By Winta Matteous Mebrahti
For the past four or five years, Plattsburgh's downtown has seen the sidewalks as an extension of
their business. Every summer, locals made their way to their favorite establishment with outdoor
seating to bask in the sun and enjoy the summer parades with a drink in hand. As harmless as this
activity may sound, it alienated a group of people who expect a full downtown experience, people
with disabilities.
Last week, the City of Plattsburgh amended the sidewalk laws to make downtown ADA
compliant by the summer. City Engineer Kevin Farrington said the public hearing held April 7 in
which the city heard the people's concerns about the sidewalks resulted in changes to the sidewalk
laws. Farrington believes that's a step in the right direction for the City of Plattsburgh which
recently made City Hall accessible.
Though the sidewalk laws at first didn't address the potential problems of outdoor seating,
Farrington said the city has been working hard to identify problem areas that still remain and put a
plan to improve on them. One way it plans to do so is by having an ADA self evaluation and
transition plan. The city will soon advertise for a request to get specialty assistance so they can
make Plattsburgh accessible to everyone.
The law states that there needs to be at least a 5-foot-wide walking path, preferably straight,
for pedestrians. Sidewalks throughout the city are between 5 and 14 feet, so businesses that have a
5-foot sidewalk, will have to keep it clear or else it would be considered an obstruction. These
changes to the sidewalk laws are welcomed by Plattsburgh Downtown Association President and
Champlain Wine Company co-owner Colin Read.
“We encourage all of our members to be more mindful when they use public space to make
sure that nobody feels intruded upon or unwelcome in the public space,” Read said. “But we do also
encourage merchants to use the public space to attract people to the shop as well.”
Read also said the association is increasing the awareness to this issue to help merchants
who are sensitive to this issue, and he encourages those who are unhappy with their downtown
experience to reach out to the downtown businesses, so they can find solutions to those issues.
Plattsburgh State student Kolby Keysor who uses a wheelchair said he thinks the changes to
the sidewalk laws are necessary if the tables have caused people any inconvenience. Because
Keysor drives everywhere he usually just parks outside the stores and restaurants he is visiting
which is why he hasn't experienced the issues with outdoor seatings.
“I've never really seen outdoor seating block a sidewalk, but if it did obviously something
has to be done about it,” Keysor said. “You can't hop off the curb in the road and get back on the
curb by yourself.”
Though he said he hadn't experienced much inconvenience downtown, in places like
Peabody's where there's no elevator, Keysor receives help from friends and his girlfriend, Kaitlyn
Timmons, to get up the stairs. Though both Keysor and Timmons feel it would've been easier if
ramps and elevators were available, they say “there's always someone around to help.”
These types of limitations aren't uncommon in Plattsburgh. Although he is appreciative of
the changes made to the sidewalk laws, Robert Poulin, executive director of the North Country
Center for Independence, said there's still more work to be done. Just two weeks ago he received
complaints about the bathrooms at the Crete Memorial Civic Center not being ADA compliant. He
also mentioned that the access for people with disabilities at the Plattsburgh recreation facility on
the U.S. Oval and some parks in the city is poor. Part of the reason these problems still exist is that
the cities and states are expected to enforce ADA themselves, Poulin said.
“The cities and states haven't been good at doing it themselves, so they haven't been good at
enforcing it with businesses,” Poulin said. “It really is incumbent on advocates to do constant work
to educate and push. That's about all the leverage we have.”
However in 2012, advocates and the NCCI had the New York State Attorney General Office
on their side. After receiving complaints about Champlain Centre's reduction of handicap parking
spaces and curb cuts, the NCCI had discussions with the owners, Pyramid management group, to no
avail. So they filed a complaint with the New York State's Attorney General Office. The state
attorney general had a state-wide investigation which resulted in an out-of-court settlement and a
$160,000 fine.
“Sometimes you can get big victories like we did with the attorney general,” Poulin said. “In
the case of private companies the attorney general is empowered to do something, but when it
comes to the city the attorney general has to defend the city.”
Despite the cities' inability to enforce ADA, he does recognize Plattsburgh city mayor, James
Calnon's, work to make the city more accessible.
“I have to say this particular mayor has been in office for only a few years, but he has moved
many more than any official has,” Poulin said. “City Hall wasn't accessible until this year. They are
just finishing up with their accessibility. To go 25 years with City Hall not being accessible, that's
really bad. But they are at the verge of having it fully accessible now.”
Poulin and Keysor agree that to speed up the process of making Plattsburgh accessible to all
people need to voice their opinions and experiences. Poulin said he would like to see universities,
high schools and elementary schools be more vocal. The reason being that you're more likely to find
those places to be the only ADA accessible buildings in an area. In collaboration with local
businesses, the education department, Poulin believes, can influence the cities to be accessible.
Keysor on the other hand thinks it's up to those who are affected.
“You don't really think about any of it until you're in the situation, ” he said. “If I was walking down
the road, and saw the seating outside blocking the sidewalk I wouldn't think anything of it. But now
that I have to make my way around it I do. If more people like me (those who use wheelchairs)
spoke out, it would make it easier.”
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