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Paraplegic's lawsuit prompts Weston to stop using sand at playgrounds
By Susannah Bryan
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
March 18, 2008

WESTON, Fla. - Some may consider this manicured, tree-lined, family-friendly city nearly perfect.

Not Enrique Madriñán.

A paraplegic, the father of two sued the city for what he considered a glaring fault: sand on the playground at Weston Regional Park. Madriñán, frustrated by the barriers facing the disabled in so many public places, may soon take his fight elsewhere in Broward County.

His lawsuit, filed in a Miami federal court in March 2007, accuses Weston of violating the federal Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to make the park accessible to the disabled.

Madriñán says the sand forced him to watch his children from afar whenever they visited the playground, a favorite family spot since 2001.

Madriñán, who has used a wheelchair since a car accident in Colombia at 18, could struggle over the mulch surrounding the play area but not the sand. So, during a visit last year, he sat helplessly out of reach when his son, now 5, needed an assist on the swing. Nor could he help his daughter, now 8, as she dangled from the hanging rings.

"I felt so guilty," said Madriñán, who lives with his wife and children in Miramar. "I should be able to push my son. And what if he fell? I couldn't get to him."

The city settled the lawsuit in October, agreeing to replace the sand with a kid-safe — and wheelchair-friendly — rubbery surface.

"The bottom line is, we are going to comply with ADA laws, both because it's the law and it's the right thing to do," Mayor Eric Hersh said. "If the sand is not meeting standards, we're going to change it. It really doesn't matter how much it costs. You have to fix it."

Pleased with his win in Weston, Madriñán, 46, said his next targets may be Pembroke Pines and Miramar. He considers it his mission to help enforce a law that has been on the books since 1990.

"I think every city in Florida is behind" in ADA compliance, Madriñán said. "It seems the life of a disabled person is the last thing they want to think about."

The law, he says, is on his side.

Passed by Congress in 1990, the law allows a disabled person to file a federal lawsuit if he or she cannot access a public building because of ADA violations. Plaintiffs cannot collect damages, but if a disabled plaintiff wins, the defendant can be forced to pay the legal fees.

Weston paid $11,750 to cover Madriñán's legal fees.

The settlement gave the city a September deadline to replace the sand at Weston Regional Park and comply with ADA guidelines.

But Weston officials moved quickly to replace the sand and mulch on both playgrounds at Weston Regional Park, 20200 Saddle Club Road, at a cost of $168,400.

In January, the City Commission agreed to spend an additional $167,800 to remove sand at two other parks, Tequesta Trace and Emerald Estates.

Some residents have already complained to city officials about the disappearing sand.

In January, Commissioner Mercedes Henriksson mentioned residents' objections and asked why Weston was altering its parks while other parks in Broward County were keeping their sand.

City Manager John Flint had the answer: Those parks had not been sued. Weston had.

People like Madriñán are the primary enforcers of the ADA, said Phyllis Resnick, president of Access Now Inc., an advocacy group based in Aventura.

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