Disabling Actions

Disabling Actions

To someone in a wheelchair, Sierra Pointe is an unfriendly place. In some respects, it is downright nasty. I do realize this, and I can sympathize with people that face those challenges. So, when a resident in our complex encounters a health problem that can classify them as disabled, the first thought is that the HOA needs to make handicapped accommodations, in order to better serve the greater community. The initial requests that have been made over the years can seem simple at first. Some want curb cuts and ramps at the parking lots. Some need extra handrails. Most of the time though, a resident is wanting someone thrown out of their covered parking spot, so they can park closer to their unit. The reasons for making requests can vary greatly, from needing a walker to get around, or suffering from a broken foot, or the more common claim of having poor leg circulation.

Though on the surface, such small requests can seem like negligible issues. However, once the legal issue is brought to light, it becomes more of a situation similar to throwing a rock at a hornet’s nest. The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) laws can be a very tricky road to navigate.

What is not realized, is that if older properties that were built before the ADA laws came into effect start to make accommodations, they can be forced by federal law to make the facilities 100% ADA accessible!

Sierra Pointe was built in 1974, just a few years short of when the ADA laws were adopted in the United States. As a result, Sierra Pointe never had any handicapped accessibility designed into the complex. There are numerous stairs and steps throughout our walkways. We have no handicapped ramps, and no curb cuts at the parking lot paths. Also, we have no handicapped accessible parking spaces. The cost of bringing Sierra Pointe up to current ADA code would start in the hundreds of thousands of dollars! An expense of that magnitude could easily bankrupt our HOA overnight, and leave our homes and property virtually worthless.

In the field of architecture, it is part of the job when you have to deal with clients that have been sued for not having their facilities ADA accessible. The lawsuits often come from a visitor to a site, who for no other reason feels like he or she is being actively discriminated against. If such an issue happens to pass over the desk of some local politician who is up for re-election, the fight from there can just get downright nasty. Using Federal law, which “technically” does not have any “legal authority,” building owners and developers were forced by judges to make extensive modifications to existing buildings, in order to make them handicapped accessible. What it cost, didn’t matter to the judge. That was the owner’s problem. In some cases, the owner was forced to refinance their properties in order to raise the needed funds.

Since Sierra Point was built when it was, we are officially “grandfathered” in respects to the ADA laws. Since we are also considered a private complex, and not a public facility, we cannot be forced to make ADA accommodations. HOWEVER, this is a conditional situation. There are a couple things that can break our grandfathered status, and force federal law right up to our doorsteps.

For one, we can have no business here at the complex that would change our status to a public facility. The daycare facility to our West side was once a part of this complex, but was sold off quite possibly for that very reason! Also, we cannot rent out the club house for public businesses, or charge public admission for our swimming pool.

Secondly, in order to keep our status as an “ADA unfriendly” complex, the HOA cannot in any way pay for or sponsor any ADA modification! If we do, it can be viewed by a judge as an attempt to become ADA compliant, and force a court order to make the complex 100% accessible! The lawsuit does not even have to be filed by a Sierra Pointe Resident! All it takes is a complaint from a visitor to start an investigation, and the filing of a lawsuit.

NOW, all this being said, is a disabled Sierra Pointe resident out in the cold? Not necessarily! As I stated, no modification can be made, or paid for by the HOA. However, there is nothing in the law about an individual resident making modifications, at their own expense! For necessary accommodations, this has been the practice of the board of directors since the birth of the HOA. A resident can petition the board for permission to make the modifications, be it a handrail to their unit, or a ramp to their deck. The board can then make a conditional approval to the homeowner. The conditions are that the homeowner does the work, pays for it themselves, and then removes all modifications when they sell their unit and leave. It is this very loophole that keeps Sierra Pointe on the “right side” of these laws.

I realize that it makes us feel good to say we are doing all we can for the disadvantaged among us. However, we live in an imperfect world, and yes, an imperfect complex. The price of that good feeling, unfortunately, would force our complex into financial ruin. But, it does not mean that someone who is facing the obstacles of being disabled at Sierra Pointe is completely without hope. So long as the above mentioned procedures are followed, accommodations can be made that won’t require special assessments to each and every unit in this complex, or force the association into bankruptcy.