http://www.sacbee.com/kings/story/282715.html
Disabled-access suit threatens sports complex
By Stan Oklobdzija and David Richie - Bee Staff Writers
Last Updated 12:32 am PDT Friday, July 20, 2007
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A1
Basketball Town, a 50,000-square-foot sports center in Rancho Cordova that offers basketball camps by Sacramento Kings players and others, has been hit with a disabled-access lawsuit that could close it down by August, its owners say.
The suit, filed by an Oakland attorney who is believed to be the nation's longest-practicing access attorney, seeks to bring the facility into compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act and asks for unspecified monetary damages.
Attorney Paul Rein, who has fought for disabled access in landmark suits against the Squaw Valley ski resort and against Stanford University over its football stadium, filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Sacramento last November on behalf of Derrick Ross, a Suisun City man.
Ross, who is quadriplegic and uses a motorized wheelchair, sued after traveling to Basketball Town with his wife and 6-year-old nephew for a May 6, 2006, birthday party.
Ross claims the facility did not have the proper disabled parking and that when he got inside, there was no access for him at the party, which was being held in an upstairs mezzanine level.
"For about an hour and a half, while his wife and nephew attended the party upstairs, (Ross) was excluded from all activities on the mezzanine because of his inability as a disabled person to ascend the stairs," the suit states. "(Ross) felt left out and humiliated while his disappointed six-year-old nephew kept coming down and asking his uncle ... to join the party."
Ross wants Basketball Town to install an elevator or lift so that disabled people can access the upper level, the suit states.
Crystal Chodes, director of marketing and special events for Basketball Town, said legal fees related to the suit are harming the operation, which has been a magnet for basketball fans since it opened in April 2002.
The center, with five basketball courts, has hosted basketball camps sponsored by current and former Kings stars such as Mike Bibby and Bobby Jackson.
"Over 100,000 families come through Basketball Town each year," Chodes said, noting that the facility hosts AAU level tournaments and similar events on a regular basis, drawing teams from all over Northern California.
Young people from age 5 through high school are the facility's key customers for basketball and volleyball tournaments, skills clinics, open gym or individual workouts with personal trainers.
"We work with hundreds of kids each week," Chodes said, adding that programs also are available for adults.
Since the lawsuit was filed, Basketball Town has stopped hosting birthday parties and closed its upper level to avoid more ADA trouble.
But the legal dispute now threatens to shutter the facility, she said.
"I have been told that they could close us down by the end of August," she said.
Chodes said that during the party, Basketball Town's staff offered to carry Ross up the stairs but he declined.
Rein, Ross' attorney, said such an offer was unacceptable.
"How would you like to be carried?" he asked. "Physically disabled people have had numerous accidents by people with the best intentions trying to carry them. ... You trip and someone might end up a quadriplegic instead of a paraplegic."
Ron Jenanyan, Basketball Town's general manager, said the party eventually was moved downstairs, though he could not say for sure how long it took.
Chodes said in a press release that Basketball Town has been certified as compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act by Sacramento County inspectors because the same amenities are provided upstairs as downstairs.
Jenanyan also said that because Basketball Town's property owner, Greg Hardcastle, believes his facility to be disabled-compliant, he's balking at spending money on an elevator or a lift.
The Sacramento County assessor lists the property as the Hardcastle Marital Trust. Hardcastle's mother, Barbara, who Jenanyan said owns the land the property is built upon, also is named in the suit.
Disabled-access lawsuits are complex and can hinge on very tricky details, said Kim R. Blackseth, a prominent disabled access consultant and expert based in Oakland.
Without looking at Basketball Town and examining the court documents, Blackseth said, it is hard to determine how much weight the defendant's argument carries. But a basic look at federal and state regulations indicates that Basketball Town could well be in compliance, he said.
With equal first- and second-level amenities, federal regulations requiring elevators or lifts may not be triggered until a building rises three levels or higher, he said.
State access provisions for "privately funded" multiple-story buildings may not require an elevator if amenities are equal on the first and second levels and the use is not an office building, service station, health care provider, shopping center or shopping mall, Blackseth said.
Rein scoffed at the idea that the building was already compliant.
"It's such horse manure," he said. "The place was built brand new in 2000 ... 10 years after the federal Americans With Disabilities Act."
"This is just the thing that is not supposed to be done," he added. "Brand new construction out of compliance with the rights of disabled people."
Rein said he's willing to talk about settlement if Basketball Town is willing to put in a lift, which he estimated would cost around $10,000.
But Basketball Town's estimate was more along the lines of $50,000, Jenanyan said.
"And that's $50,000 we don't have," he said.
Both sides in the dispute participated in a three-hour facility inspection on June 7, Jenanyan said. Basketball Town is still waiting to hear back from Ross' attorney.
Until it hears back, the company has not yet offered to install a lift or make any kind of monetary settlement, Jenanyan said.
He agreed with Chodes' assessment that the place probably couldn't last through August at the rate things are going.
"What we need is to find some kind of settlement," Jenanyan said. "We can't keep hanging in limbo."
But Rein said closing down Basketball Town was never his client's intention.
"All they have to do is agree to put in a lift so that disabled people can use (the facility) just the same as everyone else, and we'll be happy to talk about settlement," he said.
