Coles Road Development Update — June 13, 2026
The community submitted formal opposition comments to the Langley City Council ahead of the June 15 vote on the proposed Land Use Agreement (LUA) for the Coles Road property. Here's what you need to know:
The density math doesn't add up. The 2005 Annexation Agreement caps development at 24 units. The proposed LUA advertises 85 — but city ADU rules legally unlock an additional 130 units, for a potential total of 215 homes crammed onto a fragile 22-acre slope. That's nearly nine times the original commitment.
The "gift" of land isn't new. The west parcel donation presented as a community benefit was already legally required under the 2005 agreement. The city is being asked to grant a multi-million dollar density increase in exchange for something it was already owed.
Taxpayers are left holding the bag. The LUA contains zero binding requirements for the developer to fund road improvements, intersection widening at Highway 525, or a road damage mitigation bond. Building 215 units means 300+ daily commuter trips flooding rural roads, logging trucks hauling 440,000 board feet of timber off a clearcut slope, and potentially 100+ dump truck loads if the cut-and-fill operation fails. When the developer's LLC dissolves, Langley taxpayers fund 100% of the cleanup.
The site is environmentally compromised — and the city knows it. Residential lots would sit inside a 200-foot landfill exclusion zone and a 1,000-foot high-vulnerability contamination radius. Clearcutting up to the wastewater plant fence line risks putting Langley's own facility out of compliance with its state NPDES permit. The planning department is working from 36-year-old utility data.
Infrastructure concerns are already on the record. WSDOT rejected the traffic study. Island County found road access noncompliant. South Whidbey Fire identified unresolved fire safety issues. The site sits over Whidbey's sole-source drinking water aquifer.
Affordable housing isn't guaranteed. The LUA explicitly allows a market-rate developer. No affordability commitment is legally enforceable — and Section 3.B exempts affordable housing developers from infrastructure costs entirely, meaning the public absorbs the bill either way.
The council cannot legally approve this. Washington law prohibits a finding of "no significant environmental impact" when the traffic study is incomplete and millions in public costs are unaccounted for.
Vote is Monday, June 15. Show up or speak up. (Note* they did not allow public comments from Zoom attendees last time, so if you would like to speak up, please go to the website and register to speak in person.
Monday, June 15, 2026, 5:30 pm Langley Library, 104 Second Street, Langley, WA 98260
And via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85016739615?pwd=hmD9ouWjXMUdgXZ1j92U5TNdXAENA4.1 Webinar ID: 850 1673 9615 Passcode: 378405
https://www.langleywa.org/government/city_council/agendas_minutes.php