[nagdu] FW: Article: Council approves service animals ordinance

[Steven Johnson]

Hesperia Star (Hesperia, CA)


March 3, 2011


 


Council approves service animals ordinance


Councilman Blewett vows to repeal if ordinance leads to lawsuits against
local businesses


Beau Yarbrough <mailto:beau at hesperiastar.com> , Staff Writer

The American with Disabilities Act will become more restrictive in its
definition of service animals this month, but the changes won't apply in
Hesperia.

At their meeting Tuesday night, the Hesperia City Council voted to allow any
sort of service animal to be used by the disabled in Hesperia public
buildings and businesses, so long as they're accompanied by a doctor's note
certifying their status as service animals.

On March 15, new federal guidelines will tighten the definition of service
animals in the ADA to just dogs. The act was signed into law by President
George H. W. Bush in July 1990 and never previously defined what constituted
a service animal.

The city ordinance was drafted in response to a request from local resident
Danni Moore, who uses two rats riding on her shoulders to help control her
seizures.

"All I ask is that the city council allows me to continue to come to pay my
bills [at city hall] and volunteer at the library," Moore told the council
on Tuesday.

Disabled residents "have a right to be a person, to go to a store, to go to
a restaurant," argued resident Kim Jones. "There are some things that
[service] dogs can just not do."

But not everyone agreed with Jones.

"The needs of the many have to outweigh the needs of the few," said
Councilman Bill Holland. "It unnecessarily places Hesperia's businesses,
which quite frankly pay our way, in harm's way."

"If I end up in a lawsuit over this, I'll move my business out of the city,
I'll be real honest with you," said Century 21 owner Don Jensen, the brother
of planning commissioner Bill Jensen.

The ADA "hasn't affected Hesperia's businesses for the past 20, 50 years,"
said Councilman Thurston "Smitty" Smith, "And this doesn't change anything."

"I've never seen a service animal other than a dog in a restaurant other
than one time in Mexico," said Mayor Pro Tem Russ Blewett. "We have 18
percent of the people in this community unemployed, and we're talking about
service animals."

The ordinance passes 4-d, with Holland dissenting. Although he voted in
favor of the measure, Blewett said he'd vote to repeal it if any business is
sued under the city ordinance.

The next regular meeting of the Hesperia City Council will take place on
March 15 at 6:30 p.m. at Hesperia City Hall, 9700 Seventh Avenue.

Source:  http://www.hesperiastar.com/news/service-3999-animals-council.html

 

 

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