Neighbors Want Family's Handicap Ramp Removed

[minnie616]

As far as ramps go it's really not that bad looking. If the neighbors cared so much they would've offered to put the bushes around the ramp for them instead of spending their money on a lawyer. This country is getting uglier by the minute.

I agree.
I would have offered to buy some bushes or shrubs around the ramp too.

 

[davidtaylorjr]

Neighbors Want Family's Handicap Ramp Removed; Lawyer Weighs In

Neighbors Want Family's Handicap Ramp Removed; Lawyer Weighs In

What's the matter with these people? I read an article yesterday about a hate letter sent to the mother of a child with autism saying she should euthanize him, this is ridiculous!

 

[CanadaJohn]

We've recently had, in a suburb of Toronto, a woman who wrote to the mother of an autistic teenager in the neighborhood a hate filled, utterly disgusting letter in which she complains about the boy being noisy when in the yard and telling her to move or have the boy euthanized.

There are truly ugly people everywhere.

 

[radcen]

As far as ramps go it's really not that bad looking. If the neighbors cared so much they would've offered to put the bushes around the ramp for them instead of spending their money on a lawyer. This country is getting uglier by the minute.

It looks like they've started some planters in front, they're just not yet mature.

Also, the photographic perspective in this particular shot may distort the reality and give an incorrect illusion that it is bigger and more intrusive than it really is.

What's the matter with these people? I read an article yesterday about a hate letter sent to the mother of a child with autism saying she should euthanize him, this is ridiculous!

We've recently had, in a suburb of Toronto, a woman who wrote to the mother of an autistic teenager in the neighborhood a hate filled, utterly disgusting letter in which she complains about the boy being noisy when in the yard and telling her to move or have the boy euthanized.

There are truly ugly people everywhere.

Here's a link to a thread about that: http://www.debatepolitics.com/off-t...-telling-family-euthanize-autistic-child.html

 

[CanadaJohn]

As far as ramps go it's really not that bad looking. If the neighbors cared so much they would've offered to put the bushes around the ramp for them instead of spending their money on a lawyer. This country is getting uglier by the minute.

I'll tell you what - in our aging society, that access ramp is going to be a great selling point for some of the older people living in this community or someone who's looking after aging parents, etc.

 

[roughdraft274]

What an uppity hood. I had a renter once that was in a wheel chair and I built him a plywood ramp up the front stairs that was not real pretty but I didn't want to make anything permanent for a renter. Nobody and I mean NOBODY complained.

99.99% of the time, no body would complain. Thankfully pricks like that are in the minority.

 

[radcen]

I'll tell you what - in our aging society, that access ramp is going to be a great selling point for some of the older people living in this community or someone who's looking after aging parents, etc.

A scenario I'd like to see.

10 years from now both homes are for sale, this one and the home of the complaining neighbor.

A prospective buyer tells the complaining neighbor, "We like your house, too, but the one across the street with the handicap ramp fits our needs better, so we made them the offer instead."

 

[roughdraft274]

I'll tell you what - in our aging society, that access ramp is going to be a great selling point for some of the older people living in this community or someone who's looking after aging parents, etc.

Exactly. My Uncle and Aunt just sold there house after a realtor told them that they'd have to take a huge loss on it. Instead they sold it for asking price after 2 weeks on the market. They built it with a section for their father/father in law who lived with them. It had a master bedroom/bath, and a kitchenette. Even had his own separate back patio. Even though both patios are in the same back yard, it made him feel a little bit more independent. The realtor thought they were going to have to cut the price drastically or do some major renovations to change up the floor plan (No one want a house with two master baths and two master bedrooms, and a kitchenette etc.) Instead they had a couple buy it for the exact same purpose that they had built it for. Their parents were elderly and wanted them moved in with them, and needed a house that could accommodate them. Not quite the same as the ramp, but the same idea.

 

[Fisher]

There's no way that the neighbors will prevail in this battle. All they're accomplishing is making themselves look like heartless SOBs. Come to think of it, maybe that's what they are.

Since there is no HOA and the city approved the ramp. I think you are right.

Those neighbors would have a stroke if they lived in my neighborhood. One of the reasons we chose where we did was so we would not have to put up with neighbors like that. I don't mind that my next door neighbor on one side has so overbuilt his lot, the city won't let him put anything else on it; I don't mind that the Hispanic family across from him sometimes uses telephone poles and posts to put a tarp over their front yard when they are having a gathering; I don't mind the rental house that sporadically gets rented by college kids because the deck with the hot tub that is in full view of everybody is about twice as big as the house itself; and I hope that they do not mind that my front yard often looks like an explosion in a toy factory.

 

[radcen]

Since there is no HOA and the city approved the ramp. I think you are right.

Even if there were an HOA, would ADA have trumped it?

Honest question.

I'm thinking it might, but the fact that this is a private building and not a public building might say otherwise.

 

[Fisher]

Even if there were an HOA, would ADA have trumped it?

Honest question.

I'm thinking it might, but the fact that this is a private building and not a public building might say otherwise.

No I don't think so, not if there was a restriction on it in their deed. I am unaware of any cases at least where the courts have ruled that the ADA would trump a Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions.

 

[Arbo]

No I don't think so, not if there was a restriction on it in their deed. I am unaware of any cases at least where the courts have ruled that the ADA would trump a Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions.

So a homeowners group and trump the rights of those that are handicapped? Wow.

 

[sangha]

No I don't think so, not if there was a restriction on it in their deed. I am unaware of any cases at least where the courts have ruled that the ADA would trump a Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions.

I doubt that such a restriction would hold up in court due to its' being viewed as discriminating against the handicapped.

