Thousand Oaks to Forgo Handicapped Inquiry

More than half of the 304 complaints filed by a handicapped rights group against Thousand Oaks businesses for failing to provide special parking spaces, wheelchair ramps and other aids for the disabled are too vague to investigate, according to a report released Friday by city officials.

The report, which outraged local activists for the handicapped, was compiled at the request of the state attorney general’s office. The report said that 193 of the complaints filed in the past 15 months, or about 63%, were not specific enough to warrant a city investigation.

The state’s inquiry was prompted by complaints from a Thousand Oaks group called Advocates for Accessibility, or AFA, which claimed that city officials were ignoring many of the 304 complaints the group filed with the city against local businesses.

“It’s just part of their smoke screen to say the reports were vague,” said Patty Bybee, an AFA member. “I don’t believe they’ve made the progress they could have made and should have made toward improving access.”

But Deputy Atty. Gen. Louis Verdugo said he read the complaints and agreed that “many of them are vague. No city agency has the resources to respond to a complaint that simply says there’s a lack of access for the handicapped without specifying the problems.”

State laws require that public buildings constructed since 1982, and older structures that are being remodeled, must be made accessible to the handicapped. The laws require features such as wheelchair ramps, special bathrooms and parking spaces for the handicapped.

“We’ve got a responsibility to do something about the complaints, but we’re not going to go out there and conduct a witch hunt, and walk around and around the building looking for problems,” said Barry Branagan, director of the city’s Building and Safety Department.

Verdugo said the attorney general’s office has requested the city to report quarterly on compliance with the laws until further notice. He declined to comment further on the report released Friday because he said he has not yet received it.

The report said the city has processed 31 of the complaints, primarily by ordering businesses such as restaurants to add parking spaces and otherwise improve access for the disabled.

Branagan said city officials have made “major progress” on 26 of the complaints, and “some progress” on an additional 25, contacting the building owners and securing pledges that special features would be installed.

The remaining 29 have not been processed, he said.

“You don’t know how hard it is to convince the construction industry about what should be done,” he said. “They still think it’s the old days, when special door handles were much too expensive, but it’s not.”

Branagan said the city also has been hindered by a lack of personnel.

The City Council is set to vote Tuesday on whether to hire a handicapped access coordinator at an annual salary of $38,000. The coordinator would review developers’ plans, conduct inspections of projects under construction and coordinate the efforts of various city departments, such as Planning and Public Works.

Bybee said the city should select a disabled person as access coordinator.