Council approves free holiday parking

Free holiday parking is officially back.

The Salt Lake City Council on Tuesday approved a plan that will allow free two-hour parking at city parking meters from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day.

While the plan will cost the city some $180,000 in revenue, city leaders hope those losses will be made up by increased sales for downtown merchants.

Some council members wanted the parking to be free for three hours, like it was last year, giving people more time to shop. City staffers, however, warned against that idea because downtown merchants complained last year that downtown employees were hogging the three-hour spots.

Parking meters throughout the city will be fitted with a special sticker alerting people that parking at the meters does not cost.