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HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 8627 INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 8627 TE To the Mayor and Members of the City Council August 17, 2004 Page 1 of 3 SUBJECT: Accessible Parking for Employees and Citizens with Disabilities leis Purpose The purpose of this report is to inform City Council regarding the new accessible parking policy for employees and citizens with disabilities who require accessible parking within a two-block radius of City Hall. The City of Fort Worth employs a number of persons with disabilities who require handicap accessible parking. In the past, the city has allowed these individuals to park in the "Horseshoe" lot adjacent to south end of City Hall, in the designated "Handicap" parking spaces in the citizens' lot on Texas Street and on meters along Monroe Street. As a result, citizens with disabilities who were visiting City Hall had difficulty locating accessible handicap parking Since individuals with designated license plates or handicap parking "hang-tags" are not, by law, required to pay for parking at a meter, employees with disabilities were utilizing meter spaces at no cost. This practice reduced the availability of parking spaces for citizens and also reduced revenue from the meters. In June of 2004, a task force was formed to review current conditions and develop a policy that would allow citizens with disabilities better access to parking around City Hall and to provide employees with disabilities better access to pairking spaces that meet their unique needs. On July 19, 2004, the task force met again. Legal staff was available to address legal issues as they relate to the proposed policy. The group sought to determine the legality of: o Designating specific areas of handicap accessible parking for citizens only. ci Requiring persons with handicap accessible parking privileges to adhere to posted time restrictions on public meters. u Requiring medical documentation to record specific limitations imposed by the disability to qualify an employee for reserved parking privileges (other than the designated handicap spaces), a Requiring employees with legitimate handicap parking tags or license plates to pay for parking in designated reserved spaces. ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS _ INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. .627 p,%.TLI*.a To the Mayor and Members of the City Council August 17, 2004 1 1%01 00- -A Page 2 of 3 SUBJECT: Accessible Parking for Employees and Citizens with Disabilities Committee's Recommendations Following a review of all aspects of the proposal, the Committee drafted a policy that provides accessible parking to an increased number of citizens with disabilities while improving parking conditions for employees with special parking needs. Following are details of the policy as it relates to city employees and citizens with disabilities. • Benefit to Fort Worth citizens with disabilities - The policy designates all handicap accessible parking spaces in the Horseshoe lot and at parking meters around City Hall as "Citizen Only" spaces and imposes time limits on the meters. This action will ensure that Fort Worth citizens who are conducting business in and around City Hall have access to parking spaces that are accessible and an appropriate distance from those locations. Citizens with designated handicap parking stickers will be allowed to park at meters at no charge; however, they will be required to stay within posted time limits. • Benefit to employees with disabilities — those employees with disabilities who have handicap license plates or hang tags, and who provide appropriate documentation, will receive a permit to park in personally selected parking spaces. The employee will contact the Disabilities Program Coordinator and together they will identify a parking space around City Hall that best accommodates their unique ambulatory needs and that space will be reserved for that employee. Such an action will totally eliminate the likelihood that accessible spaces will not be available since the parking space will be reserved for that individual. A minimum fee will be assessed for the reserved parking space. It was determined that the policy would provide more accessible parking to citizens doing business in and around City Hall. Additionally, the city would receive increased revenue from citizens who would have access to meters that had previously been occupied by city employees. Finally, the policy will make accessible parking more available to employees with mobility impairments by allowing them to choose the parking space that best meets their unique needs. It was determined that the policy meets all Americans with Disabilities Act standards. Please be advised that the policy has been initiated and the process of acquiring proper notification has begun. Conclusion The City of Fort Worth has initiated a new parking policy that provides additional accessible handicap parking spaces to citizens who are visiting City Hall and surrounding city facilities. The policy designates the "Horseshoe Lot" accessible parking spaces as Citizen Only spaces. Additionally, the meters on the streets adjacent to City Hall have been designated as Citizen ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WOR-m, TEXAS INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 8627 V To the Mayor and Members of the City Council August 17, 2004 r Page 3 of 3 SUBJECT: Accessible Parking for Employees and Citizens with Disabilities Only spaces and a time limit has been posted for those spaces. Finally, the policy provides Fort Worth City employees who have handicap parking stickers with reserved parking in spaces chosen by that employee to best meet his or her unique medical needs. These employees will be charged a minimum bi-weekly fee for their reserved parking space. This policy will guarantee that all Fort Worth city employees with disabilities have accessible parking each working day. City Ja son City Manager ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, 'TEXAS