RE: Help! Dealing with an ADA ramp

**"Alliums" g*@green-logic.com**

Hi, Don!

While the community garden doesn't have this problem, we're facing similar
requirements with Reservoir Dogs! Park.  

First, don't take ANYONE'S word for what you should be doing -- this is
where "due diligence" and interpretation gets dicy.  Of course, you should
be trying:

<<Plan B, get influential political contacts within the community to put
pressure on Zoning to drop the requirement. >>

However, ADA is just weird stuff, so see if you can get a lawyer with REAL
ADA experience to look over the site and decide what you really need.  Just
because the Zoning Officer says you need X, doesn't necessarily mean that Y
isn't an option.  It's very possible the Zoning Officer only knows about X
-- so talk to some disability organizations and see if you can get some
legal or contractor recommendations for what you really need -- for
instance, you may be able to grade the surface so that your slope doesn't
exist anymore -- and using clean fill and tamping it down could be seriously
cheaper.

We had to move Reservoir Dogs! Park from our original site within Reservoir
Park because the slope for one of the areas, while perfect for dogs, would
have required a special, very expensive graded path for wheelchairs. We
moved the dog park to a place in the park where the slope is considered just
fine for wheelchairs, so we eliminated that expense.  In our case, it was
the grade that dictated the ramp -- check with an ADA lawyer, but if the
space is not that far and you have good access to wood chips, etc to remove
the slope and get a machine to compress it, you MIGHT be okay without the
ramp.

Do the politics, but find some legal and landscape folks who *really*
understand ADA and can help you figure out how to comply quickly at your
particular site.  

Hope this helps.

Dorene (see other sig!)

Dorene Pasekoff, President
Friends of Reservoir Dogs! Park
Phoenixville, PA

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phoenixvilledogpark/

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