 

[Fisher]

So a homeowners group and trump the rights of those that are handicapped? Wow.

I doubt that such a restriction would hold up in court due to its' being viewed as discriminating against the handicapped.

Houses have multiple entrances. I'd be willing to bet it would hold up in Court of the HOA had some sort of restriction that would have come into play about where it was. I assume it would have been stopped before it was ever started actually. Someone I know spent two years battling his HOA in Court over spite regarding a small stone rooster he had in a flower bed in front of his house that he refused to remove. When he finally won on the grounds that the Declaration did not specifically prohibit them, he filled his entire front yard with concrete animals as his victory FU to his neighbors.

 

[sangha]

Houses have multiple entrances. I'd be willing to bet it would hold up in Court of the HOA had some sort of restriction that would have come into play about where it was. I assume it would have been stopped before it was ever started actually. Someone I know spent two years battling his HOA in Court over spite regarding a small stone rooster he had in a flower bed in front of his house that he refused to remove. When he finally won on the grounds that the Declaration did not specifically prohibit them, he filled his entire front yard with concrete animals as his victory FU to his neighbors.

I did a bit of googling and it turns out that because the ADA applies to public accomodations, and not private ones, HOA's can place restrictions on ramps and other accomodations for the disabled. However, there are some things a community can do that get them classified as a public accomodation (ex having a pool that is open to the public), and also some states have laws that give the disabled more protection

HOA Accommodations for Disabled Residents - HOA Lawyer Blog

 

[Fisher]

I did a bit of googling and it turns out that because the ADA applies to public accomodations, and not private ones, HOA's can place restrictions on ramps and other accomodations for the disabled. However, there are some things a community can do that get them classified as a public accomodation (ex having a pool that is open to the public), and also some states have laws that give the disabled more protection

HOA Accommodations for Disabled Residents - HOA Lawyer Blog

Thanks for the research. To be honest, I have seen lots and lots of HOA's and declarations and I don't recall ever seeing anything in one that would have affected it except maybe setback requirements.

 

[sangha]

Thanks for the research. To be honest, I have seen lots and lots of HOA's and declarations and I don't recall ever seeing anything in one that would have affected it except maybe setback requirements.

I haven't seen many, but I have heard of HOA's that state additions need approval from the board.

 

[Fisher]

I haven't seen many, but I have heard of HOA's that state additions need approval from the board.

Yep, seen those. Now where I have seen things where this could be a huge issue for people is in historical district zoning overlays. Those Historical Societies/Commissions can be Nazis when it comes to trying to change anything whatsoever, even if it is a front door or an exterior paint color.

 

[CanadaJohn]

So a homeowners group and trump the rights of those that are handicapped? Wow.

Not here they couldn't. No agreement that abrogates the rights individuals have under law is valid as it relates to those rights in question.

 

[sbrettt]

I threw up in my mouth when I read this. To be fair I was already sick, but I had not vomited yet.

 

[ChrisL]

I did a bit of googling and it turns out that because the ADA applies to public accomodations, and not private ones, HOA's can place restrictions on ramps and other accomodations for the disabled. However, there are some things a community can do that get them classified as a public accomodation (ex having a pool that is open to the public), and also some states have laws that give the disabled more protection

HOA Accommodations for Disabled Residents - HOA Lawyer Blog

Interesting. I always thought that would fall under discriminatory practices against the disabled.

 

[rhinefire]

Where do these handicapped people get off demanding special treatment? Why don't they stay in their own countries instead of coming over here taking our jobs?!

 

[WI Crippler]

You have got to be a **** human being if you can get everyone on Debate Politics to agree against you. In fact we should send those neighbors a letter thanking them for uniting our fractured community for one singular moment.

 

[ttwtt78640]

I do think the ramp is ugly. I also think that aesthetics takes a back seat to the needs for the ramp. Ugliness is overruled.

Now, if it were me, I would plant shrubs and/or plants to hide the ramp as much as possible. But, I would do that whether other people complained or not. It would be part of my original planning.

A couple of things come to mind here. Choosing to use massive amounts of concrete/steel for the ramp makes it very permanent (industrial looking?) and more expensive to build (or to later remove) than had it been constructed of pressure treated wood and the solid construction makes it affect drainage on the lot. The use of landscaping to conceal/decorate the ramp seems to have been attempted yet, as in any new planting scheme, it requires a lot more expense to add large plants initially - note that even the trees in the yard are still very small and supported by stakes/wires as is done in nearly all new construction.

 

[ttwtt78640]

I did a bit of googling and it turns out that because the ADA applies to public accomodations, and not private ones, HOA's can place restrictions on ramps and other accomodations for the disabled. However, there are some things a community can do that get them classified as a public accomodation (ex having a pool that is open to the public), and also some states have laws that give the disabled more protection

HOA Accommodations for Disabled Residents - HOA Lawyer Blog

You should have read a bit further into your supplied link:

Federal Fair Housing Act ("FFHA")
The FFHA is similar to the ADA; however, the FFHA applies directly to housing facilities, including HOAs. Under the FFHA, a HOA may not legally refuse to make reasonable accommodations in its rules or policies when such accommodations may be necessary for a disabled owner to fully enjoy and use her unit. An example would include when a disabled owner requires the assistance of a service animal; a HOA would be obligated to grant a waiver from its "no pets" rule. The HOA 's refusal to make such an accommodation (one that is reasonable and necessary to afford a disabled owner the full enjoyment and use of her unit) is deemed to be discrimination under the FFHA. The FFHA also requires HOAs to permit a disabled owner to make, at such owner's expense, reasonable modifications to the owner's unit and HOA common areas.