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FCPG endorses site plan exemption for Boys and Girls Club handicapped ramp

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

In 2020, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors awarded the Boys and Girls Club of North County $190,108 of Community Development Block Grant funding for a disabled access ramp. The property in the 400 block of Ivy Street is subject to site plan requirements, but the county can also grant a site plan waiver. On March 21 the Fallbrook Community Planning Group recommended that a site plan exemption be granted.

The planning group voted 14-0, with Anna Strahan absent, to recommend the site plan exemption. “We’re glad that they’re doing it. It will make handicapped access much easier for those at the Boys and Girls Club,” said planning group chair Eileen Delaney.

Community Development Block Grant projects are intended to revitalize lower-income communities. The funding is provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The CDBG funding for the design and construction of a ramp at the Boys and Girls Club which meets Americans with Disabilities Act standards will create a new accessible entrance into the facility and increase access for individuals with disabilities. The $190,108 included $3,408 for environmental review.

“It will definitely help a lot of our children and families access our programs much easier,” said Boys and Girls Club CEO Allison Barclay.

The Boys and Girls Club building was once the location of Fallbrook High School. “It’s a very old building,” Barclay said.

The building was constructed before the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. An outside elevator has been installed, although that has limitations. Barclay noted that replacing the elevator with a handicapped ramp will help citizens with strollers and canes as well as with wheelchairs.

The grant agreement with HUD requires the funding to be spent by June 30. The site plan waiver will allow completion by that date. “It just needed to get approval from the planning group before the county would sign off on the plan,” Barclay said.

 

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