CAI-NJ June 2017

Accessibility Issues for Repaving Projects in New Jersey Condominium Communities By John McGowan, Project Manager, The Falcon Group, Falcon Engineering & Architecture

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A 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. • 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 These arguments happen in every repair project: • We did not have accessible spaces before

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. CONT I NU E S ON PAGE 20

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