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News Flash!
Dec. 23, 2003—In a unanimous decision, the Arizona Court
of Appeals Friday put to rest efforts by Tucson builders to
void Pima County's nearly 2-year-old law requiring minimal access
in new homes, the Inclusive Home Design Ordinance. The ordinance
was one of the first in the nation to require "visitability"
for new single-family homes.
The Southern Arizona Home Builders Association
had sued over the law, saying county officials had no right
to pass such a law; that it was "unconstitutional."
The state appeals court, however, ruled that county does have
the authority to adopt wheelchair access requirements for
buildings.
The ordinance requires all new houses
in the unincorporated areas of the county around Tucson be
built with at least one entrance with no step, and doors at
least 32 inches wide< and an accessible bathroom on the
ground floor. It also requires lever door handles, reinforced
walls in ground-floor bathrooms so it's easy for an occupant
to install grab bars, switches no higher than 48 inches, and
hallways 36 inches wide throughout the main floor.
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Visitability
Building housing that is universally accessible
has always made sense—common sense and dollars and cents. For
one thing, it's less expensive to build a home one can age in, not
to have to sell and move once stairs become a nuisance to the occupants.
Now makers are paying more attention to design
and, even more important, America's 76 million Baby Boomers are
coming up on retirement, making the idea of "aging in place"
a popular one.
Visitability (or universal design) also makes
a home livable to anybody experiencing a temporary disability, such
as a sprained ankle, pregnancy, or knee-surgery. At some time in
a person's life (and hopefully not for long), it's usually inevitable,
but for millions of Americans, disability is a way of life
That is why more building is being done with "visitability"
in mind. Depending on where you live, state and federal regulations
are evolving to mandate visitability.
What is visitability? Visitability is an
affordable design approach that integrates accessible features in
newly built homes. The goal is for a person with mobility impairments
to be able to live in a home or receive disabled visitors there
and also to visit the homes of other people. Accessible features
are cost-efficient because they're included during the design stage
rather than added on later.
Houses that are visitable have a gradual rise
to the front door, rather than steps. They have wider doorways (at
least 36 inches), first-floor restrooms with enough turning axis
for a wheelchair and grab bars. Lowered electrical switches and
outlets are also included in some municipalities. And that's it.
Nothing fancy-no lifts, elevators, or assistive devices.
Visitors can be grandparents, friends, siblings,
or the not-so-unusual client who uses a wheelchair. Accessibility
is even useful to "latchkey" kids when lowered counters
are installed.
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