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s communities age, repair and replacement of
capital improvements to the sitework eventually must
be performed. Roads, curbs, sidewalks and storm
water collection systems all eventually wear out and have
to be replaced. All members of the community are keenly
aware of the areas that hold water, become icy in the win-
ter and cause soaked feet in the summer. These concerns
are valid and should be addressed, but the one area that
rarely gets the consideration it deserves is accessibility for
people with disabilities.
These arguments happen in every repair project:
• We did not have accessible spaces before
• Compliance with current code will cost parking spaces
for non-disabled residents that we can’t afford to lose
• Our community has no residents with disabilities
• Costs to replace steps with ramps and install dropped
curbs are prohibitive
Most communities don’t even want to discuss the issue.
Just repave it as it was. That may be possible, or it could
cause major problems for the community later on. A short
primer on the issue follows.
The main controlling legal authorities on these issues in
Accessibility Issues
for Repaving Projects
in New Jersey
Condominium Communities
By John McGowan, Project Manager,
The Falcon Group, Falcon Engineering & Architecture
© iStockphoto.com
New Jersey exist under three main categories: Federal,
State and Local.
Federal
The common term used by most people when discussing
these issues is the Americans with Disabilities Act (The
ADA). This is the Federal Law which deals with accessibility
issues. The good news is that, for most residential commu-
nities, the ADA has no impact. For the ADA to have control
there has to be a commercial component for the use in a
facility that is open to the general public (a place of public
accommodation). Additionally, the use has to fall into one
or more of twelve very specific categories. The Department
of Justice provides technical guidance on the ADA and
defines private residential communities which restrict access
to owners, residents and their guests as not publically
accessible, therefore not governed under the ADA.
There are cases where private residential communities could
have uses that are impacted by the ADA. Examples would
include communities that open memberships to their pool or
gym to non-residents. Also, a sales or rental office inside a
community would need to comply with the provisions in the
ADA. For most communities though, the ADA has little impact.
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