# Handicapped parking at inaccessible businesses...Huh? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 6, 2013, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-at-inaccessible-businesses-huh/652150 "2013-03-06T03:55:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-at-inaccessible-businesses-huh/652150/1 "2013-03-06T03:55:56Z")
So a little background: my buddy has just recently started taking his kids to a new-ish fitness center/gym for exercise classes. He knows how I like to work out so he told me about their weightroom area and told me I should check it out. This place is actually on the way to my regular gym, so today I decided to forgo my usual workout and pay the fee at this new place for a day pass to try it out. I get there, park in the handicapped parking available near the front entrance and make my way towards the door. That’s when I encounter a nearly 18-inch tall step barring me from entering. There is no ramp and no other entrance. Well, I wasn’t just going to leave, so I asked the incoming patrons if they wouldn’t mind giving me a hand and I managed to make it up the huge step. But what the hell? I spoke to the (new and young) owner once I was inside and he tells me that the building has a “grandfather” clause exempting it from accessibility requirements. I had to bump my ass down another flight of stairs once inside in order to get to the weight room. By the time I got to the actual weights, I felt like I had already worked out. 😛 I just have a very hard time understanding what the hell the purpose of the handicapped spots are in the parking lot if a handicapped person cannot even access the building after parking in the lot. (My buddy got quite the earful from me after I got outta there. How in the _world_ he ever thought I might like the place is beyond me.) ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-at-inaccessible-businesses-huh/652150/2 "2013-03-06T04:00:35Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > I just have a very hard time understanding what the hell the purpose of the handicapped spots are in the parking lot if a handicapped person cannot even access the building after parking in the lot. They’ve only got the spot because they have to. It has no purpose other than to cross off an item on a checklist. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-at-inaccessible-businesses-huh/652150/3 "2013-03-06T04:03:46Z")
Most likely, the building is considered historical or unable to be brought in compliance. For instance, the 18 inch step may not have room for the required 18 foot ramp. The parking lot may not fall under the exemption the building has so the handicapped spaces are required. Not all who qualifies for a placard are wheelchair users so the step isn’t the obstacle it is for you. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-at-inaccessible-businesses-huh/652150/4 "2013-03-06T04:04:09Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > They’ve only got the spot because they have to. It has no purpose other than to cross off an item on a checklist. But there were a bunch of them. If they only wanted to cross off items on a check list, wouldn’t it make more sense to offer as few as technically required? There were probably at least ten handicapped spots all lined up right in front. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-at-inaccessible-businesses-huh/652150/5 "2013-03-06T04:04:31Z")
Inaccessible to a person in a wheelchair sure, but inaccessible to all handicapped people? ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-at-inaccessible-businesses-huh/652150/6 "2013-03-06T04:10:12Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Inaccessible to a person in a wheelchair sure, but inaccessible to all handicapped people? Well im sure it’s _possible_ for a handicapped person to traverse the step, just like I did. But doing so isn’t safe or easy for _many_ handicapped people and that is what accessible entrances address. ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-at-inaccessible-businesses-huh/652150/7 "2013-03-06T04:20:57Z")
I’d have to say that over 95% of the people I see using Handicap spaces do not use wheel chairs. Sure, some of them are just scamming the system, but 95% of them? excavating (for a mind) ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-at-inaccessible-businesses-huh/652150/8 "2013-03-06T04:21:39Z")
> [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](#): > > I’d have to say that over 95% of the people I see using Handicap spaces do not use wheel chairs. Sure, some of them are just scamming the system, but 95% of them? > > excavating (for a mind) What’s your point? ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-at-inaccessible-businesses-huh/652150/9 "2013-03-06T04:27:58Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > What’s your point? That the spaces may just be for people whose handicap is different from yours, and what you consider to be inaccessable may not be inaccessable for another handicap person. In other words, there are plenty of reasons for handicap spaces in front of a business that in inaccessable to people in wheel chairs. If you can’t see that, you really aren’t trying. excavating (for a mind) ---
**Author:** ![nachtmusick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ac91a4/32.png) [@nachtmusick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nachtmusick)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-at-inaccessible-businesses-huh/652150/10 "2013-03-06T04:31:45Z")
My company once installed a greenhouse at a nursery that was located on a dirt lot. The nursery was not retail and not open to the public; we just used it to germinate plants for our habitat restoration work. The City came by some months later and required us to spend thousands of dollars retrofitting the front door to make it wheelchair accessible (sliding door and cement pad in front of the door). If a wheelchair somehow managed to navigate the dirt lot to get to the front door, it would have immediately bogged down in the 6 inch layer of pea-gravel that lined every bit of the interior of the greenhouse. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-at-inaccessible-businesses-huh/652150/11 "2013-03-06T04:34:55Z")
