional consideration since filing the right to potentially appeal, council decided that there was no practical need to proceed further,” Woodward told the Langley Advance Times about the reasons for dropping the appeal.
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.
CACs have since largely been replaced by Amenity Cost Charges, a new system implemented and regulated by the provincial government.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.
The case saw Lorval Developments and Martini Film Studios challenge the Township’s 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.
Lorval argued that there was no basis in provincial law for the Township to collect CACs – the taxing and fundraising powers of local governments are set by the province.
The Township argued that CAC funds collected were voluntary contributions by developers.
Justice Simon Coval found that the payments were not voluntary.
“Langley’s CAC policy, as amended, is a mandatory amenity payment regime beyond Langley’s legal authority,” Coval wrote in his ruling. “It is, therefore, invalid and set aside.”
Woodward at the time called the ruling a “nothingburger” noting that the Township, along with other communities, was set to move to an ACC system in the near future.
In the aftermath of the ruling, the Township created an interim CAC policy, which allowed it to negotiate fees with developers on a case-by-case basis. A number of developments over the following months did move forward, with developers negotiating six- or seven-figure CAC funding.
The Township began implementing the new ACC policy last year as well.
“Millions of voluntary contributions have been collected by the Township of Langley since the decision, confirming that it has had little practical meaning,” Woodward said. He added that it would have been a waste of taxpayer funds to overturn a decision that hasn’t amounted to much.
Money from CACs is still coming in as developments that began under the old system move forward. The Township now has two similar reserve funds – one for CAC funding, and one for new funding from ACCs. Under provincial law, the uses of ACC funding are narrower. Firehalls and affordable housing can’t be funded from ACCs, for example.
Local governments across B.C. also collect development cost charges (DCCs) which are mandated by the province, and cover things like new roads, streetlights, and storm sewers needed for new housing development.