A few months ago, a lawsuit was filed against a town in California that had violated the Americans With Disabilities Act. Now, the town has officially begun making the improvements to their playground that should have been made in the first place. Better late than never!
The Americans With Disabilities Act, or ADA, requires businesses, restaurants, and other public places to have bathrooms that are large enough for a person to easily fit a wheelchair into. It requires there to be ramps and elevators alongside places that have stairs.
It requires that sidewalks be a certain size, and that the curbs have ramps on them. It requires stores to keep their aisles cleared so that there is enough space for people who use wheelchairs to move through them. It may have rules about the number, and placement, of disabled parking spaces.
Sometimes, stores, restaurants, or public places, fail to comply with the regulations set forth in the ADA. Sadly, it can take the filing of a lawsuit before the business, or government body, will actually do what it is supposed to do. These lawsuits can be entirely avoided if people just decided to comply with the regulations of the ADA in the first place.
Such is the situation in a California town. In June of 2012, Russell Peterson, and Suzanne Smiley, sued the town of Paso Robles, California, because they were unable to access parts of the downtown areas. They couldn’t access those parts because Paso Robles failed to comply with the ADA. The lawsuit resulted in a consent decree that defined some deadlines by which Paso Robles must make specific improvements.
Now, in October of 2012, we have an update to the story. The first signs of construction have begun. Fencing has gone up around the existing restrooms in the Downtown City Park, and they have been closed.
Paso Robles is required to replace the current restrooms with ones that will be large enough to accommodate people who use wheelchairs. The new restrooms will include separate men’s and women’s toilets and a family restroom. It will also include a sink area and drinking fountains.
Paso Robles has already started working on improving parts of the sidewalks in town. New curb slopes have been added, and sidewalks have been put in places where there previously were no sidewalks. They are not finished yet, and work will continue. This will allow adults and children who use wheelchairs to safely navigate their way onto, across, and off of the sidewalks.
There will also be parking improvements. Part of the reason why the lawsuit was filed was because of the lack of disabled parking spaces in the downtown area. Paso Robles is required to create 8 disabled-designated parking spaces near the park.
Image by krossbow on Flickr