CLEARFIELD – Starting Monday, if you park in downtown Clearfield, you won’t receive a parking ticket if you don’t pay the meter.
For the first hour, anyway.
Clearfield Borough Council approved one-hour courtesy holiday parking that begins Monday and continues through the end of the year.
“We’ve been doing this for about 10 years,” said Jim Leitzinger, council president.
Council approved the matter Thursday in a 6-1 vote with Joan McMillen as the only one voting against the proposal.
McMillen had wanted free parking from now until the end of the year.
“People of this town have had enough, and it should be free,” she said.
Many other council members voted in favor of the one-hour free parking because several business owners in the downtown area expressed concern that downtown workers would use up all of the parking and leave none for shoppers.
McMillen said she comes from a retail family and can appreciate what the business owners said. “But I don’t want to hear any complaints about not having customers,” she said.
Councilmen Phillip Biancuzzo and Barry Reddinger were absent from Thursday’s council meeting.