Doubling the price of parking downtown, but tripling it on Victoria Street is among the proposals going out for feedback at the Kamloops Central Business Improvement Association’s open house next week.

KCBIA manager Gay Pooler said Monday the meeting is for anyone who owns a business downtown, works there, lives there or shops there.

“The invitation’s open to anyone who wants to come,” she said.

The association created a parking solutions group to examine the issues and come up with ideas that might alleviate some of the parking woes in the city centre.

“The main thing that merchants really want out of the parking downtown is customer convenience, so it’s a pleasant experience for customers.”

This meeting is a follow-up to an open house the solutions group held in spring. Its recommendations were forwarded to City council for consideration.

Now that there have been some discussions about raising the rates on parking meters, currently at 50 cents an hour, and using new technology to monitor parking, it’s time to generate more discussion, Pooler said.

One of the suggestions is to boost the meter rates to $1.50 an hour on Victoria Street and $1 an hour on side streets.

Pooler said the association would like any new net income generated from the raising of rates to be used toward parking solutions such as new technology or parkades.

“So it’s parking paying for parking solutions,” she said.

The open house is being held Wednesday, Oct. 24, at Caffé Motivo on 200-block Victoria Street, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Anyone driving to the session is cautioned that parking could be tougher to find than usual, as there’s also been road construction in the area.