HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0210.002 2000-2002
Harry Kim J~tr~°s H~ry etsu
Mayor ` ~~,6~~' ' ing hector
Peter T. Young
6:. : • ' Deputy Managing Director
k .
rE of'N''°r
COUNTY OF HAWAII
25 Aupuni Street, Room 215 Hilo, Hawaii 96720-4252 (808) 961-8211 Fax (808) 961-6553
KONA: 75-5706 Kuakini Highway, Suite l03 • Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96740
(808) 329-5226 Fax (808) 326-5663
June 5, 2001
Chair Dominic Yagong
and Committee Members
Committee on Public Works and Parks
Hawaii County Council
25 Aupuni Street
Hilo, HI 96720
Dear Chair Yagong and Members:
During your recent committee discussions concerning Liliuokalani Gardens,
many comments focused on the County's obligations under the Americans With
Disabilities Act. As interim ADA Coordinator, I have tried to educate myself on
this issue, and would like to use this means to share some information with you.
As Mayor Kim and Pat Engelhard have made clear, the administration will follow
whatever direction is forthcoming from the Council with respect to the opening or
closing of Lihiwai Street. That decision should be made on the best available
information, and I hope this letter will be of assistance in that regard.
Whenever there is a question related to accessibility, I look for advice and
guidance from the Disability and Communication Access Board, an agency of the
State government under the Department of Health. On May 23, I was able to
meet with Charlotte Townsend of DCAB, who was in Hilo to work with Hilo High
School on its accessibility issues. Ms. Townsend and I went down to Liliuokalani
Gardens so that she could see the site firsthand.
Based on our site visit, and with the understanding that parking will be available
for persons with disabilities at both the Isles area and at Coconut Island, it is our
belief that Liliuokalani Gardens will be accessible per the requirements of the
ADA Act, whether Lihiwai Street is open or closed. The mauka parking lot
creates access to the teahouse pavilion and the parking at Isles a.nd at Coconut
Island will have made Liliuokalani more accessible than it was prior to the ~ ~ •
alterations.
Congm. No. _ .
Flle No. .~r~..=•~.,
ref, T~~te ~3
,.R.~
Chair Yagong and Committee Members
Page 2
June 5, 2001
I know that questions have been raised as to whether a higher standard should
apply because Lihiwai Street has been in existence for many years. This
situation would seem to parallel what is happening in some of our National Parks,
such as Yosemite and Grand Canyon, where vehicle access is being cut back.
For that reason, I contacted the Accessibility Program Manager for the National
Park Service (Mr. David Park) and the National Accessibility Program Manager
for the Bureau of Land Management (Ms. Kay Ellis). Both used the same test in
evaluating whether motor vehicle access could be taken away -Will we be
providing the same experience for disabled and non-disabled? If we are not
denying anyone an experience that is available to everyone else, if we are
affording everyone the same experience, then closure of the road is permissible.
I would suggest that the closure of Lihiwai easily meets this test.
The above information cannot serve as a guarantee that the County'would
prevail if a lawsuit were filed. Furthermore, I recognize that there are other policy
issues you must face. So again, this letter is not meant to preclude a decision by
the Council that the makai road should or should not be open for vehicular traffic.
Rather, the purpose of this communication is to allow you to feel more
comfortable making your decision, knowing that, based on the best information
available, the County will have an accessible facility in either case.
I hope the above is helpful in your deliberations.
Very truly yours,
Andrew Levin
Executive Director
Interim ADA Coordinator
cc: Dixie Kaetsu
Pat Engelhard
Joe Kamelamela