BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: ab 2030
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: olsen
VERSION: 5/31/12
Analysis by: Mark Stivers FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: June 12, 2012
SUBJECT:
Building standards: disabled accessibility to small stadium
press boxes
DESCRIPTION:
This bill requires the Building Standards Commission to exempt
certain press boxes in stadium bleachers from accessibility
standards contained in current building standards.
ANALYSIS:
The California Building Standards Law establishes the Building
Standards Commission (BSC) and the process for adopting state
building standards. Under this process, relevant state agencies
propose amendments to model building codes which the BSC must
then adopt, modify, or reject. The Division of the State
Architect (DSA) is the relevant state agency for disabled
accessibility standards.
Current law requires BSC to publish the California Building
Standards Code in its entirety once every three years. BSC has
just begun its 2012 triennial code adoption cycle. State
agencies submitted their initial proposals on June 1, 2012,
which begins the public review process. BSC is scheduled to
adopt the final building codes on January 7, 2013, and the codes
it adopts will take effect on January 1, 2014.
Current state building standards require that all stadium press
boxes be located on a route that is accessible to persons with
disabilities. Recent changes to federal Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility standards create exemptions
to this rule for press boxes of less than 500 square feet in
some circumstances. DSA has been developing new state
accessibility standards that harmonize federal ADA standards and
state building standards. DSA submitted these revised building
standards to the BSC on June 1 for public comment. In the
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interests of not decreasing accessibility, the proposed DSA
building standards generally maintain the stricter of the
current state or federal standards. With respect to stadium
press boxes, that means that the new standards continue to
require that all press boxes, including press boxes of less than
500 square feet, be located on an accessible route.
This bill requires the BSC, as part of the next triennial
building code cycle that begins on or after January 1, 2013, to
adopt building standards for press boxes in stadiums that
contain the following exceptions to the general rule requiring
location of the press box on a route that is accessible to
persons with disabilities:
When the press box will be located in bleachers that have
points of entry at only one level, provided that the aggregate
area of all press boxes is at a maximum of 500 square feet.
When a free-standing press box is elevated at least 12 feet
above the ground, provided that the aggregate area of all
press boxes is at a maximum of 500 square feet.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose of the bill . According to the author, California's
accessibility standards for stadium press boxes, which are
stricter than federal standards, place a heavy financial
burden on schools with small sports facilities. Many schools
are simply unable to provide press box facilities due to the
prohibitive cost of including a ramp, elevator, or platform
wheelchair lift to provide an accessible route. Conforming
California's standards to the federal standards and exempting
small press boxes from the accessible route requirement will
significantly reduce building costs for public and private
schools with smaller sports facilities, allowing them to
provide press boxes for announcers and reporters covering a
sporting event.
2.District example . This bill came about as a result of a
situation in the author's district. A private school had
built sports facilities, including a football field, over a
number of years with donations of money and labor. Two years
ago, the school added bleachers for 450 persons to the
football field. The school desired to add an elevated press
box to the football field for the announcer, scorekeepers,
statisticians, and game spotters who need to be elevated above
the bleachers for proper visibility. The cost for the press
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box itself is estimated to be $55,000, but the additional cost
of an elevator to lift people to a height of 17.5 feet to meet
the building code requirement for disabled access is estimated
at nearly $135,000. The school has not had the funds to cover
this additional cost, so it has never built the press box and
instead uses a donated mechanical construction lift with no
tables to seat the game officials.
3.Accessibility vs. expense . This bill pits two worthy goals
against each other: access for the disabled and reducing
costs on public construction projects. In the interests of
reducing costs, this bill necessarily means that persons with
disabilities will not have access to some stadium press boxes.
In this case, the monetary costs saved may be relatively
large and the number of persons affected is presumably quite
small, but the moral imperative to ensure access to public
facilities for all persons is nonetheless compromised. The
committee may wish to consider if adopting the less
restrictive federal standard for access to small press boxes
strikes the appropriate balance between accessibility and
expense.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 74-0
Appr: 17-0
B&P: 9-0
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday, June 6,
2012)
SUPPORT: Big Valley Christian School
OPPOSED: None received.