'HC fixtures not required at this time'

On a recent walk past the newly-constructed building at 2836 Frankfort Ave., I saw this building permit in the window of what is going to become an upscale wine shop.



I stopped to read the thing.

The photo above shows the permit. The "Work Description" reads

Interior reno for "Taste Fine Wine & Spirits" Lodge 820 Live Work Design. All constr shall comply w/2007 KY Bldg Code.

It goes on to discuss various requirements:

1st Time Tenant Existing Sprinklers & 2 HR fire separation walls shall be maintained" and "New restrm off private office shall have HC floor space provided."

Well, well, well," I thought, "here it is right in the permit, where they are requiring new buildings to have an accessible restroom."

Or . . . not.

The sentence continues, "but HC fixtures" -- that's "handicap fixtures," in their lingo, aka accessible fixtures -- "are not required at this time."

Here's a photo that shows a closeup of this wording.



Oh well. So close, but no cigar. Or, in this case, no real access.

One wonders why the heck IPL is requiring a "HP restrm" but without "HP fixtures." It's how they interpret the KY Building Code, no doubt. It's a crabbed and venal interpretation, and from all I've heard in the past, they are remarkably unwilling to change their approach.

New report from AARP gives weight to visitability

As I noted yesterday, the AARP has come out with a new report on visitability.

Increasing Home Access: Designing for Visitability was put together by Concrete Change founder Eleanor Smith and the folks at the University of Buffalo's IDEA Center -- the two national expert sources on visitability. The fact that AARP has embraced the concept should give this very important trend the push it needs. It is a trend that's far too slow in coming!

I'd like to see Louisville get behind the visitability movement. Even with the economic downturn, new houses go up all the time. It would be great if, like Pima County, Arizona, these homes could have at least one no-step entrance and a bathroom on the ground-level floor that visitors in wheelchairs can use. Those are 2 of the 3 simple requirements of "visitability." The other is also a no-brainer: Doorways and halls wide enough to get through in a wheelchair.

Visitability makes USAToday news

After a 3-month summer hiatus, I'm baaacccckkk!

Today's blog isn't about Louisville access, though -- but about housing access nationwide.

USAToday reports on the trend toward 'visitability' in a news story published today.

Almost 60 state and local governments have passed initiatives — some mandatory but most voluntary — asking all builders to include at least three features in new houses to help seniors and the disabled: no steps at the entrance, a bathroom on the ground floor and wider doorways.

These, of course, are the 3 keystones of visitability.

USAToday's story was prompted by AARP's new study on visitability, which I'll link to when it becomes available on its site.

It's interesting to read the comments to the article as well. The first few are of the "bravo!" variety:

...[P]eople friendly housing makes sense, and not just for the elderly, but for the middle age forty ish who may not want to admit that some things are not as easy as they used to be. Extra wide doorways, no step entryways, lever door hand handles and reinforced bathroom walls benifit us all. Furniture can be moved from room to room with relative ease, appliances can be wheeled into the when delivered instead of being bounced up the entry stair.

and

Accessible homes are not only for the elderly. There are children and younger adults with disabilities and countless veterans included. All homes should be built to accommodate wheelchairs. People have relatives, friends and other visitors who should be accommodated.

But then comment trollers found the story, and started yelling about "government mandates".