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Advocates say Las Vegas Municipal Courthouse lacks accessible public parking; they urge city to designate nearby handicap spaces
Summary
Speakers at the Feb. 5 council meeting said there is no accessible public parking directly outside the Municipal Court Building, describing long wheelchair trips from the nearest public garage and asking the city to designate nearby spaces for disabled visitors.
At the City of Las Vegas council meeting Feb. 5, public commenters told the council there is no accessible public parking immediately at or near the Municipal Court Building entrance and urged the city to designate nearby spots for people with disabilities.
Stephanie Phillips, political director for Veterans in Politics, told the council that when she reviewed aerial maps the closest public parking lot with accessible spaces was the civic lot at First and Garces, which still requires crossing the street and walking to the courthouse entrance. She asked the city to consider designating some spaces across First Street (west of the courthouse entrance) and four spots north across Clark Street as handicap parking to provide more direct access.
Steve Samson, president of Veterans and Politics in Nevada, said he videotaped a wheelchair trip from the city garage to the municipal courthouse and that the journey took more than 15 minutes. He said setbacks include reserved law-enforcement parking directly adjacent to the building (17 spots) and a weekly permitted food-truck event that uses nearby spaces on Thursdays. In the transcript, Samson said an email from City Manager Mike Jensen stated that Deon Street parking is restricted to law-enforcement vehicles 24/7 for security reasons and that the taco-truck event is a permitted special event on Thursdays.
Both speakers referenced the Americans with Disabilities Act and said courts elsewhere in Clark County provide handicap parking closer to their front entrances, including Family Court, the Regional Justice Center and the North Las Vegas courthouse. They urged the council to identify and re-designate nearby on-street or lot parking to improve direct access to the municipal courthouse for people using wheelchairs, crutches or oxygen.
Ending: City staff acknowledged the comments through public-recorded responses and the council heard requests to examine re-designation of nearby spaces to improve access; no formal council action was taken during the meeting.
