City of Fort Collins ADA Transition Plan#

The Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), enacted on July 26, 1990, and updated on September 14, 2010, provides comprehensive civil rights protections to individuals with disabilities in the areas of employment, state and local government services, public accommodations, and telecommunications.

This Federal civil rights regulation implements Title II of the ADA, which applies to state and local governments.  The Title II regulations are similar and based on the earlier Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Section 504 as amended, which prohibits discrimination based on disability in federally assisted programs and activities. 

The 1991 Americans with Disability Act, (ADA) set regulations requiring all public entities, regardless of size, to evaluate their services, policies, practices, and facilities to determine whether the entity’s programs, when viewed in their entirety, were accessible to persons with disabilities.  In addition, public entities with 50 or more employees were required to develop a transition plan detailing any structural changes that would be undertaken to achieve program access and specifying a time frame for their completion.  While the 2010 regulation does not specifically require public entities to conduct a new self-evaluation or develop a new transition plan, the City of Fort Collins evaluates its services, programs, activities, web accessibility and facilities, as documented in this Transition Plan.

The ADA states that no individual with a disability can be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of the services, programs, or activities of a public entity, or be subjected to discrimination of any sort by any public entity.  The City of Fort Collins ensures that people with disabilities, visible or invisible, have the same rights and opportunities to city programming as anyone else.  Title II of the ADA essentially extends the non-discrimination mandate of section 504 to all State and local government services, programs, and activities including those provided by The City of Fort Collins and to assist with ensuring ADA compliance.  The following Transition Plan is created for this purpose.

City of Fort Collins (City) offers parks, trails, natural areas, and recreation facilities as an invitation to all community members to sustain and build wellness, curiosity, innovation, and community—as part of the city’s iconic, interconnected network of public space.  Transition Plans are living documents and are updated periodically as projects may arise or are completed.

Fort Collins is a recognized national leader in the provision of park and recreation opportunities, receiving multiple awards and accreditation from the Commission for Accreditation of Parks and Recreation Agencies (CAPRA). The city manages more than 937 acres of outdoor space in community and neighborhood parks; 40,000 acres of natural areas; 45 miles of paved trails; three municipal golf courses; and ten specialized community recreation facilities. These recreation opportunities serve a population estimated at 171,000 people within the city limits, and more than 356,899 living in greater Larimer County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 9.8 percent of residents in Larimer County under the age of 65 have identified as having at least one functional impairment that affects their daily life activity. Nationally, disability can affect one in every five individuals; and two out of every seven families. Thus, in the City of Fort Collins and surrounding county, it is likely that 20-25 percent of the population are affected directly as an individual with a disability or having a family member with a disability. As such, inclusion of people with disabilities is at the forefront of city-offered services.

Public input for improvements and suggestions can be sent to adacoordinator@fcgov.com.

DISABILITY ADVISORY BOARD#

The City utilizes a Disability Advisory Board (DAB) to serve as an advisor to the City Council and staff on disability and accessibility issues. In turn, the DAB is a liaison between City departments, the private business sector, and the community of citizens who live with a disability. Within the last seven years, the city has reorganized its ADA compliance program and appointed a Lead Equal Opportunity and Compliance Specialist as the contact person who is dedicated to accessibility who works as a staff liaison for the DAB.

Learn more about Boards & Commissions

ADA Accessibility#

In 2024, a review of the City’s efforts to implement accessibility improvements were specific to parks, trails and natural areas. During our most recent review, the areas accessed use a Priority listing as seen below to recognize a program access deficiency:

Priority 1-Barriers or deficiencies significantly prohibit persons with disabilities from utilizing City programs or services or participate in such programs or services. Immediate attention is needed to correct the deficiency.

Priority 2- A deficiency that inhibits a person with a disability from utilizing a facility/program/service independently.

Priority 3-Facility/program/service deficiency affects the convenience of accessibility for persons with disabilities.

Priority 4- A minor deficiency is recognized, and an improvement is needed to meet the new construction 2010 ADA Standards. 

Designated ADA Coordinator#

The City of Fort Collins has designated the Lead Equal Opportunity Compliance Specialist, Jan Reece, as the ADA Coordinator and person responsible for the Transition Plan.  This responsibility includes organizing meetings with the Transition Plan Team, collecting information from the public regarding ADA concerns and inaccessibility, and effective coordination of the City’s efforts to comply and carry out the responsibilities of compliance. 

ADA Coordinator
300 Laporte Avenue, Fort Collins, CO  80521
adacoordinator@fcgov.com 
(970) 416-4254

Public Notice on ADA Requirements#

The City of Fort Collins, Colorado (the "City") provides public notice that it is committed to assuring full compliance with, and is prohibited by law from violating, all civil rights provisions of federal statutes and related authorities that prohibit discrimination in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance. These laws include but are not limited to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VI"), the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987 (P.L. 100.259), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act (the "Fair Housing Act"), and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, as amended. The City of Fort Collins does not, on the grounds of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, marital status, religion or familial status, discriminate against persons in the provision of its programs, services or activities. https://www.fcgov.com/legal/non-discrimination

Reporting ADA Concerns and ADA Grievance Procedure#

Any person who believes they have been discriminated against in City programming, services, or activities in violation ADA law or other protections can file a concern, a formal complaint or a request for reasonable accommodation. Complaints must be submitted within one hundred and eighty (180) calendar days of the date of the alleged discrimination. You may complete the appropriate form located at the link below and send via email to adacoordinator@fcgov.com.  A person may also print and mail the completed form to:

City of Fort Collins
ADA Coordinator
300 Laporte Avenue
Building A
Fort Collins 80521

Or you may present the form in person to any department.  For more information, please visit our city website at https://www.fcgov.com/legal/non-discrimination.

The goal of our Transition Team, through department self-evaluations and public input, is to foster accessibility to all.  The 2025 Transition Plan Excel Sheet will be posted in the Spring. Our 2024 Transition Plan includes the Excel spreadsheet below so that you, the public, may monitor our City efforts