Table of Contents
What Happened at City Hall
Mayor Milsom was away for this one, so Acting Mayor Councillor Jason Friesen ran the show. The meeting packed in a lot: a sports complex proposal, frozen development fees, a new boat launch licensing program, and a brand new 5-year budget. Here’s everything that happened, in plain English.
- Council approved spending $45,000 to do a proper “is this actually a good deal?” check on a proposed private sports complex near the soccer dome in Rose Valley.
- Development Cost Charges (the fees charged to new builders) are staying frozen at 2025 rates with no increase for 2026, after pushback from the construction industry.
- The city’s 2026 to 2030 Financial Plan Bylaw was officially adopted, locking in the city’s budget blueprint for the next five years.
- Commercial boat operators using the Gellatly Bay boat launch now need a licence and must pay annual fees, with tour operators paying $280, rental fleets $743 per vessel, and valet services $25 per boat.
- A new Civic Addressing Bylaw got its first three readings, which would modernize how addresses are assigned across the city.
- A rezoning application at 942 McKay Road passed its first three readings, and a separate 2025 rezoning at 3720 Old Okanagan Highway was officially finalized.
The City Will Spend $45,000 to Figure Out if a New Sports Complex Makes Sense
This was probably the most talked-about item of the night. A pair of private developers, Peter Chu and Silke Otremba, have been pitching a large multi-use sports complex on city-owned land near the soccer dome on McDougall Road in Rose Valley, right next to Mar Jok Elementary School.
The vision is ambitious. The proposal describes a “world class athletic and recreation district” that would include ice hockey rinks, pickleball courts, a full gymnasium, a walking and running track, outdoor turf fields, housing, retail, a daycare, and more. The basic deal being floated: the city contributes the land (about nine acres already earmarked for recreation), and the private partners raise the money to build and run it.
P3 stands for public-private partnership. It’s a model where a government entity (the city) and a private company team up on a project. The city might contribute land, infrastructure, or financing, while the private partner builds, operates, or funds the facility. On the surface they can look great for a city because you get amenities without fully funding them from taxes. But as city staff noted at this meeting: “underneath they are highly complex.” Getting the contract terms right matters a lot, because the city is on the hook long-term.
The developers originally wanted a formal P3 agreement in place by summer 2026. City staff told council that timeline simply isn’t achievable. General Manager of Operations Patrick Pulak recommended taking a slower, more careful approach and hiring outside consultants who specialize in P3 agreements to make sure the city goes in with its eyes open.
Council agreed. They voted unanimously to commission a due diligence study costing $45,000, funded from the city’s Future Expenditures Reserve. The result of that study will come back to council with a recommendation on whether to move to the next phase (a memorandum of understanding) or walk away. Nothing is committed yet other than that $45,000 to do the homework properly.
Acting Mayor Friesen noted he gets asked “at least once a month” by residents wanting more recreational facilities. Councillor Johnston called the study “well worth doing.” The community appetite for more indoor recreational space is clearly there, even if council wants to be careful about the details of any deal.
Developer Fees Are Being Held Flat for 2026 — No Increase This Year
Every time a new home or building goes up in West Kelowna, the developer pays something called Development Cost Charges (DCCs). These fees go toward the infrastructure that new growth requires: roads, sewers, water, parks, and drainage. The fees are typically adjusted each year to keep up with inflation.
This year, council voted to skip that adjustment entirely. The 2025 DCC rates will carry over into 2026 with no increase.
The construction and development industry pushed back. The City received letters from the Urban Development Institute and the Canadian Home Builders Association of the Central Okanagan raising concerns about costs and the current state of the housing market. Council heard those concerns and decided that holding the line on fees this year was the right call to keep new home construction moving.
It’s worth noting that West Kelowna’s usual approach has been small, regular annual increases rather than big periodic jumps, so skipping a year is a meaningful departure. Council has the option to revisit next year, and staff will continue to monitor whether the fee schedule needs updating.
The City’s Five-Year Budget Blueprint Is Now Official
Council formally adopted the 2026 to 2030 Financial Plan Bylaw No. 0336, 2025. This is the document that lays out the city’s planned revenues and spending for the next five years, covering everything from roads and parks to staff costs and capital projects.
Under BC’s Community Charter, every municipality is required to adopt a five-year financial plan each year before setting tax rates. This bylaw sets out projected revenues, expenditures, and borrowing for the city from 2026 through 2030. It’s the financial roadmap that guides everything the city plans to spend money on. Adopting it is a legal requirement and a prerequisite for the annual property tax bylaw that comes later in the spring.
