A federal law is now in effect.
Every commercial swimming pool must have a pool lift, so people with disabilities can easily get in and out of pools.
But apparently, many area businesses aren't complying.
The Americans with Disabilities Act aims to give people with disabilities the same access to goods and services, as the rest of the general public.
And there's now a new law regarding swimming pools, that adds to their mission.
"Every commercial pool operator has to provide a means of access for a handicap person to enter commercial swimming pool." Said Andrew Spear, owner of The Pool Doctor.
Places like hotels, motels, municipal pools, and fitness centers, all have to comply.
The law has actually been in effect for 2 years, the deadline has just kept getting pushed back.
But, as of January 31st, there are no more extensions.
So is everybody in compliance with this new law? We found out that many of them are not. In fact, we've learned that up to 70% of places in our area, don't have them. And if they're caught, they're looking at some pretty hefty fines.
"We've installed quite a few but still there are a large number of facilities that are not in compliance." Said Spear. "Civilly, you could be sued civilly or the department of justice can give you a fine $50,000 per body of water," Spear added.
The pool lift themselves cost anywhere from $4,000 to $8,000 dollars to install.
We reached out to several hotels that say they don't have them, they're aware of the law, and are in the process of getting them installed.
Meantime, Some smaller motels, will have to close their pools, because they just can't afford to install the lifts.
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2013 WorldNow and WICU. All Rights Reserved.
