Thumbnail photo: A local disability rights advocate Crescent City is violating the Americans With Disabilities Act by locking its wheelchair swing and requiring users to get a key. | Photo courtesy of Crescent City Steven Jackson isn’t looking to sue Crescent City, but, he says, a lawsuit could happen if a lock and chain aren’t removed from a swing designed for wheelchairs at Beachfront Park. Jackson, who has worked with adults with developmental disabilities in Del Norte County for about 20 years, warned the City Council on Monday that requiring people to get a key to be able to use the swing violates the Americans With Disabilities Act. “I’m not here to propose a lawsuit on you guys,” he said. “But I’m letting you know that the city is really looking at a lawsuit for anybody who tries to go down and access that equipment when it’s not available. What’s that showing to people who come into our community that think we are an inclusive community?” According to Jackson, requiring people to go to the Fred Endert Municipal Swimming Pool across Play Street from Kidtown to get the key to the swing violates Title II of the Americans With Disabilities Act. This section applies to activities of state and local governments and requires them to give people with disabilities an equal opportunity to benefit from all of their programs, services and activities, including recreation, according to ADA.gov's Guide to Disability Rights Laws. “Public entities are not required to take actions that would result in undue financial and administrative burdens,” the guide states. “They are required to make reasonable modifications to policies, practices and procedures where necessary to avoid discrimination, unless they can demonstrate that doing so would fundamentally alter the nature of the service, program or activity being provided.” Jackson told Redwood Voice Community News on Tuesday that he plans to ask the mayor to place his concerns on a future agenda “to give the city an opportunity for navigating this. If the chain and lock are removed before then, he says he has no argument. But if they’re not gone by January or February, he’ll take further action. He said he’s already made Disability Rights California aware of the situation. City Manager Eric Wier, however, said the SportsPlay wheelchair swing Del Norte Sunrise Rotary Club helped purchase nearly a decade ago came with the lock and chain that secures the equipment when it’s not in use. “We didn’t buy this and lock this up,” he told Redwood Voice, adding people have had to get the key from the Fred Endert Municipal Pool to use the swing. “That was the manufacturer’s instruction that this swing needed to be operated under supervision.” The wheelchair swing consists of a large metal platform that can accommodate a full-sized wheelchair, including a motorized one. Del Norte Sunrise Rotary awarded the city a grant to purchase the swing and assisted staff with selecting the model to install at Beachfront Park’s Kidtown playground. However, with the Beachfront Park currently undergoing several upgrades, including the expansion of Kidtown, Wier said the swing will be removed as part of that project, which is expected to start next summer. A swing for full-sized wheelchairs will be part of the expanded playground, the city manager said, but it likely won’t be the model that’s currently there. “Things have changed,” he said. “There are new products out there.” Kidtown also currently has a swing for special needs youngsters made out of red molded plastic. The child needs to get out of their chair in order to be able to use it, however, Wier said. Jackson remembers bringing clients for the organization he worked with to town hall meetings when the city was formulating its masterplan for Beachfront Park. Officials wanted to hear from people with accessibility concerns, he said. His clients were ecstatic when they learned a wheelchair swing was going in at Kidtown. However, when Crescent City posted pictures on Facebook Nov. 6 showing updates Kidtown had received over the summer, Jackson said he aired his grievances that having to get a key to use the swing was an ADA violation. When Wier reached out to him shortly after, Jackson said the conversation centered around vandalism. Jackson said Wier then brought up safety concerns. “He gave me an explanation that what if a child were to fall off the equipment if they were unsupervised and a heavy piece of metal struck a child on the head,” he said. “But that’s part of the liability the city took on by having that piece of equipment that’s out there.” Jackson said he tried to get the key from staff at the pool, but there was no one at the front counter able to help him. After Jackson’s comments at Monday’s City Council meeting, Wier reached out. In an email Tuesday, Wier told Jackson about the swing’s history including that one of the Rotarians had a daughter with special needs who thought it would be a great addition to the park. The city manager said the swing itself weighs more than 100 pounds and could cause serious injury if it’s not used properly. “I understand your concerns over the accessibility, but given the manufacturer’s recommendations and true safety concerns without supervision, until we have other guidance this amenity should remain locked,” Wier told Jackson. “Again, we appreciate your concern and are working with our insurance carrier who has recently put us in touch with an ADA specialist to evaluate the situation.” In his reply, Jackson said the manufacturer’s warning isn’t an ADA-compliant exception and that the lock and chain are additional barriers that only apply to individuals bound to wheelchairs. “Many cities have handled this exact issue by installing soft-close fencing, signage, slow-swing limiters or fall-zone padding — not by locking the equipment away from disabled residents,” Jackson told Wier. “I also recognize that the park remodel next year may include the removal of this swing, but the ADA requires equal access right now, not at some future redevelopment date.” Jackson urged the city to take interim measures including unlocking the swing during normal park hours, posting safety signage and securing it when the park is closed. The city could also install physical safeguards and provide an alternative swing that could be used without involving city staff. Wier told Redwood Voice that as far as he is aware, Jackson’s complaint is the first he’s heard of an accessibility concern being tied to the swing. He argued that while having to get a key is cumbersome, the swing increases accessibility at the playground. Still, Crescent City will follow the guidance it receives from its insurance carrier, Golden State Risk Management Agency, and the ADA specialist who works with them, the city manager said. “The early reports of this swing were very positive,” he said. “This allowed kids who are fully bound into a wheelchair to finally swing, and it is in a place that is next to another swing set so they are able to swing while other kids are swinging right beside them.” Jackson said he hopes to make the city more aware that despite its good intentions, the swing adversely impacts a population that is already marginalized. He’s urging city officials to create the proper channels for getting community feedback on accessibility issues and said he’s in the process of creating an agency that will urge self advocacy. “I want to create a model for individuals who need these types of services to be able to start offering advocacy in different arenas like the city situation,” Jackson said. “Where they can be more proactive in their own lives and not be reliant on a city government to make decisions on their behalf.”