POCATELLO (AP) -- Mediation by 7th District Judge Richard St. Clair has failed to bring a neighborhood association and LDS Church officials any closer to an agreement over a parking lot the church wants to build.
St. Clair mediated a four-hour meeting between the two sides Wednesday.The College Neighborhood Association opposes the proposed parking lot because it would mean tearing down six low- to moderate-
income housing units and add to the steady erosion of the neighborhood.
But church officials said the houses are run-down, not well-kept and their church has only 38 parking spaces for its 2,150 members.
While College Neighborhood Association members said the church can, and currently does, use parking spaces in a nearby Super Save Drug parking lot, those spaces "aren't legal parking and our use could be restricted at any time," said Ron Kerl, an attorney representing the church.