HomeMy WebLinkAbout03A-Public Comments Robert Neves
.
.
August 16, 1993
Honorable Mayor and
Common Council of the
City of San Bernardino
300 North "D" Street
San Bernardino, California 92418
Your Honor:
On August 2, 1993, I approached the City Council (During the Public Comment period of their regular
meeting) to disclose that I had mailed a complaint to authorities regarding the inaccessibility of Perris Hill
Park's new "water park". In my presentation, I requested that a code compliance inspection be performed to
"identify any difficiencies that may have been constructed."
Subsequent to my presentation, Councilmember Dr. Curlin, M.D. addressed my complaint with the
statement describing that there was "accessibility to every facility, with the exception of the water slide" at the
newly remodeled water park. By Dr. Curlin's statement, I assume that the City has made the requested inspec-
tion and found the results that were publicly announced by Dr. Curlin (Le. the City has "discovered" that the
water slide is not accessible). I also must conclude that, the code compliance inspection overlooked the inac-
cessibility of the "frog slide" into the "zero depth" pool, and a nearly three inch change of elevation I found at
an exit door from the men's changing area.
I guess I can understand the former accommodation's accessibility being overlooked, because, philo-
sophically, access to this slide seems a similar issue as access to the larger water slide adjacent to it. However,
these are both "public accommodations" covered by State and Federal Civil Rights law and prevailing building
codes. People with disabilities, especially young people with disabilities, need to feel that their city cares how
they feel when they play at a City Park. I'm sure you can understand the isolation and lowered self-esteem felt
by the children that are being excluded from this city park's accommodations.
I simply cannot understand, however, how any site inspection could have missed the three inch change
of elevation at the exit door. A maximum of 1/2 inch change of elevation is allowed between door thresholds
and the landings on either side of an exit doors by ~3304(i.1) of Title 24. This requirement has been effective
and integrated into the Uniform Building Code (UBC) for over a decade.
I ask again for a thorough code compliance inspection of the facility in question, and that all areas found
difficient be reported in this public forum and corrected.
Respectfully Submitted
Robert J. Neves
3771 N. Aspen Drive
San Bernardino, California 92404
(909) 862-6238 voice/message/fax
9~~
t /Iv /9.3