British ColumbiaCity of Langley Mayor Nathan Pachal says current airspace rules that only allow for structures about 15 storeys high are complicating their efforts to build more housing around future transit hubs. Current airspace rules only allow for structures about 15 storeys highKier Junos · CBC News · Posted: Nov 08, 2025 10:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 5 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.A small aircraft taxis towards the runway before taking off at Langley Regional Airport on Nov. 2. The city’s mayor is pushing for federal airspace laws around the airport to be reconsidered. (Kier Junos/CBC)The City of Langley is pushing to change federal airspace laws that are keeping it from constructing taller buildings, according to the city’s mayor.As Langley prepares for new SkyTrain stations and more people in the coming years, Mayor Nathan Pachal says it would be a “missed opportunity” to not be able to build as much housing as possible near future transit.Current airspace rules only allow for structures about 15 storeys high. But a housing mandate from the province says new builds within 200 metres of SkyTrain stations should be a minimum of 20 storeys, according to Pachal.“And right now that’s being limited by the federal government, and yet the federal government has invested billions of dollars to get SkyTrain here,” he said.Airspace rules from the 1970sThe Langley Regional Airport is just over three kilometres from the city’s centre.The Langley Airport Zoning Regulations, drawn up in the 1970s, prohibit structures from being built above 150 feet within the airport’s jurisdiction.Pachal and other Langley city councillors pushed the issue in Ottawa last month, where he said meetings with federal officials were positive.Mayor Nathan Pachal says recent meetings with Ottawa officials on reconsidering airspace rules went well. (Ethan Cairns/CBC)“They want to move to a more practical, height hazard-based system, as opposed to this old legacy regulation,” said Pachal.Transport Canada said in an emailed statement it has “not received a formal submission to amend the airport zoning regulations from Langley City.”Once a submission is received, Transport Canada said it will review it and work directly with City of Langley officials.It added it is reviewing airport zoning regulations to better align with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards and modern flight procedures. WATCH | Langley wants airspace rules to allow for taller builds:City of Langley pushes to change height limits imposed by federal airspace lawsWith a new SkyTrain extension planned for Langley, the city is trying to build upwards and outwards to meet population growth. But as Kier Junos explains, air-space rules from the 1970s are putting a ceiling on those plans.A ‘compact community’The City of Langley has a footprint of about 10 square kilometres, and is home to more than 35,000 people.Cory Redekop, CEO of the Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce, said it’s a “compact community” with a need to develop upwards.“One of the interesting things about Langley is that we have our rural, agricultural land butting up [against] urban development,” said Redekop.“[If] we want to be able to preserve that pastoral, more rural lifestyle in some parts of our community — then we have to put that density where we can, and it makes total sense to put that around our transit hubs that are coming in.”Township also looking into airspace restrictionsWhen asked about possible airspace changes, the Langley airport deferred comment to the Township of Langley, whose land the airport is located on.Township Mayor Eric Woodward said they have no issue with the city’s request.“If Langley City wants to embark upon this effort, we think that’s fine and we wish them well with it,” he said.Unlike the City of Langley, Woodward said the township has a relatively small urban area affected by the airspace rules. But, he said, those rules do stretch to the incoming SkyTrain station area in a small way.“We currently have a study underway ourselves to look at seeing if we can get some of those restrictions — that are quite far away from the airport — to be also relaxed somewhat,” he said.ABOUT THE AUTHORKier is an award-winning journalist reporting from CBC’s Fraser Valley bureau in Abbotsford.
Langley city mayor says old airspace laws put a ceiling on future development
