ABC7 Chicago I-Team helps woman get disabled parking spot in front of Brainerd home after red tape

CHICAGO (WLS) -- An ABC7 Chicago I-Team investigation helped spark results for a Chicago woman trying to get a parking spot for people with disabilities in front of her home.

One local woman says the city of Chicago told her it could take up to a year to get the spot in front of her home. But now, there's a sign of progress, outside of her door.

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It took calls, persistence, appeals and a push from the I-Team.

"My eyes just started twinkling, and I just felt victory at last," Bridget Vann said.

Vann says that sound meant everything: the installation of a long-awaited parking sign for her husband, who's recovering from a tragic accident and is still bed-bound.

Vann applied for a parking spot for people with disabilities outside her Brainerd neighborhood home at the end of last year, but ran into a wall of red tape. She says she was told it could take six months to a year for the process to be complete. Then, she was denied a spot because of a detached garage, but Vann won her appeal because her husband's car does not fit in the garage. Plus, the garage is farther from the home than the spot is.

"It's a big relief. Because, like I said, we needed this spot," Vann said.

In April, the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities emailed her, and said she had "... been placed on the pending installation list," but that the installation could still take "...a few months."

Vann said she still wasn't getting answers in June. So, she reached out to the I-Team again.

The spot was installed days after the I-Team reached out again.

"They just kept telling me that I'm in queue. OK, well, that was a heck of queue. I reached back out to you, and 48 hours later, like I say, I heard the ping ping ping. I'll never forget that sound," Vann said.

The city says it installs more than 1,300 parking locations for people with disabilities each year. The city says it's committed to processing applications quickly, but the process can take up to six months or more due to multiple steps and approvals.

Anyone who has been denied a spot can appeal through the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities.