Calendar parking restrictions to be partially lifted in International Falls

Calendar parking in International Falls is being partially lifted as a trial.

No tickets will be issued on Sundays between 9 a.m. and noon for the next 90 days.

The move stems from a request from Zion Lutheran Church for parking during church services.

Church member Len Peterson says he understands the need for calendar parking, but the safety of parishioners also has to be taken into account.

“If you’re going to talk safety, you think about the people going to church that are very elderly, who have to walk a considerable distance on ice and snow because they can’t park right in front of the church. That really makes no sense to me,” says Peterson.

City council agreed to lift the restrictions on a trial basis.

Mayor Drake Dill says he is hesitant to have anything more permanent.

“Because that opens a whole other set of circumstances,” says Dill.

“But I think that whether it’s church activities or other things that people do and enjoy in our community that we don’t want to hesitate them from doing so, but how can we be consistent?”

The lifting of calendar parking on Sunday mornings will be citywide.

International Falls Police intend to monitor and report back to council at the end of the trial.