The actual property tax rates that show up on your tax bill are set in a separate bylaw later in the year. This financial plan sets the overall framework that feeds into that.
Commercial Boat Operators at Gellatly Bay Now Need to Pay Up
This one has been in the works for a while. Commercial businesses using the Gellatly Bay boat launch, including tour companies, boat rental operators, and valet services, have until now been using the city-maintained facility for free. That changes now.
Council adopted a package of five bylaws that together create a formal licensing program for commercial boat operators at the Gellatly Bay launch. Here’s what the fee structure looks like:
These fees are on top of the standard business licence fee. The city spends roughly $61,000 a year operating the Gellatly Bay boat launch, and commercial operators account for about 45 per cent of overall usage, so the logic is straightforward: if you’re making money off a public facility, you should contribute to its upkeep.
Councillor Johnston was the only “no” vote on this package. His concern wasn’t the idea of the program itself, but the fee structure. He pointed out that Kelowna charges valet operators $200 per boat across the lake, while West Kelowna’s fee is just $25. He wanted to see a more equitable distribution across the three categories before supporting it. Council decided to roll out the program as written and review how it’s working after a couple of years.
The five bylaws that make this program happen updated the city’s Business Licensing and Regulations, Fees and Charges, Parks and Public Spaces rules, and the enforcement and ticketing bylaws so that officers have the tools to actually enforce the new requirements.
The City Is Getting a New Civic Addressing Bylaw
Council gave first, second, and third reading to a brand new Civic Addressing Bylaw No. 0333, 2026. It hasn’t been fully adopted yet, but passing three readings is a significant step forward.
A civic addressing bylaw is what gives the city the formal authority to assign and manage street addresses. It sets the rules for how addresses are created, changed, or confirmed for properties and buildings across the city. This matters practically for emergency services (so fire and ambulance can find you), for mail delivery, and for accurate mapping. West Kelowna appears to be replacing or modernizing its existing addressing rules with this new standalone bylaw. Two companion enforcement bylaws also got their three readings to make sure the new rules have teeth.
The bylaw still needs its fourth and final reading to be fully adopted. That will likely happen at an upcoming meeting once any final questions are resolved.
Two Zoning Changes Advanced — One New, One Now Official
Council dealt with two separate zoning items at this meeting, at two different stages of the process.
A rezoning application for a property at 942 McKay Road passed its first, second, and third readings, with Council receiving written submissions from the public as part of the process. This is an amendment to the city’s main Zoning Bylaw No. 0320. What this means in plain English: someone wants to change what’s permitted on a specific piece of land on McKay Road, and council has given it the green light to move forward. It still needs a fourth and final adoption vote before it takes effect. The specific change in use was not detailed in the public minutes, but the public submissions suggest there was community interest in the application.
This is a different application, for the property at 3720 Old Okanagan Highway, which was originally filed in 2025. It passed its earlier readings at a previous meeting and was formally adopted at this one, meaning the rezoning is now law. In plain English: whatever change in land use was approved for that address on Old Okanagan Highway is now officially in effect.
A Grant Application, a Review Panel, and Some Regional Housekeeping
A few other items rounded out the agenda.
UBCM Development Approvals Grant: Council endorsed an application to the Union of BC Municipalities’ Local Government Development Approvals Program, seeking up to $200,000 in provincial grant funding to improve the city’s development approvals process. This program is provincially funded and exists specifically to help municipalities streamline how they handle building permits and development applications. If the city gets the grant, the money would help fund improvements to how applications are processed. Council also authorized the Mayor and Corporate Officer to sign any contribution agreement if the funding comes through.
The Union of BC Municipalities is the province-wide organization that represents local governments in BC. It administers a number of grant programs funded by the provincial and federal governments. The development approvals program specifically helps cities use best practices to speed up and simplify how development applications move through the system, which in theory helps get more housing built faster.
Parcel Tax Roll Review Panel: Council appointed Mayor Milsom, Councillor Da Silva, and Councillor Zanon to sit on the Parcel Tax Roll Review Panel, a formal body required under the Community Charter that reviews the accuracy of the city’s parcel tax rolls. A meeting of the panel was scheduled for 1:15 p.m. on April 14, 2026. This is routine but legally required housekeeping.
Regional District Update: A councillor shared highlights from the March 19 Regional District of Central Okanagan board meeting, specifically around Solid Waste Bylaw modernization and discussions about increased mattress disposal fees and illegal dumping concerns. No council action was required.
Patrick Pulak, General Manager of Operations, City of West Kelowna