How are people getting around ADA requirement for Townhouse Renovations?

Hi, I am currently renovating a 3-unit townhouse in Brooklyn. Unit 1 will include the Parlor, Garden, and cellar floors. The other 2 units are floor-through apartments on the 2nd and 3rd floors. I originally planned to have the Unit 1 kitchen/living on the Parlor floor, with bedrooms on the garden level. However, the DOB required us to put the kitchen, 1 bedroom, 1 full bathroom, and even the washer/dryer, all on the garden level and design according to ADA accessibility requirements (turning space, clearance, kitchen counter heights, etc).

I’ve looked at 300+ current and past listings of updated Brooklyn townhouses, and 99.9% of them seemed to get around this ADA requirement. So, I am a bit confused! I know some of them probably meet the requirement by having a separate garden floor unit, but others do not. Is it that people are doing unpermitted upgrades?

If anyone has any knowledge about this, I’d very much appreciate the insight!

jaskin

in General Discussion 3 years ago

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MDR | 3 years ago

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Yes, typically if it is a multifamily building, and it’s a renovation that needs permits, the ground floor/basement unit needs to be handicap adaptable. The enforcement is uneven because some people do work without permits, some architects self certify and it gets past the DOB, and sometimes DOB may be focused on other issues and not flag it in plan review.

cate | 3 years ago

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Kicking this up, hopefully an architect will address. AFAIK, if you file under old code and your renovation is not extensive, you may be able to get away with keeping things more as they already are.