Public input not wanted in West Kelowna

Too much public input can be a dangerous thing, West Kelowna city council will hear tomorrow.

Municipal staff want to rewrite city policies to exclude the opportunity for members of the public to comment on straightforward development permits.

Court judgements have “clearly confirmed” that city councils must not invite public comment on development permits that do not require variances, senior city staffer Nancy Henderson writes in a report to council.

Since 2008, the City of West Kelowna has allowed both the applicant and members of the public to “briefly” address council prior to consideration of a development permit.

But doing so, and then denying the permit, risks inviting a costly legal challenge from the developer, Henderson warns.

Not only could the decision to deny the permit be ordered reversed by the courts, she says, but the developer could seek to be awarded “special costs” for the inconvenience and delay caused by the first refusal.

A council can only deny a development permit if the application runs counter to the community’s official community plan, Henderson says.

Dropping the section of city policies that allows for council to hear from members of the public on development permits will ensure that the City of West Kelowna is conforming to the Local Government Act, Henderson says.