Maybe they cater to rehabilitation, and so have a higher ratio of spaces due to people with temporary placards? Just a WAG. And, what a friend of yours! How does someone hang out with a dude in a chair and not notice when a place is inaccessible? Life with blinders much? ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-at-inaccessible-businesses-huh/652150/12 "2013-03-06T04:35:17Z")
> [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](#): > > That the spaces may just be for people whose handicap is different from yours, and what you consider to be inaccessable may not be inaccessable for another handicap person. > > In other words, there are plenty of reasons for handicap spaces in front of a business that in inaccessable to people in wheel chairs. If you can’t see that, you really aren’t trying. > > excavating (for a mind) Are you reading all the posts in this thread? Accessible entrances are meant to provide safe, easy access to the establishment. _Many_ people with disabilities not limited to those requiring use of wheelchairs would not be able to _safely_ and _easily_ access a building with a foot/and a half obstacle blocking their way. I don’t understand how I’ve given the impression that I think disabilities are only those requiring use of a wheelchair. Not at all. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-at-inaccessible-businesses-huh/652150/13 "2013-03-06T04:37:54Z")
Contact the folks at the [US Access Board](http://access-board.gov/). They should be able to assist you with building access and alleged grandfather clauses. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-at-inaccessible-businesses-huh/652150/14 "2013-03-06T04:41:48Z")
This is a [glossary of ADA terms.](http://askjan.org/links/adaglossary.htm). According to the ADA: Accessible:refers to a site, facility, work environment, service, or program that is **easy to approach, enter** , operate, participate in, and/or use **safely and with dignity by a person with a disability** (My bold) ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-at-inaccessible-businesses-huh/652150/15 "2013-03-06T04:42:42Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Are you reading all the posts in this thread? Accessible entrances are meant to provide safe, easy access to the establishment. _Many_ people with disabilities not limited to those requiring use of wheelchairs would not be able to _safely_ and _easily_ access a building with a foot/and a half obstacle blocking their way. I don’t understand how I’ve given the impression that I think disabilities are only those requiring use of a wheelchair. Not at all. You said in the OP that nobody with a disability could get in the building. It certainly seems reasonable to posit that some people with disabilities can access the building even with an 18" step. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-at-inaccessible-businesses-huh/652150/16 "2013-03-06T04:50:49Z")
Ok, I should have said "a person with disabilities cannot access the establishment _safely_, _easily_ and _with dignity_. “Accessible” doesn’t mean “technically _possible_ for certain handicapped individuals to enter”. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-at-inaccessible-businesses-huh/652150/17 "2013-03-06T05:04:48Z")
It is indeed odd that the step is that tall in any case. Who has a single step the height of a chair in front of their building? In thinking it over, I can’t remember ever seeing a single step that high to get into a business anywhere. Some people’s houses might be a different story, but not a business. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-at-inaccessible-businesses-huh/652150/18 "2013-03-06T05:29:03Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > It is indeed odd that the step is that tall in any case. Who has a single step the height of a chair in front of their building? In thinking it over, I can’t remember ever seeing a single step that high to get into a business anywhere. Some people’s houses might be a different story, but not a business. Yeah it definitely stood out. Why couldn’t a ramp just be situated over the step? I can see no reason why that couldn’t have been done. Other than the aesthetic reason, that is. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-at-inaccessible-businesses-huh/652150/19 "2013-03-06T05:45:50Z")
Handicap spots are cheap to put in. It’s just part of painting the lines on the asphalt. Facility upgrades are expensive so a lot of times owners aren’t required to bring things up to code unless something triggers it like a major renovation. Bringing things up to code is so expensive a lot of places have insurance for it. For example, at my store we have the normal insurance on our building. But then, on top of that, we have insurance to pay for code work if something happened. That is, if we had a fire that burned down half of our building, our insurance would rebuild it. But with that much construction going on, the city would require us to bring everything up to code (electrical, plumbing, accessibility etc). Since that’s so expensive, our insurance that we bought just to cover us in that situation would come into play. Without it, even with fire insurance, a big loss of property would likely make repairing the damage not worth while. IOW, they don’t have a ramp because they aren’t required to put one in. If they are someday required to install one, other out of code things would still likely not be upgraded due to the grandfather clause. WRT to ADA compliance, I’m thinking it would be the bathrooms or not having an elevator. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-at-inaccessible-businesses-huh/652150/20 "2013-03-06T05:53:17Z")
(Not _too_) Handicapped Parking is what they have. 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-at-inaccessible-businesses-huh/652150.md?page=2)