THOUSAND OAKS : Activists for Disabled Criticize Plaza Access

Two disabled rights activists, long critical of Thousand Oaks’ efforts to ensure wheelchair accessibility in all public and private buildings, have presented the City Council with a list of complaints about the Civic Arts Plaza now under construction.

Barry Branagan, the city’s building and safety director, said the $64-million auditorium and government center meets or beats all federal standards for disabled access. However, he promised to send the complaints to the Civic Arts Plaza’s architects for response.

In angry speeches before the City Council on Tuesday night, Phyllis and John Ellis complained that the Civic Arts Plaza design relies too heavily on wheelchair lifts, small platforms that carry disabled patrons up and down steep slopes. Calling the lifts “degrading and inferior,” John Ellis said some motorized scooters cannot fit on standard-sized lifts.

He also told the council: “You have carried on the grand history of relegating wheelchair users to inferior seating.”

But Branagan said wheelchair-bound audience members could choose among a variety of ticket prices and seating locations.

The federal government requires 21 spaces for wheelchairs in an 1,800-seat auditorium such as Thousand Oaks’, but the city chose to provide 30, he said. None of those spaces are in the center of the theater, since by law wheelchair patrons must be seated near an exit, Branagan said.