THOUSAND OAKS : Council Revokes City Disabled-Access Code

Cutting red tape for developers and architects, Thousand Oaks council members have revoked seven disabled-access policies that either conflicted with or replicated federal law.

The policies, enacted in 1989, were designed to make the city as accessible as possible to disabled residents or visitors. They detailed, for example, where builders should place parking spaces for the physically handicapped, when developers should build wheelchair ramps and how engineers should design curb cuts.

But when the state of California adopted new Disabled Access Regulations this spring, city officials deemed their own codes unnecessary.

“We had created a unique little circumstance in our city (by imposing a separate set of rules on developers),” said Barry Branagan, director of building and safety. “We were really being silly by creating another layer--even if it was just a perceived layer--of bureaucracy.”

A few of the city’s now-rescinded rules were stricter than the state law. For example, Thousand Oaks had required that the grout between bricks be absolutely flush with the top of the brick, whereas California law allows a quarter-inch of slippage.

But Mike Taylor, who sits on the city’s disabled access advisory panel, said he thought the state laws will adequately protect all residents, including wheelchair users like himself.

“This is just going to make things easier for people to interpret,” he said. “Instead of having a double (city and state) law, one law will be the only law.”

The council voted 4 to 0 to rescind the policies. Councilwoman Elois Zeanah was absent.