§1742.2. Local variances in accessible parking restrictions

A.(1) The legislature finds that providing sufficient accessible parking spaces for use by both employees and visitors to public or private buildings or facilities, as defined in R.S. 40:1732, is essential to protecting the civil rights of persons with disabilities. To this end, the state, through the fire marshal, has insisted on compliance with the ADA Standards, and the legislature has set substantial fines for accessible parking violations.

(2) The legislature recognizes, however, that parking spaces for a facility may not always be used for that facility. Often, a facility is not in use at particular times, and the general parking spaces are available for use by persons visiting other facilities.

(3) The legislature finds that as a matter of policy, there is a clear conceptual distinction between reserving accessible parking spaces for a facility that is in use and reserving such spaces associated with a facility that is not in use and at which the general parking spaces are being used for another facility. This distinction is in part grounded in the logic of the accessibility guidelines themselves. The guidelines relate each reserved parking space to a particular facility in requiring an accessible route from the parking space to the facility. In a case where the facility is not in use, there is no presumption that there is an accessible route from an accessible parking place to any other facility. Thus, if there is no legitimate reason for any person to be visiting a facility, the reservation of parking spaces for visitors with mobility impairments at that facility is unnecessary.

(4) Pursuant to such findings, the legislature hereby establishes the possibility of distinctions in enforcement based on use or nonuse of facilities at certain educational institutions. It is the intent of the legislature that the provisions of this Section are to be narrowly construed. If, because of a variance granted pursuant to this Section, a person with a mobility impairment is denied access to a parking space at a facility at which he has a legitimate reason for visiting, he may initiate an action under the Americans with Disabilities Act against the parish governing authority.

B.(1) The governing authority of any parish or municipality may, by ordinance, provide for time variances applicable to the reservation of parking spaces for persons with mobility impairments at facilities identified in Paragraph (2) of this Subsection. By such a variance, the governing authority may establish times during which particular accessible parking spaces are available for general use and no citations for accessible parking violations shall be issued for use of the parking space. Any such variance shall be indicated by signage displayed at each parking space subject to the variance, and signs indicating the times during which parking is not reserved shall be mounted on the same post or, if not on a post, in the same manner as and in close proximity to the accessible parking sign itself. Different time variances may be applied to different spaces at the same facility.

(2) A parish or municipal governing authority may grant a variance for parking spaces at athletic facilities or stadiums on high school campuses. No such variance shall be granted unless the school administration formally requests such a variance.

Acts 2003, No. 595, §1, eff. June 27, 2003; Acts 2011, No. 398, §1; Acts 2014, No. 811, §22, eff. June 23, 2014.