Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Disabled S. Philly girl to get front-of-home parking

The Philadelphia Parking Authority said Monday it would grant a wheelchair-accessible parking space for a severely disabled 12-year-old South Philadelphia girl, reversing an April decision to deny the spot because she hadn't gotten a neighbor's permission.

Salina Sok, 12, whose mother Nil filed a lawsuit on her behalf against the Philadelphia Parking Authority, can't leave the house when the van that transports her isn't able to park out front. Her mother tried to get a handicapped parking sign infront of their rowhouse on Mifflin Street near 4th, but when her neighbors didn't give permission, the PPA denied it.
Salina Sok, 12, whose mother Nil filed a lawsuit on her behalf against the Philadelphia Parking Authority, can't leave the house when the van that transports her isn't able to park out front. Her mother tried to get a handicapped parking sign infront of their rowhouse on Mifflin Street near 4th, but when her neighbors didn't give permission, the PPA denied it.Read more

The Philadelphia Parking Authority said Monday it would grant a wheelchair-accessible parking space for a severely disabled 12-year-old South Philadelphia girl, reversing an April decision to deny the spot because she hadn't gotten a neighbor's permission.

The Daily News reported Friday that Salina Sok's mother had filed a federal lawsuit against the PPA on her daughter's behalf, claiming that the requirement to get the consent of one of their next-door neighbors violated her rights.

The PPA's executive director, Vince Fenerty, said in a statement e-mailed Monday to the Daily News he had approved Sok's application "due to the extraordinary circumstances present in this matter."

Fenerty also directed that installation of the reserved residential parking-zone signs "begin as soon as possible after consideration of the presence of utility lines and other installation issues."

PPA rules require a neighbor's permission for a reserved, wheelchair-accessible spot when the width of the house is less than 20 feet. The Soks' Mifflin Street rowhouse is 18 feet wide.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal district court, alleged that the authority had discriminated against Sok and that no federal or state law mandates a neighbor's consent to determine who can park on a public street.

David Ferleger, the Soks' attorney, said yesterday he was "thrilled the authority recognized they made a mistake. I'm looking forward to [Salina's] getting the parking space that she has a right to."

The lawsuit sought unspecified damages, a court order requiring the authority to give the family a reserved parking space and a ruling throwing out the need for a neighbor's consent.

Before the PPA's decision was announced yesterday, Ferleger filed court papers asking a federal judge to set a hearing requiring the authority to grant Sok's application for a reserved wheelchair-accessible parking space.

"Plaintiff Salina Sok is harmed and put at risk every day of every week by the denial" of the reserved parking space, the hearing request said.

Salina Sok has permanent brain damage, is unable to crawl or walk and communicates by crying, the lawsuit said, and has virtually around-the-clock nursing care and medical needs.

When a car is parked in front of her home, which is ramped for wheelchair access, Sok's school bus cannot pick her up or drop her off because there is no room for its wheelchair ramp, the lawsuit said. She attends school five days a week.

Ferleger said the case is not over. "We still have a very substantial damage claim for the 269 days that have passed since the parking authority denied Salina's application."