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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPublic Comment - Various Neighborhood AssociationsTO: Cjry Council and City Staff — attention Mike Huntley From: L,yrtne wear, President, Muscupiabe Neighborhood Association Joyce P Seeger, President, Blair Park Neighborhood Association Amelia Lopez, President, Neighborhood Association Council Re: County TAD building at 27' St. and Little Mountain Drive We have spoken to you, the city council, many times on this issue_ We are good with the county building going up Dial = with its intended use. San Bernardino County, and the developer Scott Beard, have misrepresented the appropriateness of this location from the beginning. Now we are informing you that the city may be in violation of federal and state law. The facility is not compliant with federal and state statutes and Americans with Disabilities Act requirements. The building is 75% funded by state and federal money, and that funding requires compliance with state and federal statutes. There is an OmniTrans stop at Highland and Muscupiabe, but the walk to the TAD building is nine blocks without sidewalks. The other OmniTrans stop is at Highland and Mt. Vernon, but that walk to the TAD building requires walking over the 2r St. overpass over the 215 freeway where there is no pedestrian walkway. We are in contact with the Health and Human Services office in Sacramento and they have quoted to us two parts of Americans with Disabilities Act, and I quote: "No qualified individual with a disability shall, because a public entity's facilities are inaccessible to or unusable by individuals with disabilities, be excluded from participation in, or be denied the benefits of the services, programs, or activities of a public entity, or be subjected to discrimination by any public entity." "A public entity shall operate each service, program, or activity so that the service, program, or activity, when viewed in its entirety, is readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities." The letter states that without justification for the lack of access to this facility based on the entirety of the County's programs and services, there is a risk of discriminatory behavior against persons with disabilities living in the county and city of San Bernardino. rwflto,ol nderstand that the county can use pre-emption, but if they do, and the City of San Bernardino s this, we have been told that the City is setting itself up for lawsuits. Wh believe this is very serious and the ©ty needs to focus on it.