News from the US Department of Justice About Upcoming Deadlines
Public parks and recreation agencies from Bakersfield to Reno to Miami to Waukegan are doing the right thing and planning or conducting access audits of sites and facilities. It is especially important to address those sites and facilities new to the federal 2010 Standards for Accessible Design: playgrounds, pools, golf courses, sports fields and courts, boating areas, fishing areas, fitness facilities, and more.
Some of you reading this are clients of our firm, and some of you are just interested in ADA compliance. We have been telling clients that a public parks and recreation agency likely has a three year window in which to complete necessary corrective work. Since the 2010 Standards become effective March 15, 2012, that means March 15, 2015.
Why did we say that?
On January 26, 1992, when the ADA first became effective, public entities had three years, until January 26, 1995, to remove barriers at existing sites. We thought it made sense to have the same three year window for those environments new to the Standards, the recreation amenities named above.
However, in recent discussions with the Department of Justice (DOJ), it is unclear that the three year window was the intent of DOJ. It does not say there is a three year window, but the portion of the old regulation noting the three year window (see section 35.150(c) is not removed or modified.
This is an unfortunate interpretation. Assume Greenacre Parks and Recreation started an access audit the day the 2010 Standards were released on September 14, 2010. Let’s look at a calendar and see how this works.
It takes 6 months to do an access audit and analyze results, so now it is March 14, 2011.
It takes another three months to reach agreement on phased work and project costs, so we are now at June 14, 2011.
Then it takes anywhere from four to 12 months to get the corrective work into the agency budget, and realistically, we recognize it often takes more than 12 months. So depending on the fiscal year start date, January 1, 2012 is a good bet for the earliest work can start, and it is more likely that the next fiscal year is when it would start, in late 2012 or early 2013.
Further, it is highly unlikely all the corrective work could be fit into one budget year. So that makes it likely that work is stretched out until 2014, 2015, perhaps even 2016.
While we continue to seek clarification, we will now change our recommendations to state that barriers to existing sites and facilities that are to be corrected should occur as soon as is possible. We’ll still offer clients our phased recommendations, but we’ll add the soon-as-possible qualifier.
Oswegoland Park District Access Audit and Transition Plan
The Oswegoland Park District retained RAC to conduct an access audit and develop transition plan recommendations at its July 28 Board of Commissioners meeting. “We have always been aware of the ADA requirements and we certainly followed those in our recent new construction and alterations. We want, as part of our planning process, to examine all of our existing facilities though” said Bill McAdam, Executive Director.
In a new and popular approach to this work, RAC will work closely with two District staff and train them in the use of the checklists and evaluation of the data collected during the audits. RAC will meet next week with District staff, and the audit and reports will be completed by December 31, 2011.
New Faces at RAC
Due to your workload, we have some new faces at RAC.
Kate Clements joined us this summer as a part-time Accessibility Technician. Kate is a Western Illinois University graduate and has a degree in Parks and Recreation. She is detail oriented and we are turning her into an outdoor 
recreation specialist.
Michael Cleary started in August as a full time Accessibility Technician. Michael is a University of Illinois graduate in English and an accomplished athlete. We hope to use his writing skills and his all-around talents for the benefit of our clients.
Brittany Freeberg (thumbs up) started in August as a full time Accessibility Technician. Brittany is a graduate of Southern Illinois University in Biology and an accomplished athlete. Her biology background makes her very detail oriented, a trait all of our clients appreciate.
Emails, We Get Emails
A New Jersey Therapeutic Recreation professional emailed us with a question we are surprised we still see. People with disabilities have access to park district classes, city recreation department programs, community college classes, state classes such as firearms safety or hunting safety, and more.
This isn’t a new requirement…people with disabilities have had access to such programs since 1992. So it is at times discouraging to see questions like that below.
QUESTION: “Our agency provides inclusion support for municipal programs within our County. A local community college is offering a class to the community. The instructor told a registrant with Asperger’s Syndrome that “perhaps this class isn’t the right one for you.” When we tried to help by suggesting extra staff, the instructor became upset and asked if we were criticizing the way he had established ratios for the class. Help!
ANSWER: Here are some thoughts based on what we know from the email.
Application of title II of the ADA
Community colleges are instrumentalities of the State, so the college is clearly a unit of state or local government. As such it is a title II entity. Title II generally prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by any type of government or instrumentality of government in the delivery of programs, services, and activities to the public. (MORE)
Colorado Parks and Recreation Association September Conference
RAC President John McGovern will speak at the upcoming CPRA Conference in Grand Junction, Colorado September 27 and 28. This marks the second 2011 engagement on this subject in Colorado.
On the 27th he’ll cover the new 2010 Standards on the 27th and on the 28th will speak three times. He’ll delve more deeply into fitness facilities, sports fields, and sports courts in one session; aquatics facilities and golf in another; and playgrounds in a third.
Special thanks to Ashley Perillo for chasing us down so we could get to the Western Slope.
Shelley Says…”Beware of that protruding object!”
When most people think about the ADA and accessibility, their first “visual” is someone in a wheelchair. However, the ADA addresses accessibility for people with all types of limitations, such as a visual impairment.
The most overlooked “deficit” we cite in facilities is the protruding object. A protruding object is defined as any object whose leading edge is between 27” and 80” above the floor (aff) that projects out from the wall more than 4” (see diagram below).
A
s public parks and recreation professionals, we love to show off our awards and display our promotional materials all along our common hallways. The very same hallways used by all of our customers.
These display cases and brochure racks are often the first offenders where protrusions are concerned – all project out from the wall below to hold our materials. We see other common offenders too: AED’s, fire extinguishers, hand dryers, towel dispensers, plastic bag dispensers in swimming pool locker rooms, and more. While all are vital to our day to day service, agency staff and design professionals must think carefully about where and how they are mounted…would a guard rail below that display case work as a cane detectable warning if mounted at 26”? Should two bollards surround an object on either side? Could that AED be placed in a corner or on a wing wall so it is out of the general circulation path?
There are usually simple fixes for most of these problems, it just takes some creativity. And if recreation professionals aren’t creative, then I don’t know who is!
Breaking News at Northwest Special Recreation Association (NWSRA)
Susie Julison announced her plan to leave NWSRA as Executive Director early this summer. She’ll spend time at home with her husband and their daughters. She is not, as she has made clear, retiring, but wants to see her daughter’s senior year in high school up close. Susie is a good access and inclusion advocate, a good fundraiser, and a darn good administrator.
The NWSRA Board of Directors didn’t wait long, starting up its own search for the next Executive Director. There have only been two since NWSRA was formed in 1973…Kevin T. Kendrigan and Susie.
The NWSRA Board just announced it has hired Tracey M. Crawford as the next Executive Director. Tracey is the Deputy Director at FVSRA and before that worked at NSSRA. A University of Iowa graduate, Tracey will bring unbridled energy, fundraising skill, and superior therapeutic recreation acumen to NWSRA.
Congratulations Susie, and thanks for all you have done.
Congratulations Tracey, and we look forward to working with you and the NWSRA partner park districts.
Disclaimer
Nothing in this newsletter is legal advice. It is instead a relaying of decisions and information about the application of the Americans with Disabilities Act to public parks and recreation. Readers interested in legal advice should seek a qualified attorney in your state that knows the ADA and can apply it to public parks and recreation.