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Disability council urges more accessible parking after Lawrence Fourth of July turnout
Summary
Macy Pohl, president of the Lawrence Advisory Council on Disability, told the parks board families reported too few accessible parking spaces at July 4 events and offered to provide parking-ratio guidance and meet with staff to improve logistics such as shuttles, signage or reserved spaces.
Macy Pohl, president of the Lawrence Advisory Council on Disability, told the City of Lawrence Parks and Recreation Board that people attending the July 4 celebration reported difficulty reaching event areas because of a shortage of accessible parking. “A concern was brought to me about the amount of handicap or rather accessible parking spots for the amount of parking areas,” Pohl said.
Pohl outlined commonly used parking-ratio guidance during her remarks — for example, at least one accessible space per 1–25 total parking spaces and scaled counts for larger lots — and offered to share a written listing with staff. “I’m happy to email… I sent it to Jamie earlier too,” she said, and offered to meet with parks staff to improve event logistics.
Chair acknowledged the concern and asked Eric and Jamie to inventory accessible parking across parks and to follow up. Eric said there are currently marked accessible spaces at Community Park and estimated “I think there’s 4 there too,” and Jamie said staff will look through event logistics and explore options including shuttles for attendees who cannot reach distant parking.
Pohl also emphasized legal accessibility requirements when renovating or building new parks and said she would help the city review those standards. The board thanked her and invited continued collaboration; no formal action resulted from the public comment.
