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Sutter Creek Gears Up To Make ADA Changes |
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Thursday, 21 August 2008 |
 The City of Sutter Creek is gearing up to make some major changes to its historic downtown in order to facilitate compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. When Caltrans turned over Historic Highway 49 to the City’s possession after the bypass opened, they also awarded 94,000 dollars to the City for the purpose of refurbishing Main Street in order to comply with ADA regulations. However, Sutter Creek’s historical status does not warrant full ADA compliance according state law; the City is only required to ‘attempt compliance to the extent feasible’ as determined by the local building department. On Monday, city leaders met with Sutter Creek Building Inspector Jeff Kelly for a walkthrough of Sutter Creek’s conspicuously handicap inaccessible historic main street. Kelly lead a discussion of the proposed altercations to Main Street, which include grinding large portions of the sidewalk to eliminate fissures, installing wheel chair accessible ramps into the street at several intersections, and installing handrails on staircases. Kelly also stressed the importance for business owners to equip their buildings with ADA compliant fixtures, to the extent feasible. “You need to show that you are making an effort to comply,” he said. Back at the meeting,  City officials heard a presentation from Sutter Creek business owner Dennis Griffin, who proposed guidelines to standardize the refurbishments, in order to maintain the historical look of the town. During the discussion, Sutter Creek business owner Dan Walker entered the meeting, and informed the group that he had just settled a lawsuit for 50,000 dollars over an injury sustained on the sidewalk adjacent to his business. Walker questioned the plans for that sidewalk, which include the installation of a longer, ADA compliable ramp outside of the existing ramp leading from the sidewalk onto Main Street. Walker then stated repeatedly that he felt that the city was planning to make the changes “half-assed,” and that he objected to the attempts to make Main Street ADA compliant. Walker also said that if the City went through with their current plans, he would block off the sidewalk proximate to his business. In the end, the Council agreed to restudy the refurbishments planned for the sidewalk outside of the Sutter Creek Palace, and awarded a 27,300 dollar bid to Vinciguerra Construction.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 04 September 2008 )
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