Patrons stopping for a quick cup of coffee at the Cheese Shoppe, 234 E. Calder Way, won't have to worry about getting a parking ticket anymore.

Members of the State College Borough Council voted Monday night to create a five-minute parking zone along the 200 block of Calder Way, which also houses Nirvana's Closet, 254 E. Calder Way, and Looks Hair Design, 228 E. Calder Way.

Prior to the change, people would often park their cars for two or three minutes while they ran in to get their morning coffee, Cheese Shoppe owner Bill Clarke said. Occasionally, when patrons came back, there would be a ticket on their car, he added.

Although Clarke offers to pay the fines, some customers would rather not deal with downtown parking issues, he said. "Sometimes they don't come back," Clarke said, adding that the change in parking policy would make it easier for his customers. "It's going to help us for sure. You've got to try to do everything you can to get people to come downtown."

The five-minute parking will be enforced like any other, said State College Police Chief Tom King.

Monitoring the area won't be a problem for police, said State College Mayor Bill Welch.

"The police already hang out at the Cheese Shoppe," Welch said.

Police patrolling the area will make a note of which cars are parked in the five-minute zone. If the car is present the next time police come through, the officers will write a ticket, King said.

Currently, five-minute parking along Calder Way -- starting at McAllister Alley and ending at Pugh Street -- is permitted from 5 p.m. until midnight.

Because Calder Way narrows after the alley, it is difficult to accommodate both unloading delivery trucks and vehicle traffic in the second half of the block, King said.

"It just can't be done during the business hours because of deliveries," he said.

The new parking rule will be evaluated after six months to determine its effectiveness. Police will look at accidents, congestion, loading and unloading problems, as well as hear feedback from the businesses, King said.

"In this block I think it can work," he said.

However, the decision to implement short-term parking along Calder Way did not come without opposition.

"I don't think that we can make changes in our laws that only help one business," said council member Tom Daubert, who cast the only vote against the measure.

Daubert said many other businesses in the downtown area suffer from similar parking problems. Changing local parking laws for the benefit of one store would not be fair to others, he said.

"This is a slippery slope," Daubert said.

Council President Richard McCarl suggested increasing the time from five minutes to 10. "It seems I can't do anything in five minutes," he said.