Photo: Darren Handschuh

A public meeting was held Thursday afternoon in Vernon to gather input for a master plan for Kal Park.

Parking is emerging as a main concern for those who use Kal Lake Provincial Park.

A public meeting was held Thursday afternoon in Vernon to gather input for a master plan that will guide the park for the next 20 years.

Keith Baric, planning section head for the Ministry of Environment, said the current management plan for the popular green space is more than 10 years old and the park is used by numerous groups, including relatively new ones like mountain bikers and rock climbers.

Originally, the park was 978 hectares, but has grown to 3,500 hectares.

The increasing popularity of the park means more people are visiting, and many of those people drive to the green space. While there are four parking areas, none are very large and fill up quickly.

One man said his truck and horse trailer takes up several parking spots on its own.

Baric said the Cosens Bay Road parking area saw 100,000 vehicles last year alone.

He said one of the options that is being looked at is expanding the parking lots, but that would mean using a small amount of park land.

He admits the mere mention of using park land for parking causes concerns, but he stressed there will be strict rules to follow to minimize the impact.

Bob Tomach is an avid user of the park and ventures into the natural area several times a month.

He understands park use is increasing and there is a need for parking, but he is against any parking inside the park.

If done properly, Tomach said he is OK with expanding some of the existing lots, but the park impact must be minimal.

“Controlling vehicle access is my biggest concern,” he said at the information session. “I don't want to see any parking in the park. I'm worried they will put parking inside the park. It's a great park that's close to town, let's leave it like it is.”

Baric said public input is important to the planning process and people can make comments online until March.

“We are doing our research. We want to hear from the public,” said Baric. “We have a great deal of public involvement.”