mark handler
SAWHORSE
Santa Rosa has a ways to go to meet disability-access rules
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/3952592-181/santa-rosa-has-a-ways
anta Rosa has been working hard to bring its city-owned facilities into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, installing wheelchair-accessible ramps at curbs, lower drinking fountains and picnic tables in parks, and wider stalls in bathrooms throughout the city.
But after five years of work and more than $6 million spent to date, the city still has a way to go before it will be able to say that all city properties are fully accessible.
Next month marks the end of the five-year agreement the city struck with the Department of Justice after a federal audit documented more than 100 violations of the landmark ADA law, which was passed in 1990 with the goal of removing barriers to the disabled accessing public services and buildings.
In the 2010 settlement between the city and federal officials, the city agreed, despite its deep budget woes, to spend an estimated $2.5 million on the items identified by the DOJ and to conduct a more thorough assessment of upgrades needed across the city.
Over the course of that five-year period, the city has undertaken projects as small as installing an accessible parking space at Old Courthouse Square and as large as the two-month effort to regrade and install a new path across several hundred feet of Hidden Valley Park, work that is ongoing.
“I think the time that we spent doing this work and the money we spent doing it is very important for the community,” said Cliff Hunt, the city’s new risk manager.
However, the city was not able to get to all of the projects on its list, largely because of topographical or other logistical challenges that will take more time and money, Hunt said.
“The truth is, it’s not all going to be done. Some of these projects can be quite complicated,” Hunt said.
As an example, there is a wide pathway leading through Skyhawk Park that needs to be regraded because it doesn’t meet the ADA’s strict slope requirements. But there are underground utilities in that area that need to be relocated to complete the project, he said.
“It’s not just a simple fix,” Hunt said.
It may take some creativity to resolve such issues, he said.
Some of the other projects that will need more time and money to complete include a new ramp at Artstart on Bennett Valley Road; a new accessible path to play equipment at Eastside Park; correcting the slope of the path leading to volleyball courts at Finley Park; installing a lift up to a stage at the Steele Lane Community Center; and restroom alterations at Northwest Park.
In some cases, the city has dealt with a noncompliant amenity simply by removing it entirely. At Hidden Valley Park, instead of building a path up to an area of picnic tables, the city removed them, eliminating the requirement to extend the path there.
Another inaccessible picnic table was removed from Jacobs Park on West Ninth Street, as was a water feature at DeMeo Park.
But removing amenities to get around having to make them accessible really steams Hardy Solderholm, a retired hardware store executive who has spent years volunteering his time cleaning up Hidden Valley Park near his home.
Before the ADA work started, the park had five older but serviceable picnic tables, he said. When the work is finished, it’ll have just two ADA-compliant ones, he said.
He and his neighbors have sent “dozens and dozens” of emails to the city manager’s office but have been told there is no money available in the budget for the work.
“It’s a shame,” Solderholm said. “The grade school has their picnics there, and the neighborhood (families) have their birthday parties there.”
Hunt said the tables in question “were situated such that meeting the requirements would have been very difficult and likely very costly.”
In addition to the previously identified upgrades the city still needs to complete, new regulations may require additional work.
So much time has passed since Santa Rosa began the work that the rules have changed, meaning the city has to reassess the new section of the ADA standards covering recreation facilities. That means city officials have to determine whether additional upgrades are needed at tennis courts, bleachers, amusement rides, boating and fishing facilities, swimming pools and the city golf course.
“We have quite a bit of work to do in that area,” said Camron MacDonald, facilities planning coordinator for the city.
You can reach Staff Writer Kevin McCallum at 521-5207 or kevin.mccallum@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @srcitybeat.
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/3952592-181/santa-rosa-has-a-ways
anta Rosa has been working hard to bring its city-owned facilities into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, installing wheelchair-accessible ramps at curbs, lower drinking fountains and picnic tables in parks, and wider stalls in bathrooms throughout the city.
But after five years of work and more than $6 million spent to date, the city still has a way to go before it will be able to say that all city properties are fully accessible.
Next month marks the end of the five-year agreement the city struck with the Department of Justice after a federal audit documented more than 100 violations of the landmark ADA law, which was passed in 1990 with the goal of removing barriers to the disabled accessing public services and buildings.
In the 2010 settlement between the city and federal officials, the city agreed, despite its deep budget woes, to spend an estimated $2.5 million on the items identified by the DOJ and to conduct a more thorough assessment of upgrades needed across the city.
Over the course of that five-year period, the city has undertaken projects as small as installing an accessible parking space at Old Courthouse Square and as large as the two-month effort to regrade and install a new path across several hundred feet of Hidden Valley Park, work that is ongoing.
“I think the time that we spent doing this work and the money we spent doing it is very important for the community,” said Cliff Hunt, the city’s new risk manager.
However, the city was not able to get to all of the projects on its list, largely because of topographical or other logistical challenges that will take more time and money, Hunt said.
“The truth is, it’s not all going to be done. Some of these projects can be quite complicated,” Hunt said.
As an example, there is a wide pathway leading through Skyhawk Park that needs to be regraded because it doesn’t meet the ADA’s strict slope requirements. But there are underground utilities in that area that need to be relocated to complete the project, he said.
“It’s not just a simple fix,” Hunt said.
It may take some creativity to resolve such issues, he said.
Some of the other projects that will need more time and money to complete include a new ramp at Artstart on Bennett Valley Road; a new accessible path to play equipment at Eastside Park; correcting the slope of the path leading to volleyball courts at Finley Park; installing a lift up to a stage at the Steele Lane Community Center; and restroom alterations at Northwest Park.
In some cases, the city has dealt with a noncompliant amenity simply by removing it entirely. At Hidden Valley Park, instead of building a path up to an area of picnic tables, the city removed them, eliminating the requirement to extend the path there.
Another inaccessible picnic table was removed from Jacobs Park on West Ninth Street, as was a water feature at DeMeo Park.
But removing amenities to get around having to make them accessible really steams Hardy Solderholm, a retired hardware store executive who has spent years volunteering his time cleaning up Hidden Valley Park near his home.
Before the ADA work started, the park had five older but serviceable picnic tables, he said. When the work is finished, it’ll have just two ADA-compliant ones, he said.
He and his neighbors have sent “dozens and dozens” of emails to the city manager’s office but have been told there is no money available in the budget for the work.
“It’s a shame,” Solderholm said. “The grade school has their picnics there, and the neighborhood (families) have their birthday parties there.”
Hunt said the tables in question “were situated such that meeting the requirements would have been very difficult and likely very costly.”
In addition to the previously identified upgrades the city still needs to complete, new regulations may require additional work.
So much time has passed since Santa Rosa began the work that the rules have changed, meaning the city has to reassess the new section of the ADA standards covering recreation facilities. That means city officials have to determine whether additional upgrades are needed at tennis courts, bleachers, amusement rides, boating and fishing facilities, swimming pools and the city golf course.
“We have quite a bit of work to do in that area,” said Camron MacDonald, facilities planning coordinator for the city.
You can reach Staff Writer Kevin McCallum at 521-5207 or kevin.mccallum@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @srcitybeat.