Date: Fri 23-Oct-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Booth-Library-Baumer

Full Text:

Court Sides With Town On Library Driveway Issue

(with cut)

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

A Danbury Superior Court judge has denied a local couple's request for a

temporary injunction to prevent the neighboring Booth Library from using the

accessway to a newly-built, three-space parking lot for handicapped visitors

to the library.

The recently completed parking lot south of the library is now in use.

Edwin Baumer of 23 Main Street, who along with his wife Jean, sued the town

over the parking lot in September, said Wednesday it is unclear if he will now

seek a permanent injunction to prevent the library from using the accessway to

that handicapped lot.

First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal said he is pleased that Superior Court Judge

Howard Moraghan on Monday rejected the Baumers' request for a temporary

injunction to prevent the public from using the town-owned driveway the

Baumers also use, as a way to enter and leave the handicapped lot.

Although the Baumers have had a clear right-of-way to use the driveway since

1972, the driveway does belong to the town. The handicapped parking lot served

by the Baumer driveway is located between the library at 25 Main Street and

the Baumer home.

For the sake of safety, the town made only minor changes to an agreement

reached between it and the Baumers for providing access to the parking lot via

the Baumers' driveway, Mr Rosenthal said.

"I'm very pleased the judge found there is no merit to his (Baumer) request,"

Mr Rosenthal said.

Signs will be posted informing motorists that access to the handicapped

parking lot is available via Main Street, Mr Rosenthal said.

The handicapped-accessible lot was built to make the expanded library as

accessible as possible to the public, he said.

In a lawsuit filed September 2 in Danbury Superior Court, the Baumers seek a

temporary restraining order to: prevent the town from working at the

construction site; prevent the impairment of their property rights; and

prevent their driveway from serving as a public accessway to the library,

among other relief. Attorney Randall Carreira represents the Baumers in the

lawsuit.

The Baumers have long argued with the library and the town over the expansion

of Booth Library. The Baumers filed several lawsuits in the past against the

town in seeking to prevent the expansion. The expanded library opened to the

public last January.

After the library was expanded, the spaces that had been designated for

handicapped parking in the library's large rear parking lot were found to be

inadequate under the terms of the federal Americans With Disabilities Act.

Handicapped parking plans were then revised to provide access to a small

handicapped lot from the library's rear lot.

The Baumers, however, contended that such an arrangement would create an

exitway from the large rear parking lot to Main Street via their driveway.

In yet another revision to the plans, the Baumers and the library in June

reached a written agreement to instead provide access to the handicapped lot

directly from Main Street via the Baumer's driveway.

In their lawsuit, the Baumers contend that the library and the town later

breached that agreement and gained approval for a revised site plan over the

Baumers objections to it.

In the lawsuit, the Baumers contend that the use of their driveway for access

to the handicapped lot constitutes retribution against them for their past

opposition to the library expansion project.