Is the condo in question a Public Housing, or privately owned? My own home does not need to be handicapped accessible. And if I put it up for sale to the general public, I would not have to make it handicapped accessible to a disabled potential buyer -- it is the responsibility of disabled people to make their own homes outfitted to their own needs. Same goes for my neighbors -- they do not need to spend a dime on my own needs, even if I were to become disabled, it is no concern of theirs. It's not any different when you own a condo in a 10 story condo building.
Quite a few of my rehab patients get on wait lists for first floor accommodations with public or private housing, and usually get priority on those. Stair lifts are possible in some situations, but are often not feasible and are very expensive solutions. A lot of public places put them in for just one flight of steps to access a building from the outside just because they are more compact than ADA accessible ramps.
Actually ADA applies to anything public - it was Section 504 and 508 that was Federal funded only. Accessibility benefits more than just the one person in the long run, I think. The exceptions to ADA are "undue burden" (i.e. extreme expense that could bankrupt a small business) ones for the most part, or unfeasibility or no way to do it without altering the historic nature of a structure. There is probably a win-win way to do it - see if a local Center for Independent Living (CIL) offers consultation. And sometimes there may be tax breaks for the owner or builder too.
Thanks for the explanation. I can understand that a door to common entries would need to be secure. I think perhaps a way around the issue might have been to install a coded access, somewhat away from the door so the woman could enter her code, as could others, eliminating the need for keys. But, as you write, that was sometime ago and perhaps it's no longer even an issue.
Gardenartist, it was many years ago & the president of the association was way more involved with the situation than I (as a mere board member) was. It was a security door. She was not the only resident. Other residents also needed access to the entry. Residents needed a key to enter the common hallway. I don't think the woman had taken that into consideration. So we could not just replace the security door with a automatic door. It had do do with city building & fire codes. That is all that I know.
cheribob, I'm curious why an automatic door would violate the fire code. They're in hospitals and many medical facilities and very helpful to folks with walkers and/or wheelchairs.
I am on my condo's board. We have a woman living on the property who is a quadraplegic. She asked & was granted permission to build a ramp to the front door of her condo building. However, she bore the entire cost & she must maintain the ramp. She also lives on the first floor.
She even sued the condo association for permission to install an automatic door to the lobby of her building. We had to get the city & fire department involved to explain that that would be against fire code.
Best solution would be to move. Asking a homeowner's association to spend money on anything that only benefits one unit, is just not going to work. You can try, but I doubt your efforts will be successful. Instead, turn your energy to finding a suitable living situation that will meet your needs for the next 10-15 years.
Woodmont, your profile states that your husband is living in your home, so, perhaps you can find some other means to address the difficulty of stairs to the second floor.
I agree with Igloo that it's time to consider a more accommodating living environment; perhaps you could move to a condo unit that's all on one floor, within the same condo complex.
In the meantime, think about ways to move the bedroom to a downstairs room, perhaps study, or even a portion of the living room. At this point, accommodations are more important than appearance, so I would consider what's workable so that he can live on the first floor without having to face going up the stairs.
If there are outdoor steps, read the condo by-laws and covenants; they should have been provided to you when you purchased the condo. If not, ask the condo management for copies.
They might address what accommodations you can make to the exterior to allow him to safely get in and out of the condo, so you can address that issue as well as the interior challenges.
If you have an attached garage, you can add a handrail and/or ramp from the living portion into the garage. But it wouldn't hurt to also check the condo rules to make sure that they don't prohibit accommodations inside the garage.
ADA requirements are for public accommodations & for entities who get state or federal funding or get state or federal classifications (so private schools & churches have to have accommodations) but a privately owned building does not have to. Now they do have to be fire & safety compliant & your local fire dept should have done inspections for this.
As an aside on this, my mom was in IL in a tiered community (IL, AL, NH & hospice unit). Now the IL was a 3 story small apts building & with a lawn & garden between apts and the main building where meals & activities done. Every month, they had fire drills where all IL residents needed to be able to do the stairs independently and get outside. If they couldn't, then they would be asked to move from IL. The IL had ramps, handicapped grab bars throughout the hallways, entry's, in the laundry room; automatic wide doors but residents were expected to be able to be ambulatory. And this was a place where all residents were all over 75 and most had some sort of wheeled chair/walker that accompanied them to daily lunch.
If hubs is unable to safely do what is needed to live at the condos, then it's time to look for another living situation. it's unfortunately the harsh reality of the situation.
Thanks for the update!
She even sued the condo association for permission to install an automatic door to the lobby of her building. We had to get the city & fire department involved to explain that that would be against fire code.
I agree with Igloo that it's time to consider a more accommodating living environment; perhaps you could move to a condo unit that's all on one floor, within the same condo complex.
In the meantime, think about ways to move the bedroom to a downstairs room, perhaps study, or even a portion of the living room. At this point, accommodations are more important than appearance, so I would consider what's workable so that he can live on the first floor without having to face going up the stairs.
If there are outdoor steps, read the condo by-laws and covenants; they should have been provided to you when you purchased the condo. If not, ask the condo management for copies.
They might address what accommodations you can make to the exterior to allow him to safely get in and out of the condo, so you can address that issue as well as the interior challenges.
If you have an attached garage, you can add a handrail and/or ramp from the living portion into the garage. But it wouldn't hurt to also check the condo rules to make sure that they don't prohibit accommodations inside the garage.
As an aside on this, my mom was in IL in a tiered community (IL, AL, NH & hospice unit). Now the IL was a 3 story small apts building & with a lawn & garden between apts and the main building where meals & activities done. Every month, they had fire drills where all IL residents needed to be able to do the stairs independently and get outside. If they couldn't, then they would be asked to move from IL. The IL had ramps, handicapped grab bars throughout the hallways, entry's, in the laundry room; automatic wide doors but residents were expected to be able to be ambulatory. And this was a place where all residents were all over 75 and most had some sort of wheeled chair/walker that accompanied them to daily lunch.
If hubs is unable to safely do what is needed to live at the condos, then it's time to look for another living situation. it's unfortunately the harsh reality of the situation.