Developers’ meetings with council put under scrutiny

Jason Luciw - Kelowna Capital News Published: October 30, 2009 11:00 PM

Casual meetings between developers and members of West Kelowna council may become a thing of the past. Coun. Rosalind Neis raised her concerns about private meetings between applicants and council members almost two years ago, when she was mayor. She perceived developer meetings as secretive and failing to meet a level of transparency the public expected from elected officials. At this week’s meeting, West Kelowna council finally agreed to have staff draft a policy that would create guidelines in the matter.

During developer meetings, a staff member and more than one member of council should be present, Neis stated. “Those that choose to partake in a developer presentation (should) disclose that to the rest of the members of council,” she added. “Openness, transparency and honesty is the purpose behind this.” While Coun. Duane Ophus voted in favour of a policy being drafted, he did express reservations about how terms were defined. “I think we’re going to run into some problems because, number one: What would be the definition of a developer?” Ophus asked. Technically a resident coming forward with an application for a secondary suite could be considered a developer, he elaborated.

The policy also can’t discriminate, Ophus noted. “If we’re going to apply a policy like this to a developer, does that mean we’re also going to apply a policy like this to somebody who may want to speak to us about some concerns that they have about a proposed development in their neighbourhood?” Council must ensure accessibility in addition to transparency, according to Ophus. “I do not want to be cut off from members of the community being able to contact me about anything that they want to.” West Kelowna administrator Jason Johnson also noted that staff may have a difficult time developing a policy.

“This is like hitting a moving target to be honest with you,” commented Johnson. “It’s difficult to put a policy into place that will be consistently implemented just for the questions that have been raised about: Who is a developer? Who gets access? Is it at the time of application or pre-application?” Mayor Doug Findlater said West Kelowna would also need to create a policy that ensured developers saw the municipality as being “open for business.” Although Findlater said he agreed with Neis’ suggestion that a staff member be present during meetings with developers, at least to address technical issues. Staff has not set a date for bringing a draft policy back to council.