"Crackdown" on wheelchair ramps
SYRACUSE -- Since February of last year, because of a brain injury, John Stamey has been restricted to a wheelchair. He says he has been out of his home in Syracuse only a few times. "It gets pretty boring and lonesome sometimes."
With the help of a brain injury organization, an architect drew up plans to install a mechanical lift and ramp for the front of Stamey's home, but his application was rejected by the Zoning Administration.
Stamey is not alone. According to ARISE, the city Zoning Administration is enforcing the letter of the law on wheelchair and other accessibility structures for the disabled. Nina Lutz, who heads Independent Living Services, says in the 20 years ARISE has been helping the disabled build ramps onto their homes, it had to go through a zoning variance only once. This year, four out of five applications have been rejected by City Hall. "They're treating it like it were an addition, a porch or a garage. It would go through the same process." Lutz says however that ramps are temporary structures and should not be subject to the same regulations.
Lutz says the extra bureaucratic red tape means many disabled and elderly clients will have to wait several months to get their ramps. "It really delays the time people can participate in their community activities because they're locked in their house."
Zoning Administrator Heather Lamendola sees no difference between wheelchair ramps, porches, decks or additions. "It really has nothing to do with ramps in particular, it's with any structure that someone wants to build."
ARISE met with Lamendola earlier this week. The organization wants the city to bend the rules or speed up the process for wheelchair ramps. Lamendola says if they have a specific request she would consult with the City's Law Department.
