Making a Submission to Council

If you wish to comment on a matter on which Council is seeking input, you are encouraged to appear before Council and personally present your comments. You will be welcome to speak once the chair of the hearing (the Mayor) has asked for comments from those in the public gallery. This is done after staff presentation(s), and after the owner or applicant has had an opportunity to speak.

The chair determines the order of speakers from the gallery, and normally each person will only be permitted to speak once on an item so that all those present who wish to speak will have the opportunity to do so. Speakers will be asked for their name and address for the record before making their comments, and they may be asked some questions by Council once finished.

Speakers often find it helpful to use written notes to stay on track; they also allow easy deletion of any portions of a submission which have been covered by previous speakers.

Speakers should be specific and be brief; they will be limited to 5 minutes.

If you are unable to attend the public hearing or council meeting in person, you are welcome to provide written comments (including via e-mail) and should address those to the City Clerk’s Office, 1435 Water Street, Kelowna, B.C. V1Y 1J4 or cityclerk@kelowna.ca.

Correspondence received between the date the item was advertised in the local newspapers and the time of the public hearing is copied and circulated to Council with their agenda package for the applicable meeting. It is also included in the City Clerk’s summary of correspondence, before Council hears from those present in the public gallery.

Any correspondence received prior to the newspaper ads is retained by the Planning Department and is available for review, but is not specifically circulated and summarized. Issues raised by such early correspondence are either dealt with before the public hearing, or are raised as an issue by staff during their report to Council.

When an issue is cause for concern to a neighbourhood, people on either side of the issue will often circulate petitions or form letters. These will also be forwarded to Council, but the best way to make your views known to Council is to give an oral presentation at the public hearing or to send personal written correspondence.

There are two Council Policies which are relevant to making written or oral submissions at a Public Hearing:

Submissions to Council (Policy No. 309) which prioritises the various forms of written submissions received

Council Bylaw No. 7906 (Section 4.19) which sets the procedures for hearing oral submissions during the hearing itself.

Both of the above are available on this web site. The former is available under Council/Policies, the latter is available under Council/Bylaws.