A local housing advocacy group is charging the owner and operator of a Kenmore senior living facility with violating a disabled tenant’s civil rights.
Vincent Curry, executive director of the Akron-based Fair Housing Advocates Association, filed a complaint this week with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission on behalf of the tenant, who lives at Kenmore Place Apartments, which opened nearly a year ago.
Curry said the disabled resident, who is not named due to federal patient privacy law, “has physical disabilities in terms of walking distances.” The housing facility has several handicap parking spaces, but the tenant is requesting that a specific space be reserved to accommodate the resident’s acute needs.
The resident, according to the complaint, first made the request in March in a letter to Linda Collins of RLJ Management, which operates the facility for the property owner, Columbus-based Buckeye Community Hope Foundation. The management company said Collins is not permitted to speak to the media.
Along with the letter, the parking request also included a doctor’s note expressing the need for special treatment, Curry said.
“You can have handicap spots, but again, it’s first come first serve,” Curry said of handicap spaces that fill up quickly. “I agree that you have a high number of people with disabilities, but you also have a person who needs a particular spot.”
It’s not unprecedented to have a reserved handicap parking space, even in facilities with a high percentage of disabled residents. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is supporting the complaint, as it did a nearly identical request made last year between a Minnesota property owner and disabled tenant who could not walk farther than 200 feet.
Curry said that because the resident’s request was denied, the facility infringed on the disabled person’s civil rights. The complaint is the first step in a remediation process that could wind up in court.
RLJ Management Vice President Bill Harvey said he hopes the matter will be settled amicably. Harvey, who admitted that he did not have all the details, said the situation is a matter of miscommunication.
“We’re working with the civil right organization to work out an agreement,” Harvey said. “I think we’re still trying to work on mediation or reconciliation to provide a parking space or determine where the miscommunication happened.”
Doug Livingston can be reached at 330-996-3792 or dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @ABJDoug .