LAKEWOOD, Colo. -- The state civil rights division has been asked to weigh in on a dispute between a disabled veteran who says he needs a handicap parking space and the Jewell Lake Condominium Association which says he hasn’t demonstrated a need.

Marcus Cook told 7NEWS that he frequently parked his vehicle along the west side curb, in a spot marked in paint with the international handicap parking symbol, until the parking lot was resealed.

“When the HOA redid the lot, they covered the handicap parking symbol and never repainted it,” he said.

Forrest Scruggs, of the property management company, Realty One, Inc., disputes Cook’s claim, saying there never was a handicap parking spot in that location.

Scruggs said the area is a fire lane.

The veteran points out that the area is not marked as a fire lane.

Cook, 67, says he is 100 percent disabled.

He said he suffers neuropathy, is losing the feeling in his feet and is coming to terms with the realization that he needs to use a wheelchair.

He said that when he learned the HOA was going to reseal the parking lot, he contacted the board president and requested that work not commence until the assignment of spaces was worked out.

He said he was ignored.

“The board president, Philip Eves, took it upon himself to decide that there would be no handicap parking,” Cook said.

It’s not the first time that Cook and the HOA board of directors have been at odds.

In a rebuttal letter, the association’s attorney said that when Cook purchased his unit in April 2008, he immediately began altering surrounding vegetation and structures within the general common area.

The letter states that when the board informed Cook that he couldn’t unilaterally make alterations to the common area, he became irate.

It further states that Cook has frequently threatened litigation against the HOA.

Cook said he just wants to be left alone. He said the board members are power hungry and are getting involved in things they shouldn’t be involved in.

He said when he purchased a van and notified the board that he wanted a parking space large enough to accommodate the vehicle so he could load and unload his wheelchair, he was again ignored.

“They told me I should get a smaller van,” he said. “They said, out of the blue, that the area where I used to park was now a fire lane and they made fun of me for asking for a parking spot in the fire lane.”

The association’s rebuttal letter states that no one else has asked for a handicap parking space and that other owners who are disabled have managed to park their vehicles inside their own garage.

The letter said Cook has a garage space and has been assigned regular space out in the lot.

The veteran said that space is only 9 feet wide and is not big enough to load or unload his wheelchair from the van.

Cook also maintains that it’s not up to the association to tell him what kind, or size, of vehicle he should drive.

Attorney Kevin Williams, of the Colorado Cross Disability Coalition, said, “Parking spaces are, for some reason, a huge battleground, where people with disabilities want something from their HOA.”

Williams said the HOA’s claim that the area where Cook used to park is now a fire lane is not the end of the story.

“They still have to accommodate him if he can demonstrate that he has a disability and he can show why he needs that closer space,” Williams said.

Williams said that accommodation may mean that they have to work with the other homeowners to find him a closer space or one that meets his needs.

When asked how he can demonstrate that he has a disability and needs a handicap parking space, Williams said, “Generally, a letter from a doctor backing up what you’re saying should be sufficient.”

Cook’s attorney, William Lahey, replied to the HOA’s rebuttal with a letter stating that the veteran is 100 percent disabled, that his vehicles have been handicapped plated for 15 years, and that he has requested special training for hand controls to operate the van, because of progressive loss of feeling in the legs which will prevent him from driving normal vehicles.

Kevin Williams said he’s represented hundreds of clients in similar situations.

“They always get called a troublemaker,” Williams said. “When you demand your civil rights, sometimes you come across as a little angry. That’s OK.”