North Dakota Reconsiders 70-Year Ban On Parking Meters

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — When a farmer was ticketed for not feeding a parkingmeter, he launched a one-man crusade that made North Dakota the nation's only state that bans the meters on all public streets.

Now the governor is quietly trying to end the nearly 70-year ban, and the farmer's granddaughter is fighting to uphold her family's legacy.

Howard Henry received the fateful ticket in the 1940s in Minot. He says parking meters were unneeded in a wide-open state.

By reintroducing meters, Gov. Doug Burgum hopes to encourage more parking turnover, leading to more retail sales for businesses and more tax revenue for communities and the state.

Former state Sen. JoNell Bakke of Grand Forks is Henry's granddaughter. She says if the ban is repealed, she will lead another effort to prohibit meters.

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