Parking tiff vexes disabled

City to resolve issues spawned by state law dividing placard users

By Steve Law

The Portland Tribune, Jul 31, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (22 Reader comments)

L.E. BASKOW / Portland Tribune

Jan Campbell is active in disabilities rights issues and hopes that the City Council will retain free on-street parking for all disabled-parking placard users.

Politically correct Portland faces a prickly decision over proposed changes to disabled parking rights on downtown streets.

A 2007 state law improved parking for people using wheelchairs and scooters, but eliminated a state mandate requiring free on-street parking for others with disabled-parking placards.

Activists are miffed that the law passed with little input, and say it pits wheelchair users against others with disabilities.

By letting cities regulate on-street parking for those without wheelchairs, the Legislature effectively dumped the delicate policy decision onto the city’s lap. Portland appointed a Disabled Parking Task Force early this year to forge a compromise, but the group has reached an impasse after meeting several months without achieving consensus.

A majority of the task force members, including advocates for the disabled, proposed retaining free on-street parking to all people with disabled placards, along with a crackdown on abuse of the system.

A task force minority, including business representatives, wants the City Council to impose a four-hour limit for disabled-placard users at downtown meters, to improve parking availability for shoppers.

Click here to see a map of the placard use in parts of Portland.

Before Senate Bill 716 passed last year, Oregonians with disabled-parking placards could park free at metered spaces all day, except for meters allowing stays of fewer than 30 minutes.

SB 716 created a new placard for the small minority of disabled drivers who use wheelchairs, and retains their free access to on-street meter parking.

Cities around the state are waiting for Portland’s decision on how to accommodate other disabled people before adopting new regulations.

Jan Campbell, a longtime activist, said some people, such as those with lung and heart conditions, could have a tougher time getting to and from their car than she does using her wheelchair. “Even if it’s a block away, it could be too much for somebody.”

But short-term parking spots weren’t designed for all-day use, said Sandra McDonough, Portland Business Alliance chief executive. People with disabilities could get the access they need with a four-hour limit at meters, or at all-day spots in garages and surface parking lots, she said.

Veterans group requested law

The Oregon Paralyzed Veterans of America sparked the debate by asking lawmakers last year to create special placards and parking spaces for those using wheelchairs or other mobility devices.

Some of their members complained they couldn’t find disabled parking spaces, and vans equipped with wheelchair lifts require a wider berth to operate safely.

Lawmakers obliged the veterans, setting aside one out of every eight disabled parking spots for those with wheelchairs. But Sen. Rick Metsger, D-Welches, Senate transportation committee chairman, also amended the bill to dump the state mandate for free on-street parking for others with disabled placards.

During a 2007 Capitol hearing, one disabled person had to walk three blocks to testify, Metsger said. Meanwhile, he kept noticing that three seemingly able-bodied lobbyists were dominating use of four disabled-parking spaces in front of the Capitol.

“I saw them go in and out of their cars, and yet they’re all around the building talking to me and everybody else,” said Metsger, declining to reveal the lobbyists’ names. “I know they had no problem walking from the House to the Senate all day long.”

Metsger recalled that the city of Portland had proposed lifting the state mandate a few years ago, and he reckoned that cities are better left tailoring disabled-parking policies to suit their needs.

The state system for issuing disabled-parking placards is loose, Metsger said. For example, there are no standards for doctors’ notes needed to get the placards.

The state doesn’t tally the total number of disabled-parking placards in circulation, but it’s safe to say there are several hundred thousand.

About 70,000 to 75,000 are issued each year, some for temporary use of up to six months, and others for permanent use, renewable every eight years, said David House, Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division spokesman.

Since SB 716 took effect in January, 513 people have obtained special permits for wheelchair users. Another 33,689 people got regular disabled-parking placards.

Placard misuse is rife

No one disputes that abuse of the parking placards is common.

Able-bodied people use placards issued to a disabled family member. People loan their placards to friends or rent them for pocket change.

Placards issued to dead people remain in use. Some people admit buying them at garage sales, said Nolan Mackrill, city transportation division manager for parking enforcement.

Mackrill’s staff cite about 13 people a month for unlawful use of a disabled-parking placard. But the law is tough to enforce, because enforcement staff must catch the violator while they’re at the car. “It’s a chance meeting,” Mackrill said.

There are several hot spots downtown, he said, where merchants complain that the bulk of nearby on-street spaces are occupied all day by motorists with disabled placards.

On a recent weekday lunch hour, four of the six parking spaces on Southwest Fourth Avenue between Oak and Pine streets were taken by people with disabled-parking placards. That makes it hard to stop by and grab a quick sandwich at the Quiznos on that block.

“We see people continue to drive by because there’s no place to park here,” said Joseph McKenna, shift supervisor. He said a four-hour limit seems fair, though most of his customers are walk-ins from nearby office buildings, so they rarely complain about a lack of parking.

Periodic surveys show a rising number of disabled placards in use downtown, Mackrill said. There were 620 in use on the last spot check in February. Still, that’s only 6 percent of the city’s metered spaces, which are located downtown and in the Pearl and Lloyd districts.

Council to weigh arguments

Mackrill, Campbell and others said they didn’t know about the bill when it was shaped last year in Salem. But now various interest groups will lobby City Hall.

City councilors might be tempted by financial incentives. City leaders earlier testified that the disabled placards cost Portland nearly $1 million a year in forfeited meter revenue, Metsger said.

Business leaders view a four-hour limit as a good compromise, McDonough said, and will press their case before the City Council despite being in the minority on the task force. “I think there’s a fairness issue of whether it should be free all day,” McDonough said. “The city needs to have a policy that applies to everybody.”

People with disabilities often have higher expenses than others, and could use a break on their parking costs, Campbell said. But activists are mostly concerned about the burden of having to move a car every four hours, she said. “The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) wants you to have access to programs and services,” she said.

Disability-rights activists also argue they’ve presented a true compromise. They proposed hiring two city staff members dedicated to enforcing the law. The city currently has 19 people in parking enforcement, but they catch offenders only if they happen to see them in their normal rounds.

The task force also wants the state to stiffen penalties for misuse of the placards. And it proposes a public education campaign.

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