COEUR d'ALENE - The $10 ticket was more of a slap in the face than a monetary setback.

Especially since Cindy Sherwood, a tourist from California spending hundreds of dollars in downtown Coeur d'Alene with her husband Dave earlier this month, tried to comply with the law, only she wasn't aware of all the particulars.

Now, she says, she doesn't know if visiting Coeur d'Alene is even worth it.

She even sent an email to city officials since her July 5 visit titled "Unwelcome in Coeur d'Alene."

"It's mainly about the principle," she said. "Is this how you are going to deal with tourists visiting your city?"

The issue is a parking ticket that violated the city's 2-free-hour limit downtown.

What sticks in the Sherwoods' craw is that they moved their rental car that afternoon before the time limit had expired, as to avoid a citation.

They just didn't move it far enough.

"We debated on whether to do more shopping, since parking is such a pain, but we saw a car two cars in front of us pull out and we decided to stay a couple more hours and we moved into that vacant spot," Cindy said.

But the letter of the law says that cars must be moved at least 300 feet to count as a new parking spot, thereby granting another 2 hours.

So a couple of spots away wasn't good enough, and when the Sherwoods returned to their vehicle, the $10 fine was waiting on their windshield.

Stunned, is how they put their reaction. Who knew such a law existed, especially since there aren't signs posting it?

"It was only a $10 ticket, but there was no appropriate sign," Cindy said.

But with a slew of city laws and ordinances on the books, some rules are posted and some aren't.

And to post them all?

"We don't have a billboard available on Sherman to put all the parking laws," said Troy Tymesen, city finance director and parking liaison.

But, he added, if there are enough instances of people getting the same infraction, posting a sign might be in order. As for now, the parking commission hasn't dealt with that complaint often. And the spirit of the 300-foot law, its goal is prevent just that - people rolling their car a few feet and calling it good.

"It was designed during the day when people would just re-park a few feet from their original spot," Tymesen said, including downtown employees.

Diamond Parking manages downtown parking, which encompasses a roughly six-by-five-block area from Front through Indiana avenues.

Count lifelong Coeur d'Alene resident Kyle Vandever among those who didn't know about the proximity rule.

"I think the city is honestly just trying to make money off of parking tickets and not doing a good job of informing the citizens of the rules," he said, downtown last week with his Chevy Silverado 1500. "Also the signs are really confusing, sometimes I don't know when I'm parking in a 2-hour zone or a 15-minute zone."

As for being a money maker, Tymesen said that isn't the case. The city pays $2,860 a month for the service, and barely covers costs, if at all. As for parking issues, the squeaky wheel always seems to get the grease. Nobody ever calls the city to say thanks after getting away from exceeding the limit without a fine, he said.

Cindy's email to members of the city council asked about the ordinance and why there weren't signs posted. Councilman Mike Kennedy responded he would look into the matter. Meanwhile, she has appealed the ticket on the city's website.

"Whatever the outcome," she wrote to the council. "I think it's important city leaders know that this is no way to treat visitors."

Cindy, a former Spokane resident, now lives in Orange County, Calif. On her trip, she said they spent hundreds of dollars purchasing clothing, items, food and a float plane ride.

But after all that, it's a $10 ticket that is leaving a bad taste in their mouths, because it's an obscure, unfriendly rule to tourists from a city that's dependent on them, she said.

"We probably would have stayed longer and gone shopping some more but we didn't want to deal with the whole parking situation again," Cindy said. "It's too much of a hassle."