The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Council hoping businesses get creative to solve the problem
By Mark Reaman
The summer sidewalk seating in Crested Butte might get a little tighter next year in order to comply with the American Disabilities Act (ADA).
Crested Butte town staff recently did a site inspection of the seven restaurants that are currently permitted to have sidewalk seating in order to ascertain whether or not they were in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Of the seven primary restaurants or bars that provide such seating, only the Talk of the Town is in full compliance.
While there is enough width to provide the required four feet of pedestrian access route (PAR), the problem basically comes down to the fact that the brick pavers—used as part of the PAR—are not compliant with ADA standards. ADA standards require less than a 2 percent cross slope and less than a half inch of vertical surface discontinuities between horizontal surfaces. That isn’t the case in many spots along Elk Avenue.
Crested Butte public works director Shea Earley told the council that in order to meet ADA compliance the town could do one of several things. It could reduce the area in which businesses can use the sidewalk, ensuring that all four feet of the required width is located on the concrete sidewalk; it could remove the bricks and increase the width of the concrete sidewalk where needed; it could eliminate sidewalk seating from individual restaurants that don’t achieve ADA compliance or; it could eliminate sidewalk seating completely.
Earley also said that while measurements were taken this fall after things such as bike racks and flower barrels had been removed, those amenities had negative impacts on the traffic flow and width of the sidewalks.
Mayor Jim Schmidt said sidewalk seating had been a great success, bringing added vibrancy to downtown in the summer.
Town manager Dara MacDonald said going with the first option, which is what the staff recommended, could mean some businesses would have to pull in some of their seating closer to the building.
“We need to be ADA-compliant and I’m confident our businesses are creative enough to come up with good solutions,” said councilman Will Dujardin.
“We also need to be cognizant of where we locate things like the bike racks,” added councilman Chris Haver.
Schmidt said the town had to comply with ADA rules but asked how much it would cost to expand the concrete sidewalks in front of some businesses. Earley said he didn’t have a cost estimate for that.
Councilwoman Laura Mitchell said the businesses needed to be told clearly that they had to be ADA-compliant or risk losing their sidewalk seating licenses.
“Let’s get compliant and see what happens,” suggested Dujardin.
“I’m hoping the businesses can keep the sidewalk seating within the parameters of the four feet on the concrete,” said councilwoman Mona Merrill. “Let’s see how creative they get with a solution.”
The town staff will inform the participating businesses that they must meet ADA rules under current conditions and they will monitor the situation next summer to make sure that happens.
