West Wildwood Woman’s Handicap Parking Spot Returned; Son Seeks National Mandate

WEST WILDWOOD — Eighty-year-old Frances Dalessio can breathe a sigh of relief. A handicap designation sign was reinstalled, along with a painted blue curb on March 28 in front of her West Glenwood Avenue home.
According to the octogenarian’s son, Dan Dalessio, signage marking the spot outside his mother’s house was returned early this week.
The sign, along with the blue painted curb, was removed in early February, creating a maelstrom of questions and accusations.
According to Dan Dalessio, the handicapped space outside the house was just what his mother needed in order to remain mobile. In a February interview with the Herald her son said his mother cannot walk great distances because of lung problems and problems with her legs.
In November 2011 a letter was sent from the borough to Dalessio’s Glenwood Ave-nue address telling Frances Dalessio the handicap parking space outside her home was up for review. The 80-year-old sent the borough what she thought was the documentation necessary to keep her spot.
While staying at her son’s home in Pennsylvania Dalessio received a phone call from a neighbor in the borough telling her that the handicapped parking sign outside her home had been removed and the blue curb designating a handicapped spot had been repainted gray.
In their quest for the reasoning for the removal of the sign, Frances Dalessio, accompanied by her family, went to the Feb. 3 Borough Commissioners’ meeting.
During the meeting, the Dalessio family was told the matter remained under review.
“I’m here on behalf of my aunt,” said Ben Powell, of Ridley Park, Pa. at the February meeting, “I’m curious, who has the audacity to take down a handicapped placard that’s been there since the early 2000s?”
“That is a matter that is being reviewed,” replied Mayor Chuck Frederick. “I believe the sign that was there had expired and a new application was made and that is being reviewed.”
“So you take that down automatically?” asked Powell.
“There is no ordinance and no state law to support it,” said Frederick. “It is under review.”
A review was completed after borough officials received documentation of Frances Dallesio’s infirmity.
“She submitted the necessary documentation,” said Borough Administrator Chris Rid-ings. “It was reviewed by the Director of Public Safety and it was determined the sign was needed.”
“I’m glad Mom got it back,” Dan Dalessio told the Herald. “My mom said ‘You’ll never get my spot back, Danny.’”
Dan Dalessio commented that his ardor for getting the sign returned was to keep his mother active.
“I want her to be active,” he said. “At 80, I want her to keep moving. I was at the beck and call of the mayor who had a grudge against my mother.”
Now that Dan Dalessio has fought city hall he told the Herald he hopes to take this issue to a national level.
“This loophole shouldn’t have happened,” he said. “I’m only aware of it because of my mother.”
Dan Dalessio would like to see some national legislation where handicapped designa-tion for parking spaces would be honored throughout each of the 50 states and not overseen by local municipalities.
Dan Dalessio explained while parking spots in businesses are covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), parking spots on municipal streets are not.
“I called Americans with Disabilities in Newark,” he said. “And I was told unless it’s a condo complex, they couldn’t help me. There should be a mandate.”