A handicapped parking sign in France reads: “You have taken my parking spot. Take my handicap.”
A sign in the United States reads: “Handicapped Parking (Lazy is not a handicap.)”
Another reads: “This parking space is for the disabled only: Thank God yours is still over there a bit further.”
As we approach the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act on July 26, representatives for the local disabled community say parking for handicapped drivers in Durango needs attention.
Martha Mason, executive director of the Southwest Center for Independence; Tim Kroes, executive director of the Adaptive Sports Association; and Amber Blake, director of transportation and sustainability for the city of Durango, address frequently raised issues:
Q: How many spaces are designated as handicapped slots in the Central Business District?
A: There are 30 total on the street and in city lots, Blake said. That doesn’t count spots in private parking lots, such as First National Bank of Durango and Town Plaza. No one has a current accurate count of those, Mason said. Joanne Spina, assistant La Plata County manager, said the county has 46 handicapped spots, but that includes lots outside downtown, such as the La Plata County Fairgrounds.
“Technically, it’s one for every 25 spaces, and they meet that,” Mason said. “But the city put all spots at the end of blocks where it’s flat for wheelchairs, while there are a lot of people who aren’t in wheelchairs who can’t walk very well, and they can end up pretty far from where they’re going. Oh, and by the way, we like to call them accessible spots.”
Q: Who can legally park in handicapped spots?
A: The Colorado Department of Motor Vehicles issues a handicapped placard or license plate to anyone who presents a form from his or her doctor. Temporary placards are good for three months, permanent placards for three years. Both are renewable.
From 2011 through 2014, the DMV said it issued 5,292 permanent placards in La Plata County, along with another 292 permanent license plates. Just over 1,365 temporary placards were issued in that time period. This means more than 10 percent of the county’s population met the requirements for handicapped status.
“And with the baby boomers aging, those numbers are going to explode,” Kroes said. “We hear more complaints about handicapped spots being abused, not so much about the lack of spots.”
The city also allows people with placards and licenses to park in any metered spot free for as long as needed, except for spaces limited to 24 minutes, Blake said. But during busy times, there’s no guarantee of an empty space.
Q: What’s the penalty for someone parking in a handicapped-designated spot without a placard or license plate?
A: “It’s a significant ticket,” Blake said. Tickets start at $132. If not paid within seven days, the fine doubles to $264, and doubles again after 30 days to $528.
“A lot of people don’t know that if we’re asked, we’ll ticket people unlawfully parked in handicapped spots in private lots,” she said. “We’ve gone out to Mercy (Regional Medical Center) and to Town Plaza.”
The city wrote 126 tickets for people illegally parked in handicapped-designated spots in 2014.
Q: If you’re in a hurry and use the spot for a few minutes, is that OK?
A: “Just because it’s empty right this minute doesn’t mean a disabled person isn’t in the car behind you waiting to park,” Mason said. “The worst place is the post office, where parking’s difficult anyway. Everyone’s ‘just running in for a minute.’”
“So many people cheat,” Kroes said. “We have two designated spots in front of our building at Purgatory (Resort), and all the Snowburner parents take them for 20 minutes while they’re picking up or dropping off their kids at the same time we need them.
“Last winter, on a really busy day,” he said, “our program director, Ann Marie Meighan, asked our intern, Noah Hotchkiss, who’s in a wheelchair, to go out by the parking spaces and ‘look pitiful,’ because she needed to do something.”
She was trying to drive home the point that those spaces were reserved for a reason.
Other complaints Mason has heard include seeing bicycles parked in handicapped spaces, able-bodied people “using mom’s placard” to take the spot and a vehicle parking in a handicapped spot while the disabled person stays in the car and the able-bodied person goes inside.
Sometimes snowplows put snow in accessible spaces, forcing disabled people to park farther away and travel on sidewalks that may be icy.
Q: Does the city plow snow into the handicapped spots?
A: “We saw that happen this winter, and we’re working with our plowing folks to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Blake said. “We had parking enforcement guys out there with snowblowers cleaning out the spots, sometimes twice a day.”
Herald staff writer Ann Butler has been on crutches for more than five years and has used a permanent handicapped placard during that time. abutler@durangoherald.com
