ADA Parking Lot Compliance in Brookings, Oregon: 2026 Guide

ADA Parking Compliance in Brookings

Brookings anchors the far southern Oregon coast in Curry County, just north of the California line. Its mild "banana belt" climate draws steady visitor traffic to the Port of Brookings Harbor, the downtown shops along Chetco Avenue, and the businesses serving Highway 101. That traffic includes customers, employees, and visitors with disabilities — and every commercial lot that serves them carries the same federal and state accessibility obligations as a lot in Portland or Salem.

ADA compliance is both a legal duty and a practical one. Non-compliance exposes a Brookings business to federal civil penalties, private lawsuits with attorney fees, and Oregon state enforcement. More to the point, accessible parking determines whether a meaningful share of customers can reach your front door. This 2026 guide covers the essentials for Brookings property owners. For the complete statewide breakdown, start with our ADA parking compliance guide for Oregon.

How Many Accessible Spaces Brookings Lots Need

The required number of accessible stalls scales with your total parking count under the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design:

Total Parking Spaces	Required Accessible Spaces	Van-Accessible Minimum
1–25	1	1
26–50	2	1
51–75	3	1
76–100	4	1
101–150	5	1
151–200	6	1

At least one of every six accessible stalls (rounded up) must be van-accessible. Most Brookings lots — a harbor restaurant, a Chetco Avenue storefront, a medical office — sit in the smaller tiers and need one or two accessible stalls, with the first always van-accessible. Outpatient medical and rehabilitation facilities carry higher ratios (10 to 20 percent). Our how many accessible spaces your lot needs page walks through the full count table and rounding rules.

Stall and Aisle Dimensions

• Standard accessible stall: minimum 8 feet wide with a 5-foot access aisle.
• Van-accessible stall: 8 feet wide with an 8-foot access aisle, or 11 feet wide with a 5-foot aisle.
• Vertical clearance: 98 inches along the van route, at the stall, and through the access aisle.
• Access aisle: marked with diagonal hatching and NO PARKING, level with the adjacent stall, and connected to a continuous accessible route to the entrance.

Two accessible stalls can share a single access aisle between them. The aisle must never be parked in or obstructed.

The 2% Slope Rule

Accessible stalls and their aisles must not exceed 2 percent slope in any direction on the finished surface. This is one of the most overlooked requirements and one of the most common to fail. Brookings sits on rolling coastal terrain, and lots built on a grade — or that have settled over years of marine-soil movement — frequently drift past tolerance. A stall that looks flat can still measure 3 or 4 percent, which is a violation. Verifying slope requires a level and, where it fails, regrading and repaving the affected area.

Signage Requirements

Each accessible stall needs a vertical sign bearing the International Symbol of Accessibility, mounted at least 60 inches from the ground to the bottom of the sign and visible when a vehicle is parked. Van-accessible stalls add a "Van Accessible" plate. Oregon requires a supplemental sign stating the fine for parking violations — a detail that distinguishes Oregon from many other states and that out-of-area sign installers often miss. Coastal wind and storms also tend to loosen and tilt sign posts, so mounting should be checked regularly. Our ADA parking sign placement guide covers heights, plates, and the fine sign in detail.

Surface and Maintenance

ADA compliance does not stop at layout. The accessible stall, aisle, and route must stay firm, stable, and slip-resistant, with no abrupt level changes over a quarter inch, no cracks wider than half an inch, no potholes, and no ponding water. Brookings's mild but very wet winters keep coastal asphalt damp for long stretches, accelerating crack growth and surface wear. Prioritize accessible areas in your seasonal maintenance plan and address trip hazards quickly.

When Repaving Triggers Upgrades

Routine maintenance — sealcoating, crack filling, patching, restriping existing markings — does not trigger ADA upgrades. But a full repave, significant reconstruction, lot expansion, or regrading counts as an "alteration," which obligates you to make the path of travel accessible, spending up to 20 percent of the project cost on accessibility improvements where the existing route is not already compliant. If you are planning to repave a Brookings lot, fold the accessibility work into the same project.

Getting Brookings Lots Compliant

The practical path is an audit followed by remediation. An audit measures every accessible element and produces a fix list; remediation handles the restriping, signs, and any grading. Our ADA compliance audit process page explains what that walkthrough involves. For local striping pricing and seasonal timing, see our parking lot striping in Brookings guide.