COEUR d'ALENE - With huge Fourth of July holiday crowds and near-triple-digit temperatures converging, calm, cool and collected looks like a perfect plan for downtown parking.

So far, so good - with a few exceptions, to be sure.

"I imagine we're putting some pressure on the neighborhoods, but we do have free parking and a shuttle that we'd love to be used," said Troy Tymesen, Coeur d'Alene city parking liaison on the shift in impacted areas since McEuen Park and nearby Front Avenue were torn up this spring. "I think the more time that goes by, people are adjusting to where to park."

That's what the numbers say, too.

In May, the city's parking ticket appeal board received 31 appeals, which is par for the course as far as number of cases per month, according to parking commission records.

So what's changed from last year to this?

In the spring, the city graded lots north of Memorial Field and west of Northwest Boulevard that provided around 300 free parking spaces for the public to compensate for the parking lot that disappeared at McEuen Field once ground broke. Added to that, the city recently built a roughly 200-space free parking lot south of City Hall. Together, the new lots were created to provide parking relief.

But the new lots are also adjacent to other city-operated parking lots that still charge hourly rates. In some cases, the separation between free and pay-for parking is a matter of feet. In all, the city contracts Diamond Parking to monitor several municipal lots, such as the Museum of North Idaho, Memorial Field, Independence Point and the upper level of the public library on Front Street.

But new lots, combined with the old lots, make for a mix of free and paid parking, leaving some motorists wondering what's what.

Take John Smith, working at the Memorial Field concession stand, Porky G's. The ballfield has a couple dozen paid spaces in its main lot, but right behind it starts the free graded parking spaces the city just built.

Smith spends a lot of his day explaining to motorists which one is free, and which one isn't.

"People are confused," he said, saying some know the difference, some don't. "I get a lot of people asking questions."

Or take driver Chris Sperry.

He lives downtown and was spotted last week reading the parking lot sign at Memorial Field to determine if he had to pay or not. The couple-dozen space parking lot just north of City Park charges $1 an hour after the first free hour. But just a few taps of the gas pedal northward begins the freshly graded free parking lot. That lot has the free downtown shuttle Tymesen referred to earlier. But Sperry sat in his car until a Press reporter explained the difference.

"This," Sperry said, "is confusing."

Not that The Press is free of fault in this situation.

In its annual 101 Things to do in North Idaho magazine published May 31, The Press printed an article about the new free parking. It also included a map of downtown parking opportunities. But the map key or caption didn't explain which was free (graded lots) and which charged (Independence Point).

And in an April article, The Press mistakenly reported that the Museum of North Idaho would be included in free parking. It isn't free, but the nearby free graded lot is.

"It did tick me off, I admit it," said Jim Ummel, a Coeur d'Alene resident who was given a $20 ticket last week for parking at the Museum of North Idaho, which he understood to be free because of the faulty April article.

He said he doesn't want anyone reprimanded for the misinformation, just clear info on what parking is what. Because he described differentiating between what's free and what isn't as: "So far, it's nuts. It's just nuts."

"I'm just trying to bring attention to what the issue is," he said.

Meanwhile, Ummel appealed his ticket to Seattle, where Diamond Parking is based. So did four other motorists ticketed in downtown Diamond lots recently who cited the 101 Things to Do in North Idaho article in their appeal form. All five tickets were overturned.

In fact, Tymesen said, the city has contacted Diamond Parking at the local and Seattle levels to tell them if people appeal downtown tickets, err on the side of forgiveness, as motorists and officials are navigating though the cumbersome issue together.

"I'm glad they're being somewhat lenient," Tymesen said.

Another appeal winner this summer was Martin Broder, of Wendell, Idaho, about 600 miles from Coeur d'Alene. On June 16, Broder and his wife were visiting town and parked at Independence Point before hopping on a brunch cruise. The sign marking that the lot charged a fee was turned around - the result of a likely prank. So Broder was surprised when he was ticketed, too. The lot should display a more prominent sign, he said, and give travelers like him a chance to contact someone if they get ticketed on a Sunday, which is what happened to him.

"I don't hold it against Coeur d'Alene," he said after his ticket was overturned. But "I will be frank; it did leave a bad taste in my mouth."

So confusion is out there.

But the clear statement on parking is this: The city's graded lot north of Memorial Field and west of Northwest Boulevard is free. So is the lot south of City Hall. Independence Point, Memorial Field and Museum of North Idaho charge by the hour.

Oh yeah: The public library allows for two free hours of parking, but no more. It's steps away from the lot south of City Hall, 710 E. Mullan Ave., so don't confuse the two.

Another exception will be on Thursday. Most city-owned lots will charge $15 for all day parking as a way to raise money for the Coeur d'Alene Chamber's firework drive.

Parking proceeds to pay for show

COEUR d'ALENE - Most parking on the Fourth won't be free.

The Coeur d'Alene Chamber of Commerce is leasing downtown lots from the city of Coeur d'Alene and Kootenai County and will charge $15 for all-day parking Thursday for approximately 800 parking spots.

The parking lots include Independence Point, Memorial Field, Museum of North Idaho, the Coeur d'Alene Public Library, the lot south of City Hall, the new graded lot near Northwest Boulevard and the main county parking lot across from the courthouse.

Proceeds generated from the parking will go toward the chamber's fireworks fundraising drive. The chamber is aiming to raise $30,000 to put on the fireworks show that will light up at dusk Thursday.

Some areas, like North Idaho College, will still be free.