Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Common house permitting and Cities...

[Bonnie Fergusson (fergyb2]

   I know cost is bound to be an issue but I would
like to play devil's advocate here and strongly argue
for not trying to evade the ADA requirements or even
the elevator to the second floor in your common house.
 Presumably you are avoiding these things because all
your current or potential members are "temporarily
abled" but rememeber we all age and sometimes other
unforeseen events happen, skiing accidents, diseases,
strokes, etc. that make us need those features,
temporarily or permanently. You also cut your Common
House out as a place where you can invite disabled
friends, thereby making your friendship networks less
rich and diverse if you avoid all the disabled access
issues.  We are fortunate to have two wheelchair users
in our community so it was a no brainer for us to make
the whole place accessible and I have been grateful
many times for that, as it has allowed me to have
disabled friends over more easily and stay in touch
with folk I might otherwise have lost contact with. 
                 Bonnie Fergusson
                 Swan's Market Cohousing
                 Oakland, CA


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com