Downtown (In)access

Santa Fe, ever mindful of its charm and quaint New Mexico-ness, has a problem with sidewalks.

The narrow, brick paths, wrinkled by time, lend an authenticity to the downtown area, but prove impassable for wheeled users: parents with strollers, delivery people pushing dollies and those using wheelchairs.

The persistent issue of inaccessible public spaces, obvious to those who rely on assistive devices to navigate Santa Fe, has long plagued the city, explains Robin Garrison, an advocate with the nonprofit Disability Rights New Mexico.

“We all function within what our reality is and I think that if you don’t have a disability, you’re really just not truly aware of how much accessibility can impact someone,” says Garrison, adding that Santa Fe’s inaccessibility issues are like those around the nation.

But in the City Different, old buildings and roadways, historical protections and vague exemptions to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) have stymied progress.

It’s a well-known problem—the city sought to map trouble spots in 2016 and found plenty. However, an ongoing squabble between businesses and local government over who’s on the hook for fixing them continues.

Some have suggested using part of the recent influx of $15 million from the American Rescue Plan Act to provide a salve, though the Public Works Department hasn’t yet decided whether ADA compliance fits within its framework for the funds.

Garrison has personal experience struggling to get around downtown due to a visual impairment. While she has no recollection of any recent legal claims against the City of Santa Fe for ADA violations, Garrison says the evidence is everywhere, from a lack of curb cuts to narrow paths often obstructed by light poles or fire hydrants.

Anne Marsh knows the feeling.

On a recent day, she wanted to practice using her wheelchair on the streets to feel more comfortable navigating the area around the Plaza. The device, which she recently acquired, “is a two-wheel, self-balancing wheelchair that you control using the seat as a joystick,” she tells SFR.

Living with multiple sclerosis is “like having a bad iPhone battery,” says Marsh. She explains that a 15-minute walk can leave her drained, and using a wheelchair enables her to have a normal outing in Santa Fe.

On a recent trip downtown, Marsh and her husband, Hal Malchow, first tried to go down Canyon Road, but soon had to turn back because light poles in the middle of the sidewalk blocked her path.

Next, they tried to head back toward the Plaza on East Palace Avenue, but the sidewalk was still difficult to navigate. When Marsh came across a steep curb cut that led into a parking meter, she swerved to avoid it, hitting a coyote fence and causing her wheelchair to tip over.

“Luckily I didn’t hit my head, I just got bruised up,” Marsh tells SFR.

Kaity Ellis, who works with Garrison as an advocate with the disability rights organization, has experienced similar challenges.

“I would just hope that our society is more inclusive, especially visiting Santa Fe,” Ellis tells SFR. “That is our state capital. That is where all the action happens.” But as Ellis has experienced, most people think of the ADA as an “afterthought” instead of a priority.

That negligence is muddied by a convoluted game of finger pointing.

Gary Housepian, CEO of the disability rights group, explains: “There’s a dispute as to who’s responsible for this. That is, the businesses are saying it’s the city’s responsibility, and the city is saying it’s the businesses’ responsibility. Bottom line is there’s still issues there and no one’s getting it resolved.”

Tom Graham, Santa Fe’s ADA coordinator, explains that in most cities people with disabilities run into barriers, either accessing buildings or navigating public rights-of-way. But “with our city being so old, it does compound that a little bit more.”

City officials are well aware of the accessibility issues.

In 2016, they contracted the KFH Group to identify and map various barriers to accessing city-owned buildings, parks and public rights-of-way. Just glancing at the map, it’s easy to see where a majority of the most concerning issues exist based on the cluster of red dots.

“The majority of priority areas are surrounding downtown and are also located along the City’s major transportation corridors; including Cerrillos Road, St. Francis Drive, and St. Michaels Drive,” reads the city’s ADA transition plan, which identifies modifications needed—initially drafted in 1992 and updated in 2017.

While these issues have existed for decades, there remain significant barriers just outside the city’s most iconic spaces.

Marsh explains that the Plaza itself is accessible to those who use wheelchairs, but “as soon as you get off the Plaza and try to go down Galisteo [Street] or try to go to the Water Street parking lot…the sidewalks are so narrow and there’s no curb cuts, you can’t do it.”

Curbs, gutters and sidewalks in front of private property fall to the owner to maintain and make accessible, Graham says, citing the city code.

“With the repairs comes the need for budget and funds to do that, otherwise it’s [an undue burden] by ADA standards,” says Graham.

By “undue burden,” he means that private entities can avoid meeting accessibility requirements under the ADA if the nature and cost of an accommodation is beyond the means of a business.

“There is no hard set definition of what undue financial or administrative hardship means,” says Garrison, adding that it depends on a business’ assets and how much the modification would cost, which means that exemptions are decided on a case-by-case basis.

“The ADA has been wonderful and has made some incredible changes for people, but there’s so many little loopholes in it,” Garrison tells SFR. One of those exemptions applies to many Santa Fe properties: Buildings built prior to 1990, per the ADA, are grandfathered in and don’t require accessibility modifications.

Public spaces that lie outside of the purview of property owners are the city’s responsibility, which comes with limitations.

Accessibility improvements are included in any construction and repair projects, Graham says. But in the case of other identified barriers, those that aren’t the target of new construction, funding must be secured.

That’s where the American Rescue Plan Act money could come in. City Council’s appropriation of those funds will take place in January.

The area where Marsh fell due to the sidewalk’s inaccessible condition meets the exit driveway of La Posada Hotel on East Palace Avenue. When Marsh approached the hotel about the sidewalk after the incident, management told her it was the city’s problem, she says.

Neither La Posada or the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce responded to multiple requests to comment on access.

The Mayor’s Committee on Disability, an appointed group that works to remove barriers in the city, has included sidewalk repair and improvements among its 2019 and 2020 priorities. Graham, the committee’s staff liaison, explains the pandemic caused a lapse in the group’s work, but in recent months it has resumed advocating for Santa Feans with disabilities.

One recent example of the advocacy was the September adoption of an ordinance that requires “places of public accommodation,” which includes bars and restaurants, to display closed captions for anyone to read while watching television.

Collaboration between local government, private businesses and advocates is needed to pursue solutions, says Garrison.