KIROLA v. THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO

1. Facilities Transition Plan

a) History and Objectives

72. In 2003, MOD hired Logan Hopper ("Hopper") as a facilities transition plan consultant. RT 1603:12-18. Hopper surveyed approximately 700 facilities across the City and prepared a draft transition plan. The draft transition plan identified the "essential services" offered by various city departments, including Library and RecPark, and estimated costs and timelines for removing the identified access barriers. RT 1603:22-1604:3, 1603:22-1604:3; PTX 0034 [000470, 000476, 000522-523, 000528-538].

73. Mizner, the Director of MOD, testified that because Hopper was not familiar with construction practices in San Francisco, she felt that he had significantly underestimated both the projected cost and the amount of time necessary to complete a particular project. RT 1603:12-1604:18. Accordingly, Mizner recruited Scott to lead the development of the City's facilities transition plan. RT 1604:14-18, 1770:10-12, 1777:21-1779:11. Scott, who had been the ADA Coordinator for the Port of San Francisco, is a licensed architect with more than twenty years of experience working on architectural access issues and is a former member of the U.S. Access Board's Recreation Access Advisory Committee and Places of Amusement Committee. RT 1771:21-1773:22, 1775:9-11.

b) Uniform Physical Access Strategy or UPhAS

74. In 2007, under Scott's leadership, the City developed its facilities transition plan known as the Uniform Physical Access Strategy ("UPhAS"). Scott's plan is based on the extensive work performed by Hopper and Gilda Puente Peters, another access consultant retained by the City, the capital plans of various City departments such as Library and Rec Park, and outreach to the disabled community to understand their priorities. RT 1452:20-23, 1779:12-1780:9; 1784:7-22; DTX B07, PTX 0035.

75. UPhAS governs the City's libraries and Rec Park facilities. RT 1791:15-1792:15; 1797:20-1798:5. The plan seeks to provide maximum access for the disabled to each City building and facility, RT 1785:14-1786:22; prioritize physical access solutions and limit the use of a program access approach (which allows a city to move programs to other sites rather than make access improvements), RT 1789:6-19; and offer programs and services in the most integrated setting possible, RT 1789:20-1790:10; DTX B07 [005317]). UPhAS calls for input from the public and MOD, as well as an annual assessment of access priorities. RT 1786:23-17878:4; PTX 0040.

76. UPhAS has no schedule or deadline for the removal of access barriers, but instead, sets funding targets to facilitate their removal. RT 1456:18-1457:15, 123:11-12, 612:2-9; PTX 0040. As such, the City's plan for implementing UPhAS changes annually, depending on funding. RT 612:2-4.

77. The City constantly re-evaluates UPhAS by tracking projects as they are created, built and completed. RT 1791:2-1791:14. Scott uses complex, color-coded spreadsheets and maps to track the status of each facility evaluated as part of the Hopper surveys and to graphically represent the accessibility of City facilities. RT 1798:6-1799:25; 1801:24-1802:2; 1810:6-25; PTX B39. Each color signifies a different status. RT 1799:4-25. Blue dots "signify a building that had undergone new construction or alterations," based on a post-2000 capital improvement project. RT 1463:8-1464:12; see, e.g., PTX 0148A. For instance, one of the maps shows all of the City's swimming pools located in San Francisco. DTX F16. Some pools are identified by a blue dot, while others are denoted with a red dot, which signifies "limited access." Id.

78. Trial testimony established that a blue dot was not intended to suggest that every element of the facility was 100 percent compliant with all applicable facilities access regulations; rather, it signifies that the facility was fulfilling the City's program access intent under UPhAS. RT 1464:14-23. In other words, a blue dot indicates only that the facility offers some accessible program or programs, and not necessarily that every physical element of the facility is compliant with disability access regulations.

79. Through UPhAS, the City seeks to attain a level of access greater than required under law (i.e., more than the legally-mandated program access) with respect to almost all of its various programs, services, and activities. RT 1785:23-1788:21. For example, the City strives to ensure that all libraries are accessible to disabled individuals, even though Title II does not require that the City make each library facility accessible. RT 1797:5-19. However, due to the broad, varying and diverse scope of RecPark facilities, the City aims for program access (as opposed to access greater than legally required) as to RecPark programs, services, and activities. RT 1797:20-1798:5.