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properly, without causing an undue <br />burden on citizens and other <br />stakeholders. <br />SD-29. Disability Access <br />Requirements <br />Issue: Title II of the Americans with <br />Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 requires that <br />state and local governments provide people <br />with disabilities equal opportunity to benefit <br />from all of their programs, services, and <br />activities. Public entities are not required to <br />take actions that would result in significant <br />financial and administrative burdens, but <br />they must modify policies, practices, and <br />procedures to avoid discrimination unless <br />they can demonstrate that doing so would <br />fundamentally alter the nature of the service, <br />program, or activity being provided. <br />State and local governments are also <br />required to follow specific standards when <br />constructing new facilities and altering <br />existing public buildings, and they must <br />relocate programs or otherwise provide <br />access in inaccessible older buildings. Under <br />the ADA, public entities are not necessarily <br />required to make each existing facility <br />accessible. However, their programs —when <br />viewed in their entirety —must be readily <br />accessible to people with disabilities. A <br />public entity may achieve program <br />accessibility through various methods. For <br />example, a city may alter existing facilities, <br />acquire or construct new facilities, relocate a <br />service or program to an accessible facility, <br />or provide services at other accessible sites. <br />One district court judge has taken an <br />expansive view of disability access <br />requirements for public recreation facilities. <br />The case involved a parent who sued a city <br />due to difficulty viewing soccer and baseball <br />games on certain city fields. The court, in <br />interpreting the Minnesota Human Rights <br />Act (MHRA), held that any public facility is <br />a public service. Since the MHRA requires <br />that every public service be accessible to <br />disabled persons, the court concluded that <br />each and every playing field and other <br />public facility must be fully accessible. The <br />court rejected the ADA's limitations on <br />modifications for physical access to older <br />facilities, as well as the ADA's "when <br />viewed in its entirety" language for program <br />access. The result is a more restrictive state <br />standard for physical access to public <br />facilities than required by the ADA and the <br />State Building Code. <br />Response: The League of Minnesota <br />Cities supports changes to the MHRA <br />that will make state accessibility <br />standards compatible with the federal <br />ADA for public services and facilities. <br />The Legislature should clarify that a <br />facility that is in compliance with <br />handicap access provisions of the State <br />Building Code meets the physical access <br />requirements of the MHRA. State law <br />should also specify that access <br />requirements apply to public programs <br />and services as a whole, rather than to <br />each individual aspect of a public <br />program or service. <br />SD-30. Restrictions on Possession of <br />Firearms <br />Issue: The Minnesota Citizens Personal <br />Protection Act, also known as "conceal -and - <br />carry," prohibits guns on most school <br />properties but forbids other local units of <br />government from prohibiting loaded <br />firearms on their properties. The <br />inconsistencies in the law's treatment of <br />different kinds of properties have caused <br />confusion about how the law applies to <br />multi -use facilities, such as municipal ice <br />arenas used for school -sponsored programs. <br />The recent shooting in the Morrison County <br />Government Center also shows the harm <br />League of Minnesota Cities <br />2015 City Policies Page 20 <br />