Arkansas Valley STEPS
STEPS is the CCDC affiliate group in the Rocky Ford, La Junta and Arkansas Valley area.
This group primarily works on the following issues: community awareness, access, education, and advocacy. STEPS is planning a regional Social Security Forum to deal with the length of time it takes to make a decision.
Contact Information:
Is there a Loaf ’N Jug in your town?
There are 194 Loaf ‘N Jugs in Colorado, starting with Store #1 in Fowler, about 35 miles east of Pueblo on Highway 50. Over the summer, members of the Arkansas Valley STEPS noticed that the store was being remodeled. There were trucks with construction equipment all over the parking lot and a shed was erected on the handicapped parking space. The manager said she had requested a handicapped bathroom, but the District Manager had refused to put one in.
STEPS went into action. First we sent a representative with ADA experience to speak with management. When he stopped by the store, he persuaded the maintenance crew to at least move the shed off the handicapped parking space and consider putting in grab bars, which they did. When he spoke with management at the district headquarters in Pueblo, he was told that the renovations underway did not require remodeling the bathrooms because that would cost more than 20% of the total construction project.
We scratched our heads and did a little research. Here’s what we found. We’ve listed the citations to save you work, but they’re long. The plain English is in blue. The bolded text are the key words we used
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Regulation 36.402(a) of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act states: “…General. (1) Any alteration to a place of public Accommodation or a commercial facility, after January 26th 1992, shall be made so as to ensure that, to the maximum extent feasible, the altered portions of the facility are readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, including individuals who use wheelchairs.
In short: when you alter an old facility, you have to make your best effort to make it accessible,
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Regulation 36.402(b)(1) states: Alterations include, but are not limited to, remodeling, renovation, rehabilitation, reconstruction, historic restoration, changes or rearrangement in structural parts or elements, and changes or rearrangement in the plan configuration of walls and full-height partitions. Normal maintenance, reproofing, painting or wall-papering, asbestos or changes to mechanical and electrical systems are not alterations unless they affect the usability of the building or facility.
In short: this includes remodeling.
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The reference to the 20% rule is in 4.1(2) of the ADAAG: If alterations are made to an area containing a primary function, an accessible “path of travel” is required which means a continuous route connecting the altered area to an entrance, including phones, restrooms, and drinking fountains that, where provided, serve the altered area. Since this may involve modifications outside the intended alteration, compliance is required to the extent that it is not “disproportionate” to the cost of the alterations to the primary function area: “disproportionality” is defined in the DOJ rule (section 36.403) as costing more than 20% of the cost of the alteration to the primary function area.
In short: You have to make an accessible path to primary functions during construction, but this shouldn’t cost more than 20% of the total project. It doesn’t apply to this renovation.
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Loaf ‘N Jug is owned by the Kroger Company, which posted a profit of $190.4 million for the second quarter ended August 16, 2003.
In short: Kroger can afford to make an effort short of replacing the bathroom.
We made one final plea in writing and followed up with phone calls when our letter got no response. We have a tape recording of a management official angrily denying that Loaf ‘N Jug was under any obligation to bring conditions up to ADA standards. Then we planned for an “information picket” in front of the store along the highway with signs, slogans, chants and media coverage.
The media person in our group called the store manager to let her know what we were doing and assure her that we were targeting the district management, not her. She called district management. We got a meeting immediately with the President of Loaf ‘N Jug, Art Stawsky. He agreed that it would be feasible to put a wider doorway in a non-load bearing wall and make one of the bathrooms accessible. There were several ways of doing this. He even thought there might be a way to get 60” of turn around space. This is more than we asked for. (We just wanted a place to pee.)
Loaf ‘N Jug still believes that it doesn’t have to remodel the bathrooms because that area of the store was not altered in the renovation. Many of the older stores around the state have the same floor plan, which means it’s feasible to make the changes. Of course we recognize that some stores have different floor plans and sometimes there really isn’t a way to make them accessible without tearing down the store. We urge you to keep an eye on the corner Loaf ‘N Jug and contact Art Stawski if you see changes that don’t include access.
Arthur Stawski, President
Loaf ‘N Jug/Mini Mart, Inc.
442 Keeler Parkway
Pueblo, CO 81001
Phone 719-948-3071 Fax 719-948-2603
Nothing will happen unless you insist on it.
Kristen Castor
The Arkansas Valley STEPS
