Trammell told The Log none of the city's accessways are ADA-compliant, but she's working with city staff to change that.
"We're working on those that can be made ADAaccessible," Trammell said. "It won't be all of them, it will be a significant number ... I think we're attracting more and more tourists and residents that do need handicapped-accessible
areas."
Trammell brought this up during a council discussion of beach access earlier this year, asking if a lack of ADA-compliant accessways violated federal law. City Manager Greg Kisela said he'd have to consult with building official Larry Ballard and find out.
After meeting with Ballard, Kisela told The Log that because the descent to the beach is so steep -- in order to avoid going too close to the water -- the city isn't legally required to make the accesses handicapped accessible.
"We don't want to have to tear down a sand dune because we can't do a flat (ramp)," Trammell said, and ramps that zig-zag to descend more gently take up a lot of space, which may not be available in all spots.
Along Santa Rosa Boulevard on Okaloosa Island, Okaloosa County's Tourist Development Council has built several ADA-accessible ramps over the years. County Parks Coordinator Amy Allen told The Log that there are also ramps at Beasley Park and Marler Park.
In Destin, Henderson Beach State Park is ADA accessible, but there's little other access, Charlie Ekizian -- a quadriplegic resident who moved to town in 2003 with his wife Danielle -- told The Log. Shoreline Towers, where the Ekizians live, has a wheelchair ramp to the top of the seawall, but not down to the sand.
"Rental properties are supposed to be open to the public and that means the disabled too," Ekizian said. "All these places should have a ramp to the beach ... especially with the baby boomers (aging) and the guys coming back from Iraq."
Moving around on the sand is another challenge for wheelchair users.
Destin Fire Chief Tuffy Dixon said that the department will make one of its two $1,300 beach wheelchairs -- which have large tires for traveling on the sand -- available for free if someone calls and schedules it. He said people using the chairs have been able to attend beach weddings that they couldn't have reached otherwise.
"We try to get them to meet us at one of the parks that have handicapped parking," Dixon said. "We'll carry them to the beach ...We try to accommodate the people that are handicapped as best we can."
However, Dixon said, the appointments need to be for the days when lifeguards are out on the beach, and preferably when the surf isn't too rough so that helping with the chairs won't distract the lifeguards from assisting swimmers.
Danielle Ekizian said she knows visitors to Destin who have spent $100 to rent a chair of their own in order to reach the beach.
"A lot of places, including Destin, have the chairs," Ekizian said. "The problem is, nobody knows they're there: With disabled people it's kind of tough because they don't expect it; it would be nice to show they are here."
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