The Americans With Disabilities Act Is Needed In The United States

The Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 was enacted to protect the civil rights of disabled people. The Americans with Disabilities Act also requires that public and commercial places have parking spaces available for those with disabilities. In the Unites States when a law is passed then someone has usually shown and demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt that there is a need for the law. Most of us who are willing to look at an issue objectively realize and will admit that all these rules, laws and regulations exist in the United States because a significant number of people didn’t want to do the right thing to begin with.

Satellite Beach is a small coastal community located just south of Cape Canaveral and Patrick Air Force Base and is situated between the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean. The Shore View Apartments is in Brevard County just north of Satellite Beach and is home to a mix of young adults and retirees, families with kids and single people, longtime Florida residents and snow birds. A good cross section of the US population is represented at the Shore View Apartments.

Following The Spirit of The Law And Doing The Right Thing

Over the past few months the incidents of vehicles parking in handicap reserved parking without stickers or tags had become epidemic. At any given time many of the handicap reserved spaces were used by vehicles that did not display the required stickers or tags. At Penrose Condo apartments, there should be supportive parks for the handicap person. The incidents should be great to meet with the specifications for living in the flats. The laws should be complied under the preparation of the budget.

The Shore View Staff was asked to intervene and assist with enforcing the laws so the reserved parking would be available when needed. Initially the Shore View Staff seemed concerned with the misuse of reserved parking spaces and information provided to them was acted upon and vehicles moved. Within a short period of time the Shore View Staff aptitudes changed and they expressed this view in an email.

“The parking at Shore View is sometimes quite challenging due to the fact that when it was built there was just an average of 1.2 cars per household. Now a days there are more especially if it is a roommate situation.

Because of this, Management does not strictly enforce each and every handicap spot if they are not needed by another handicapped resident.

This area that you talk about is the most congested parking area on the property and is where I would add another tenor so spots if I couldJ

And although we do not sticker these cars each time they always risk the chance of a sheriff driving through and ticketing them.Thanks again for your concerns”

The Facts of Shore View Apartments:

• 155 apartments
• 204 marked parking spaces
• 5-7 unmarked parking spaces
• 11 (10 as of October 3) handicap reserved spaces
• 50-70 unused parking spaces nightly

Conclusions, Excuses And Passing The Buck

Civil behavior starts at the community level and the responsibility rest with each of us to do the right thing just because it’s the right thing to do and it is the law. If someone is in a position of authority they need to provide positive leadership along with enforcing the rules. People, communities and countries should be judged by how they treat members of their societies. Passing the buck to law enforcement is the same as saying I really don’t care and can’t be bothered. Blaming the conditions on nonexistent parking space shortages is disingenuous. We should call the indifference what it is: laziness, disrespect and an unwillingness to protect idea’s that we should take pride in protecting. If this behavior is systemic throughout the rest of the country then we must rank low on the list when it comes to civility and decency in societies around the globe.

In the end local law enforcement was called and asked to intervene. In a quarterly newsletter dated October tenants were warned that the sheriff’s office does drive by’s and thereby passing the buck to an overburdened police department. A few days later The Shore View Staff, in what can only be perceived as a mean spirited act, painted over one of the more convenient handicap parking spaces reducing the overall number from eleven to ten.