Recently, when I was planning to meet a friend for lunch in Amherst, I searched for a restaurant that could accommodate my friend’s wheelchair. In order for the arms of his wheelchair to fit under the table, he needed 30 inches of space from the floor to the bottom of the tabletop. Armed with a tape measure, I searched several restaurants downtown that were open at lunchtime, but none of them had tables high enough. My friend had put a stool under the legs of the table, but the tables at the downtown restaurants either had pedestals that made the stool unusable, or had a bar between the legs that would get in the way of his wheelchair.
We gave up on our lunch date, and I wrote the Disability Access Advisory Committee (DAAC) (soon to be the Disability Commission) to ask if they could advocate for the restaurant to be more wheelchair-friendly. I received a quick response from DEI Director Pamela Nolan Young, my DAAC liaison, who told me my request would be on the commission’s agenda for the following week’s meeting.
During discussion at the meeting, they learned that furniture is not included in ADA regulations. One committee member said that sometimes people bring trays for meals when the tables are too low. The committee suggested drafting a letter to be published in the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce newsletter, encouraging restaurant members to consider raising their tables a little higher.
The committee also advised us that the Amherst Public House is a wheelchair friendly restaurant. We took a tape measure and found that the table height was 29.5 inches. My friend’s wheelchair fit under the table and we enjoyed a pleasant lunch. We thank the DAAC for their advice and assistance.
Maura Keane
Maura Keene is a resident of Amherst’s Third Ward.