Disabled-access suit threatens sports complex
By Stan Oklobdzija and David Richie - Bee Staff Writers
Last Updated 12:32 am PDT Friday, July 20, 2007
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A1
Basketball Town, a 50,000-square-foot sports center in Rancho Cordova that offers basketball camps by Sacramento Kings players and others, has been hit with a disabled-access lawsuit that could close it down by August, its owners say.
The suit, filed by an Oakland attorney who is believed to be the nation's longest-practicing access attorney, seeks to bring the facility into compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act and asks for unspecified monetary damages.
Attorney Paul Rein, who has fought for disabled access in landmark suits against the Squaw Valley ski resort and against Stanford University over its football stadium, filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Sacramento last November on behalf of Derrick Ross, a Suisun City man.
Ross, who is quadriplegic and uses a motorized wheelchair, sued after traveling to Basketball Town with his wife and 6-year-old nephew for a May 6, 2006, birthday party.
Ross claims the facility did not have the proper disabled parking and that when he got inside, there was no access for him at the party, which was being held in an upstairs mezzanine level.
"For about an hour and a half, while his wife and nephew attended the party upstairs, (Ross) was excluded from all activities on the mezzanine because of his inability as a disabled person to ascend the stairs," the suit states. "(Ross) felt left out and humiliated while his disappointed six-year-old nephew kept coming down and asking his uncle ... to join the party."
Ross wants Basketball Town to install an elevator or lift so that disabled people can access the upper level, the suit states.
Crystal Chodes, director of marketing and special events for Basketball Town, said legal fees related to the suit are harming the operation, which has been a magnet for basketball fans since it opened in April 2002.
The center, with five basketball courts, has hosted basketball camps sponsored by current and former Kings stars such as Mike Bibby and Bobby Jackson.
"Over 100,000 families come through Basketball Town each year," Chodes said, noting that the facility hosts AAU level tournaments and similar events on a regular basis, drawing teams from all over Northern California.
Young people from age 5 through high school are the facility's key customers for basketball and volleyball tournaments, skills clinics, open gym or individual workouts with personal trainers.
"We work with hundreds of kids each week," Chodes said, adding that programs also are available for adults.
Since the lawsuit was filed, Basketball Town has stopped hosting birthday parties and closed its upper level to avoid more ADA trouble.
But the legal dispute now threatens to shutter the facility, she said.
"I have been told that they could close us down by the end of August," she said.
Chodes said that during the party, Basketball Town's staff offered to carry Ross up the stairs but he declined.
Rein, Ross' attorney, said such an offer was unacceptable.
"How would you like to be carried?" he asked. "Physically disabled people have had numerous accidents by people with the best intentions trying to carry them. ... You trip and someone might end up a quadriplegic instead of a paraplegic."
Ron Jenanyan, Basketball Town's general manager, said the party eventually was moved downstairs, though he could not say for sure how long it took.
Chodes said in a press release that Basketball Town has been certified as compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act by Sacramento County inspectors because the same amenities are provided upstairs as downstairs.
Jenanyan also said that because Basketball Town's property owner, Greg Hardcastle, believes his facility to be disabled-compliant, he's balking at spending money on an elevator or a lift.
The Sacramento County assessor lists the property as the Hardcastle Marital Trust. Hardcastle's mother, Barbara, who Jenanyan said owns the land the property is built upon, also is named in the suit.
Disabled-access lawsuits are complex and can hinge on very tricky details, said Kim R. Blackseth, a prominent disabled access consultant and expert based in Oakland.
Without looking at Basketball Town and examining the court documents, Blackseth said, it is hard to determine how much weight the defendant's argument carries. But a basic look at federal and state regulations indicates that Basketball Town could well be in compliance, he said.
With equal first- and second-level amenities, federal regulations requiring elevators or lifts may not be triggered until a building rises three levels or higher, he said.
State access provisions for "privately funded" multiple-story buildings may not require an elevator if amenities are equal on the first and second levels and the use is not an office building, service station, health care provider, shopping center or shopping mall, Blackseth said.
Rein scoffed at the idea that the building was already compliant.
"It's such horse manure," he said. "The place was built brand new in 2000 ... 10 years after the federal Americans With Disabilities Act."
"This is just the thing that is not supposed to be done," he added. "Brand new construction out of compliance with the rights of disabled people."
Rein said he's willing to talk about settlement if Basketball Town is willing to put in a lift, which he estimated would cost around $10,000.
But Basketball Town's estimate was more along the lines of $50,000, Jenanyan said.
"And that's $50,000 we don't have," he said.
Both sides in the dispute participated in a three-hour facility inspection on June 7, Jenanyan said. Basketball Town is still waiting to hear back from Ross' attorney.
Until it hears back, the company has not yet offered to install a lift or make any kind of monetary settlement, Jenanyan said.
He agreed with Chodes' assessment that the place probably couldn't last through August at the rate things are going.
"What we need is to find some kind of settlement," Jenanyan said. "We can't keep hanging in limbo."
But Rein said closing down Basketball Town was never his client's intention.
"All they have to do is agree to put in a lift so that disabled people can use (the facility) just the same as everyone else, and we'll be happy to talk about settlement," he said.
