FARGO-Whenever you hit the town, you probably just get in your car and find the parking spot closest to wherever you're headed. However, parking could take a different turn. You might soon have to start paying for meter parking-the first time in more than 60 years here in North Dakota.

It's a change some don't want to see.

"I don't think they should bring them here," said Fargo resident Stephanie Kryzer. "You have to circle blocks and blocks just to find a parking meter."

Parking meters could be reintroduced, for the first time since 1948. The bill passed through the Senate earlier this week, with even local officials surprised by its result.

"We certainly didn't expect it to go through," Fargo City Planner Derrick LaPointe said.

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North Dakota is the only state without meters, and the bill has previously been voted down.

The city of Fargo says it could be a good for the downtown area though.

LaPointe added, "It allows people for that turnover. It gives people that flexibility to park there for a half hour to four hours.

West Fargo would also consider implementing the machines.

"It would be real interesting to see different ways we could see parking meters to help our downtown area," said Chris Brungardt of the West Fargo Public Works Department.

The meters would do away with the 90-minute-over ticketing, and residents say that could actually be a benefit.

"Typically what you pay in a parking meter is less than what you would pay if you get a $15 parking ticket," said Mark Weiler of Fargo.

Both cities say it's not about generating revenue but for helping local businesses.

"I think that's the biggest benefit for the retail, for those high-use businesses with customers coming in and out," said Brungardt.

It could also keep those pedestrians a little warmer, with Weiler saying, "It's sometime hard to walk a block or two when it's 20-below out."

The bill has already passed through the Senate. But still needs to go through the House in about a month or so.