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RIVERSIDE: Handicap accessibility lawsuit is over after 14 years
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
By ALICIA ROBINSON
The Press-Enterprise
A wheelchair-using Riverside resident whose 1997 lawsuit forced the city to fix nearly 200 curbs and sidewalks failed to win further improvements and damages in a ruling issued this week.
John Lonberg charged in his suit that the city was not in compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act. The case was split into three parts that were tried separately.
Monday's ruling by U.S District Court Judge R. Gary Klausner resolved the third and final part in the city's favor. Klausner wrote in his ruling that Lonberg failed to show that the city's system of streets and sidewalks as a whole is inaccessible, which could have required more repairs and payment of damages.
2007 / The Press-Enterprise
John Lonberg's lawsuit against the city was broken into three parts, the last of which has been judged in the city's favor.
"We believe that the court carefully considered the evidence and correctly determined that the city is in fact accessible, and that the city has made a very significant effort at improving accessibility," Riverside City Attorney Greg Priamos said Wednesday.
Lonberg and his attorney could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Since 2001, Priamos said, the city has installed about 5,000 wheelchair ramps, bringing the number of ramps still needed down to 2,000. Most of the missing ramps are in residential areas rather than government or commercial centers or arterial streets, he added.
In 10 years the city has spent $10 million building or fixing ramps, as well as $1.8 million a year on sidewalk construction and repair, Priamos said. The city also has several programs that improve disabled access, including special transit service and high priority for requested curb and ramp fixes, Priamos noted.
Some of those improvements were court-ordered. In 2007, a different federal judge ruled that the city must bring close to 200 curbs and sidewalks into compliance with ADA rules. Lonberg also was awarded $221,000 in damages in that ruling, which was the second phase of the case.
At the time of the 2007 ruling, Lonberg said the city's steps to increase accessibility "came after 10 years of litigation and a previous 10 years of asking and begging them to make the changes."
The first part of the suit was decided in 2005 in Lonberg's favor, but four years later the city won an appeal, and the state Supreme Court declined to review the decision, Priamos said.
That phase hinged on whether Lonberg as a private individual could challenge the adequacy of the city's federally required plan for ADA compliance. Two of three appellate judges ruled that Lonberg did not have such a private right.
Reach Alicia Robinson at 951-368-9461 or arobinson@PE.com
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
By ALICIA ROBINSON
The Press-Enterprise
A wheelchair-using Riverside resident whose 1997 lawsuit forced the city to fix nearly 200 curbs and sidewalks failed to win further improvements and damages in a ruling issued this week.
John Lonberg charged in his suit that the city was not in compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act. The case was split into three parts that were tried separately.
Monday's ruling by U.S District Court Judge R. Gary Klausner resolved the third and final part in the city's favor. Klausner wrote in his ruling that Lonberg failed to show that the city's system of streets and sidewalks as a whole is inaccessible, which could have required more repairs and payment of damages.
2007 / The Press-Enterprise
John Lonberg's lawsuit against the city was broken into three parts, the last of which has been judged in the city's favor.
"We believe that the court carefully considered the evidence and correctly determined that the city is in fact accessible, and that the city has made a very significant effort at improving accessibility," Riverside City Attorney Greg Priamos said Wednesday.
Lonberg and his attorney could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Since 2001, Priamos said, the city has installed about 5,000 wheelchair ramps, bringing the number of ramps still needed down to 2,000. Most of the missing ramps are in residential areas rather than government or commercial centers or arterial streets, he added.
In 10 years the city has spent $10 million building or fixing ramps, as well as $1.8 million a year on sidewalk construction and repair, Priamos said. The city also has several programs that improve disabled access, including special transit service and high priority for requested curb and ramp fixes, Priamos noted.
Some of those improvements were court-ordered. In 2007, a different federal judge ruled that the city must bring close to 200 curbs and sidewalks into compliance with ADA rules. Lonberg also was awarded $221,000 in damages in that ruling, which was the second phase of the case.
At the time of the 2007 ruling, Lonberg said the city's steps to increase accessibility "came after 10 years of litigation and a previous 10 years of asking and begging them to make the changes."
The first part of the suit was decided in 2005 in Lonberg's favor, but four years later the city won an appeal, and the state Supreme Court declined to review the decision, Priamos said.
That phase hinged on whether Lonberg as a private individual could challenge the adequacy of the city's federally required plan for ADA compliance. Two of three appellate judges ruled that Lonberg did not have such a private right.
Reach Alicia Robinson at 951-368-9461 or arobinson@PE.com