In a February 21, 2012 letter to the American Hotel and Lodging Association, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) emphasized the ongoing barrier removal obligation under the “readily achievable standard” when it comes to Pools, Spas, and Wading Pools.
In part, the DOJ letter stated, “As discussed, the 2010 Standards add supplemental requirements to the ongoing barrier removal obligation, including requirements for accessible means of entry and exit for pools, spas, and wading pools. These requirements are found at sections 242 and 1009 of the 2010 Standards. If a hotel or motel has more than one pool, it must remove barriers, to the extent that it is readily achievable, at each pool. If it is not readily achievable to immediately provide an accessible means of entry and exit at every pool, then the covered entity must remove barriers to the extent that it is readily achievable to do so. It is important to note that the barrier removal obligation is a continuing one, and it is expected that a business will take steps to improve accessibility over time.
To determine whether it is readily achievable to provide an accessible means of entry to an existing pool, public accommodations should consider the following factors:
•The nature and cost of the action;
•Overall resources of the site or sites involved, the number of persons employed at the site, the effect on expenses and resources, legitimate safety requirements that are necessary for safe operation, including crime prevention measures, or the impact otherwise of the action upon the operation of the site;
•The geographic separateness and relationship of the site(s) to any parent corporation or entity;
•The overall resources of any parent corporation or entity, if applicable; and
•The type of operation or operations of any parent corporation or entity, if applicable.”
The entire DOJ letter may be found at the DOJ ADA website http://www.ada.gov/ under Letter to the American Hotel and Lodging Association regarding accessible entry and exit for swimming pools and spas.
If you have any questions or for more information, please contact Turner Madden, Esquire at tm@washingtonattorney.com.