# 46




II-3.3000                                    November 3, 1992
DJ 202-PL-267                                          


Tom Gallagher
Manager, Research and Planning
Department of Employment
P.O. Box 2760
Casper, Wyoming  82602

Dear Mr. Gallagher:

     Your letter to the Architectural and Transportation Barriers
Compliance Board requesting information about the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) was referred to this office for response.

     The ADA authorizes the Department of Justice to provide
technical assistance to individuals and entities having rights or
obligations under the Act.  This letter provides informal
guidance to assist you in understanding the ADA's requirements;
however, it does not constitute a legal interpretation and it is
not binding on the Department.

     Your letter describes an ordinance, adopted by the city of
Casper, Wyoming, allowing certain individuals, including persons
with disabilities, to purchase curbside parking rights on a
monthly basis.  Under this ordinance, persons with disabilities
are allowed to park along a curb for up to eight hours a day for
a monthly fee of $25.  Your letter questions whether some
recourse is available to you because you believe that this
ordinance is discriminatory.  Included with your letter was a
brochure describing the city's parking regulations in the
downtown area of Casper, Wyoming.

     The ADA prohibits State and local government entities from
denying benefits or services to any person with a disability, if
that person would otherwise be entitled to those benefits or
services. 42 U.S.C. 12132; 28 C.F.R. 35.130.  Furthermore,

          [a] public entity may not place a surcharge
          on a particular individual with a disability
          or any group of individuals with disabilities
          to cover the costs of measures ... that are
          required to provide that individual or group
          with nondiscriminatory treatment required by
          the Act or this part.

28 C.F.R. 35.130(f).

     According to the brochure included with your letter, the
city of Casper allows free curbside parking for up to two hours
in the downtown area.  Ordinarily, curbside parking is not
allowed beyond two hours.  Because persons with disabilities are
allowed to stay at the curbside for longer periods of time, the
city is offering persons with disabilities a service not
generally available to the public.  The Department of Justice's
regulation specifies that the ADA does not prohibit a local
government from providing a benefit or service to persons with
disabilities that goes beyond those required by the ADA. 28
C.F.R. 35.130(c).

     Furthermore, the $25 per month fee does not appear to be
discriminatory.  Long-term parking is provided in the city's
Parking Garage Structure for a cost of $.35 per hour after the
first two hours.  Therefore, a person working an eight-hour day
in the downtown area could park along the curb for two hours,
then move to the Parking Garage Structure, stay for free for two
hours, then pay $.35 for the remaining four hours.  Therefore, a
person could park in the downtown area for $1.40 per day or $28
per month (assuming a 20-day work month).  Because the $25 per
month curbside parking fee for persons with disabilities is less
than the parking fee that a non-disabled person would ordinarily
have to pay for monthly parking in the downtown area, the $25 fee
does not appear to be a discriminatory surcharge.

     Under certain circumstances, a city's parking policy might
be discriminatory.  For instance, if the monthly parking fee in
the city's parking garages were higher for persons with
disabilities than for persons without disabilities or if these
garages did not provide adequate parking spaces for persons with
disabilities, the city might be in violation of the ADA.  These
circumstances, however, are not indicated in your letter.

     I have enclosed a copy of the Department's recently
published Title II Technical Assistance Manual which may further
assist you in understanding the obligations of public entities
under the ADA.  I hope this information is useful to you.

                                             Sincerely,



                                        John Wodatch
                                          Director
                                Public Access Section

Enclosure
     Title II Technical Assistance Manual