Does Alice’s Restaurant have accessible parking?

By Bob Teig

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Unlike holidays such as Thanksgiving, which has its own commemorative song courtesy of Arlo Guthrie, today's 23rd anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act has no song in its honor. However, we all must mark this day.

You could commemorate the occasion by watching “Rain Man” or “Radio.” You could donate to the ARC or Autism Awareness. And you could get personally involved on a very basic level with a tape measure and a willingness to go out of your way to help those with physical challenges.

We've all seen the accessible parking spaces set aside for those with physical limitations. But do you have any idea how many businesses and organizations don't comply with ADA parking requirements? Nobody knows, because nobody looks. You'd be amazed.

There's non-compliance in a Cedar Rapids law enforcement parking lot. The city of Cedar Rapids has non-complying spaces. Local businesses, from a major grocery store to a fast-food chain restaurant to a major home improvement store to a health care provider and more, are not in compliance. It's everywhere.

That's where you come in. Keep a tape measure in your car and, every day, wherever you go, look to see if there is proper accessible parking.

The basics are simple. Businesses with self-parking must provide at least one reserved accessible space, and more may be required depending on the size of the parking lot. At least the first space must be van-accessible. All spaces are to be located as close to the building entrance as possible.

These spaces have to be marked with the international symbol of accessibility on a sign mounted in front of the parking space. The sign must be high enough so it is visible when a vehicle is parked. A van space must also have a sign saying “van accessible.”

The van sign is merely informative and doesn't limit that space to van parking. The parking surface may be painted with the accessibility symbol, but that's not enough by itself. There has to be a sign.

Each parking space must be at least 8 feet wide. Beside each regular space there has to be a 5-foot-wide painted-off access aisle, and beside each van-accessible space that measurement goes up to 8 feet (in some instances, an 11-foot-wide space with a 5-foot-wide access aisle is allowed for a van). Two spaces may share an access aisle, but a diagonal van space must have its access aisle on the passenger side.

If these basic standards are followed everywhere, we will have come a long way.

Likely, a proprietor won't know their parking lot doesn't meet ADA requirements or that a violation is a simple misdemeanor under Iowa law. If you see a possible problem, extend your comfort zone and gently suggest they check to see if their spaces meet the standards. If anyone needs the specifics, they can go to www.ada.gov/restripe.pdf. If a business needs signs, a city's traffic engineering office can help get the signs at cost.

Go out each day with tape measure and good intentions in tow. Remind proprietors that ADA compliance is not just good business, it's the law. If enough of us do it, as Arlo Guthrie might say, “friends, they may think it's a movement. And that's what it is” - the Participate Everyday in Accessibility Checks Everywhere Movement.

Join the Movement for others who can never take movement for granted.

Bob Teig of Cedar Rapids is a retired federal prosecutor who says his recent ankle surgery raised his awareness about accessible parking because he needed to use it. Comments: bobteig@gmail.com