Icy parking lots are a dangerous hazard to people

Earlier this week I drove into the Bigfork Stage Stop’s parking lot, to lunch at Southern Kravinz. I parked my car, opened the door, and stepped out, only to find my foot sliding on the ice. I would have fallen had I not been holding onto my car door. I got back into my car and tried two other parking areas of the same lot, only to discover each was as bad as the first, as I tested the ice with my foot before getting out of the car. I then parallel-parked next to the sidewalk in front of the Stage Stop store (where there was no ice) and went to the manager’s office to explain why I parked there.

I’m not a lawyer, but I am a property owner, and I know that I am liable should anyone be injured on my property due to negligence on my part. On another note, there is a ramp for handicap access to the businesses in that complex, at south end of the building. However, its existence is not obvious, and at this time is totally blocked by a tall snow berm and parked cars. In the summer, it is also blocked by parked cars. What is a handicapped person to do?

— Catherine Haug, Bigfork