Langley Township has dropped its appeal of the court ruling that set aside its Community Amenity Contributions policy, closing another chapter in a development fee dispute that had already pushed council to a replacement system. According to Langley Advance Times, the Township abandoned the appeal after filing it with the B.C. Court of Appeal Registry. 

The underlying decision was released in June 2025 in Lorval Developments Ltd. v. Langley (Township). Justice Simon Coval ruled that the Township’s CAC policy, as a whole, represented a mandatory amenity payment regime in exchange for certain rezonings. Without statutory authority for that kind of regime, the court set the policy aside as invalid. 

At the time, Mayor Eric Woodward called the court ruling a “nothingburger,” pointing to the Township’s move toward provincially sanctioned Amenity Cost Charges. That move has now happened, but the appeal did not produce a higher-court ruling restoring the old CAC framework. 

The Township’s own July 2025 report said the previous CAC policy had been adopted in 2018 and ruled invalid on June 20, 2025. Council then adopted an interim policy directing staff to discuss amenity contributions with applicants, negotiate case by case where appropriate, and allow contributions only when they are initiated by the applicant or arise through rezoning negotiations. The interim policy also says the Township does not have legal authority to impose mandatory payment requirements as a condition of rezoning. 

The Township has since approved ACC Bylaw No. 6115. Council approved the bylaw on March 23, 2026, following public engagement in fall 2025. The Township describes ACCs as a provincial development finance tool for growth-related amenities, separate from DCCs, which fund roads, sewer, water, drainage, parkland and park improvements. 

The result is that the CAC policy was found invalid. An interim policy was adopted. The ACC bylaw is now in place. The appeal was filed, and then it was abandoned.

What has not been shown in the same direct way is the legal work, staff time, and administrative effort tied to an appeal the Township no longer intends to argue.