Letter to Council — Gordon Drive Neighbours

The template

Edit below. Personalise the bracketed line.

Subject line

Submission re: OCP25-0023 / Z25-0053 — Public Hearing June 23, 2026

Dear Mayor Dyas and Members of Council,

I am writing to ask Council to vote against the proposed Official Community Plan amendment and rezoning at 4482 and 4498 Gordon Drive - file OCP25-0023 / Z25-0053 - at the public hearing on June 23, 2026.

[CUSTOMIZE THIS PARAGRAPH: Add one or two sentences about who you are and how Gordon Drive features in your day. Examples are shown below the template.]

My main concerns are three.

First, the proposal adds 65 households of additional vehicle trips to a school-frontage arterial that is already operating at dangerous merge conditions in the morning peak. The applicant's traffic analysis was conducted during spring break, captured only PM peak, and collected no AM peak data at all.

Second, the single proposed driveway exits onto a sidewalk used daily by children walking to four nearby schools and a daycare. The neighbouring strata at 4450 Gordon Drive was required to build a 30-metre curb extension for safe egress. This application has not been held to that standard.

Third, the proposal is a single consolidated 65-unit block - three storeys plus rooftop patios - that does not transition toward the lower-density homes around it, and it includes none of the public-park or affordable-housing components that the OCP's own Policy 7.2.1 calls for at this scale.

The 2040 Official Community Plan was adopted by Council in January 2022 after years of public consultation. It designated this site as Suburban Residential. This application asks Council to override that designation for a single proposal, four years later - before the legislated five-year OCP review is even due. Provincial Bill 44 already permits substantial additional housing on this site without rezoning, and the OCP amendment is a discretionary decision that goes above what provincial law requires.

I am not opposed to development on this land. I support thoughtful development that is safe, properly studied, and fits the neighbourhood. I ask Council to vote NO on the OCP amendment and the rezoning at the June 23 public hearing.

Thank you for your service to Kelowna and for the time you will give to this submission.

Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR STREET ADDRESS, KELOWNA BC]

Personalising the bracketed line

Council weighs lived impact.

One or two sentences grounding the letter in your real life is the single most powerful thing in a submission. A few examples:

I have lived in the Mission for 22 years and walk past this site every day. I have watched the morning traffic on Gordon Drive get noticeably worse.

I drop my children at Okanagan Mission Secondary and Dorothea Walker every weekday morning. I drive this stretch twice a day, and the 8:30 merge is already dangerous.

I am a homeowner one block west of the site. I support new housing in our city — but this proposal, on this access point, is not the right one.

A few practical notes.

Keep it short. Council reads dozens of submissions per file. Concise beats comprehensive.
Speak to one or two concerns — the ones that matter most to you.
Be respectful. Anger weakens otherwise strong submissions. Stay factual.
Sign with your name and address. Anonymous submissions are not considered.
Send by 4:00 PM, Monday June 22. Later submissions may not reach Council before the hearing.

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Write to Mayor and Council.

Four steps. Ten minutes.

Edit below. Personalise the bracketed line.

Council weighs lived impact.

A few practical notes.