A reasonable accommodation is a change to a rule, policy, procedure, or service based on a person’s disability-related needs. Residential street parking is available on a first-come, first-served basis. A critical example of a reasonable accommodation requested to municipalities is the designation of a residential street parking space for disability-only use.
On March 8, 2020, WTAE ran a story about James Pusey, a disabled veteran, who was denied by Turtle Creek Borough in Allegheny County, PA for a disability designated parking space outside his home.
He required parking within a short distance of his home’s entrance because his cancer symptoms made breathing and walking difficult. As a result of his symptoms, Pennsylvania’s Department of Transportation approved Mr. Pusey for a disability parking placard.
While Mr. Pusey had a garage at the back of his property, he described how his difficulty breathing prevented him from walking far stating, “I got a garage in the back, but I can’t open the doors. I’m out of breath walking from here to there.” He needed the street parking space outside his front door to be designated for use by a vehicle with a disability parking placard or plate to access his home.
Turtle Creek Borough has the jurisdiction to authorize and install the signage for a disability designated parking space outside of a resident’s home upon their request.
The Fair Housing Partnership of Greater Pittsburgh counsels people with disabilities on requesting reasonable accommodations. Unfortunately, Mr. Pusey passed away before the FHP could assist him.
Subsequently, another longtime resident of Turtle Creek Borough, Kim Covato, was denied a disability designated street parking space. Ms. Covato has difficulty walking that necessitates using crutches. She asked the FHP for aid in exercising her fair housing rights.
Ms. Covato’s housing cooperative has parking lots scattered throughout the complex. However, the distance between her unit and the parking lots is too far for her to walk due to her limited mobility. She requested that Turtle Creek Borough designate a disability street parking space outside her home.
Ms. Covato chooses to remain in her longtime home. She has modified her residence to meet her disability accessibility needs. The modifications include the following.
She has poor balance and difficulty standing. And so, her bathroom has a shower bench and grab bars that provide stability.
Her home is a townhouse, and a stair lift ensures that she can travel between the floors.
A recliner lift chair in her living room allows her to relax in a comfortable chair by aiding with sitting down and standing up.
Ramps from her house to her patio and from her patio to her yard allow her to enjoy fresh air in her backyard.
However, Ms. Covato was restricted from freely coming and going from her home without a parking space within a distance that she could walk. After Turtle Creek Borough denied her reasonable accommodation request, she repeatedly asked Turtle Creek Borough for a year to reconsider its denial, but its denial remained. As a result, she lost time with her family and friends due to the lack of an accessible parking space for entering and exiting her home.
FHP’s mission is to ensure equal housing choice consistent with fair housing principles which FHP achieves by obtaining fair housing justice via collaborative and voluntary processes. When necessary, FHP uses enforcement actions both to attain housing access for a family and to provide equal housing choice for the community.
Pennsylvania is in the top ten states with the oldest populations based on the percentage of the population who are aged 65 and over. While nearly 15% of Pennsylvanians live with a disability, nearly a third of older Pennsylvanians, who are ages 65 and older, have a disability. Additionally, Pennsylvania’s housing stock has a median age of 57, as of 2022, which is one of the oldest statewide housing stocks within the United States.
As a result, Pennsylvania’s concentration of elderly residents with disabilities and its aged housing stock has resulted in an overwhelming need for modifying the built environment and amending housing policies for disability accessibility. Reasonable accommodation requests for designated parking spaces as close as possible to housing entrances are so frequent that processing the requests in compliance with the federal Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 as well as state and local fair housing laws should be routine.
After a year of asking Turtle Creek Borough to overturn its denial of Ms. Covato’s reasonable accommodation request, she and the FHP filed fair housing complaints at the Department of Housing Urban Development’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.
Ms. Covato and Megan Hammond, FHP’s Executive Director, in front of Ms. Covato’s disability designated parking space sign outside her home.
The resulting Voluntary Compliance Agreement with HUD included Turtle Creek Borough approving Ms. Covato’s reasonable accommodation request as well as revising its ordinance and process for assessing requests for disability designated street parking spaces.
Key details of the ordinance include that there is no cost or fee as well as that a vehicular disability parking placard or plate is sufficient verification of a person’s disability-related need for a disability designated street parking space. If the applicant’s house has off-street parking available, then additional third-party verification, such as a letter from a health care provider, is generally necessary for substantiating that their disability-related symptoms prevent their use of the off-street parking. Further, while the ordinance was reviewed and approved by the borough’s council. The review and determinations of the reasonable accommodation requests are conducted by municipal administrative staff.
- Turtle Creek Borough, Allegheny County, PA Voluntary Compliance Agreement
- Turtle Creek Borough, Allegheny County, PA Disability Street Parking Ordinance 2024
The ordinance adopted by Turtle Creek Borough was originally developed by the FHP in collaboration with the Community Justice Project and West View Borough in Allegheny County, PA on behalf of three residents with disabilities whose reasonable accommodation requests for disability designated street parking spaces outside their homes were denied.
FHP has and continues engaging with Pennsylvania municipalities on revising practices and policies for ensuring that Pennsylvanians with disabilities can live in the home of their choosing.
See additional information below about Pennsylvania municipalities that have revised their policies and/or practices for disability designated street parking in collaboration with the FHP.