ADA Self-Evaluation & Transition Plan

To make Lake Oswego more accessible to all, the City has developed an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Self-Evaluation and Transition Plan (SETP). Developing the plan included four major components:

• Reviewing all City programs, services, and policies;
• Evaluating the accessibility of City facilities (buildings, parks, and parking lots);
• Assessing facilities in the public right-of-way; and
• Developing a strategic plan and tools for implementing the recommended changes to City facilities and practices.

The Plan guides the City in making its buildings, parks, programs, and public right-of-way accessible to all. The Plan is intended to provide a framework for the continuous improvement of City programs and facilities for people with disabilities. It is also intended to be a living document that is regularly updated as programs and services change, as barriers are removed, and new facilities come under ownership or control of the City.

Copies of the Final Plan are available below:

• ADA Self Evaluation & Transition Plan - Final October 2022
• ADA Self Evaluation & Transition Plan - Final October 2022 (Screen Reader Version)
• ADA SETP Maps & Addendum - October 2022

The final plan was adopted and approved by City Council on December 20, 2022. 

Implementation Strategies

The Plan includes phasing for removing barriers in the next one to three, one to five, one to ten and one to fifteen years. It is the City’s intent to review all barriers during the first three years of Plan implementation and address barriers that can be resolved through programmatic modifications and maintenance activities. The City will then revise the schedule for removal of the remaining barriers.

• Programs, activities and services:  Improvements to programs, activities and services will be incorporated as they are provided or presented, as recommended in the Plan.
• Public buildings, parks and parking facilities: All facilities in which the City provides programs, activities, and services were prioritized based on identified complaints or requests, level of use by the public, proximity to transit facilities, program uniqueness, geographic distribution, citizen rights and responsibilities, recognized user groups and planned obsolescence. It is the intent of the City to address and remove barriers to accessibility in public buildings, parks and parking facilities based upon the immediate necessity of programmatic access, degree of complexity, and overall cost.
• Right-of-Ways: The federal guidelines for removal of barriers in the public right-of-way prioritize locations serving government offices and public facilities, then locations serving transportation (bus stops), then commercial districts and employers, then locations serving other areas. Specific barriers that have been the subject of an ADA complaint are prioritized, as feasible.

Fiscal Impact

The overall estimated costs to remove barriers in City-owned facilities are noted in the following table:

Real progress can be made when a municipality makes financial commitments to improving access. The City will include barrier removal projects as part of its bi-annual budgets, either as stand-alone projects or as part of regularly occurring programs (e.g., street resurfacing projects, facility alterations, etc.). Staff from various departments will be proposing various improvements from this Plan in the next Capital Improvement Plan and Budget cycle. This should continue until all barriers are eliminated.

Background & Plan Development

The Plan ensures the City is meeting the requirements of the ADA legislation for Title II entities by:

• Providing notice of nondiscrimination;
• Establishing an ADA grievance procedure;
• Designating an employee responsible for overseeing title II compliance;
• Completing a self-evaluation of services, policies, and practices;
• Developing a transition plan that identifies structural modifications necessary for compliance; and
• Including people with disabilities in the planning process by establishing an ADA stakeholder advisory group

The City initiated the ADA SETP project in spring 2020; however, as a result of the pandemic, the project deviated from the original estimated schedule. The Final Plan is expected to be adopted by City Council on December 20, 2022. 

The following outlines the project tasks that were undertaken as part of the development of the SETP.

Policy and Program Evaluation (Self-Evaluation)

During the project's policy and program evaluation phase, a comprehensive review of City policies, services, and practices was conducted to ensure that they are nondiscriminatory to people with disabilities. The evaluation involves the following tasks:

• Meetings with City staff to administer a questionnaire regarding City practices;
• Reviewing City policy documents, programs, and services;
• Reviewing the City's standards and specifications;
• Identifying modifications to City programs, services, practices, standards, and specifications;
• Developing a draft ADA Self-Evaluation Report; and
• Meeting with the ADA stakeholder advisory group to identify issues and review recommendations for modifications to City policies, services, and practices.

The majority of these tasks were completed in winter 2020.

Building, Parking, and Park Evaluations (Transition Plan)

The facility evaluations involved assessing and inventorying barriers to accessibility within the City's buildings, parking, and parks facilities. Several items are addressed during the evaluations:

• Identifying ADA barrier removal actions;
• Developing ADA assessment reports for City review and comment;
• Drafting barrier removal priorities and a schedule; and
• Involving the ADA stakeholder advisory group in establishing the priorities for barrier removal.

The building, parking, and park evaluations were completed in spring 2021, and the barrier assessments were completed in summer 2021.

Right-of-Way Evaluations (Transition Plan)

The right-of-way evaluations involved assessing and inventorying ADA barriers within the public right-of-way for adherence to standards. The assessment involves the following tasks:

• Establishing the procedures for evaluating right-of-way facilities;
• Conducting evaluations of sidewalks, curb ramps, crosswalks, pedestrian pushbuttons, and on-street parking;
• Identifying ADA barrier removal actions; and
• Drafting barrier removal priorities and a schedule; and
• Involving the stakeholder advisory group in establishing the priorities for barrier removal in the public right-of-way.

The right-of-way evaluations were completed in winter 2020.

Stakeholder Feedback & Public Comment 

A stakeholder advisory group was formed in spring 2022, including people with disabilities or representatives of disability advocacy groups. The group provided the following feedback and input:

• Build, improve and maintain pedestrian access routes in the public right-of-way;
• Improve ADA access to all parks including the Natural Parks;
• Park descriptions on website should include the park address, accessible features and if there is public transit access;
• Improve access to public transit within the City;
• Minimize how often people with disabilities are required to ask for an accommodation by providing accessible and inclusive programs from the start;
• Budget and address ADA concerns in a timely manner; and
• Prioritize facilities that can be accessed via public transportation.

A draft of the SETP was made available for public review and comment from July 26 through September 30, 2022. Hard copies of the Plan were available at City Hall, the Library and the Adult Community Center, and upon request. Thirty members of the public completed a questionnaire in regards the Plan.

The majority of the respondents read or partially read the Plan. Most respondents were interested community members and or caregivers/support persons of a person with a disability living in Lake Oswego. The respondents welcomed and supported the Plan and indicated priority for barrier removal as follows:

• sidewalks,
• curb ramps,
• crosswalks,
• park access,
• facility access,
• ADA parking,
• pathways,
• pedestrian pushbuttons at intersections,
• effective communication,
• website accessibility, and
• railroad pedestrian crossings.

Staff has reviewed all the feedback/comments to prioritize what to work on. SETP Questionnaire Responses can be found here.

City Council Updates

Staff presented the Final SETP to City Council for adoption on December 20, 2022. The Council Report is available here. 

An update on the progress of the project and plan was provided to City Council on May 17, 2022. The Council Report is available here. You can also watch the meeting on YouTube.