The “grandfathering clause”; referring to the ability of establishments to circumvent certain ADA-requirments if they can show that complying with such a requirement would present an unfair (not sure what the technical term is here) financial burden on that business; is usually only claimed for restroom non-compliance. Perhaps a very tiny lot might qualify for such a waiver but other than that, I can’t imagine what “grandfather” clause would be applicable to parking lot renovations.
See, this is straight up shocking: this type of comment coming from the parent of a wheelchair user?! How do you not understand the necessity of the extra space provided in the handicap spots? Or do you understand that and are just saying that your daughter doesn’t need it? And if this is so, how is this possible? 
I’ve seen it ,too. In very small lots. Because in parking lots with fewer than 25 spaces, only one handicapped space is necessary. It’s true it must have the 96 inch access aisle for a wheelchair lift or ramp , but so far as I know, there’s no law prohibiting the parking lot owner from setting aside additional spaces usable by handicapped people who don’t use wheelchairs.
That said, the required space next to a regular handicapped parking space is a 60 inch wide access aisle which can be shared by two spaces. It’s only the van-accessible spaces that need 96 inches, and the parking lot would have to have over 400 spaces before two of them are required
I do it all the time. I never park in a handicapped space when I drive my father and his wheelchair. I don’t need the extra space for the wheelchair lift or ramp because I don’t have one. I’ve never driven him somewhere where the parking lot was so full and the cars were parked so close together that I couldn’t find a spot somewhere with plenty of room to get him from the car to wheelchair and back. It’s not really any harder for me to push his wheelchair than it is for me to walk and when he was still able to use a motorized wheelchair, it wasn’t difficult for him to roll himself that distance. I also don’t park in a handicapped space when I’m driving my mother (whose knees are so bad she has a NYC placard). I drop her off at the entrance and then go park. I do it specifically because I know other people will need those spaces, whether it is the person who does have a wheelchair lift ,or the person with bad knees who drove himself.
Of course, I don’t drive either one of them to the mall on Black Friday- that would be a different parking situation than the ones I find myself in.
A LOT more cities and towns need this approach.
No. The whole concept of of parking as close to the building is just stupid. (in most cases.)
So great, you found a close parking spot to save yourself a few steps to get to the Big Lot[sup]TM[/sup] store.
Well, guess what you’re going to be doing once you get inside that store? WALKING!! Way more than you will from parking to the building itself.
That said, some establishments go way overboard with the HC spaces. Do we really need 20 spots reserved in front of that Walmart? It seems a little excessive to me.
Not that I care. Jus’ say’n.
I am going to take some heat for this but I’ve used someone else’s placard in the past.
Prior to my surgery I weighed over 350 lbs and walking long distances was difficult for me. If I was going to a concert at certain locations and I knew I would not arrive a few hours before the show I borrowed the placard. This allowed me to park in a closer lot which made things much easier for me. This lot was not just for placard holders but people who had VIP tickets. Also the spaces in the lot were not marked handicapped.
So this was a parking lot which had no official legal enforceability, but rather just an area “cordoned off” by concert organizers? So you weren’t really abusing the placard, in the official sense. You weren’t depriving a handicapped person of their legally-established rightful parking place. I mean, yes, you were parking in an area that was meant to be reserved for those needing close proximity as well as be reserved for those who pay a little more for their tickets. I’d say these organizers were the ones really letting the ball drop here by NOT marking the appropriate spaces handicapped. I’d say you were being more of a cheap ass then an asshole.
When I was on crutches (and now for my wife using a cane) there is a definite maximum distance that can be traveled before pain/agony sets in and you are DONE for the day.
Our lawmakers have made laws that allow handicapped people to maximize the distance they can travel inside the facility by giving them parking spaces near the entrance.
It’s the law and a good idea. Deal with it.
I love this! And completely agree! Everyone should spend one day in a wheelchair or having to use crutches (maybe instill pain with tazers every time they attempted to use their legs)- they would all have very different opinions about HC spaces.
I wasn’t speaking to HC people Rick. I was speaking to able bodied people who feel the need to park as close to the store as possible. Just to save a few steps. Their logic is ridiculous.
Oddly, I do understand that I was speaking only of my daughter, as you apparently don’t since you’ve taken the time to hobble off you high-horse and give me shit about something I never even said.
In fact, what the fuck are you going on about in the first place? I said I didn’t feel the need to use the placard to park in a handicap spot because my daughter and I are perfectly capable of using a normal spot. I get her chair out of the trunk, she hops in and away we go. I said absolutely nothing about the need for the spaces.
I’m sorry if I don’t wail and nash my teeth and give every able-bodied asshole the hairy eyeball for not throwing themselves at my feet and fawning all over us like you constantly do, but then different strokes, huh?
The handicapped person always has the option to NOT use the parking space. When my spouse is doing well and feels up to a little more walking than usual he sometimes opts for a regular space. Nothing wrong with that. If someone on artificial legs or in a wheelchair opts for the same for whatever reason no problem there either.
However, the spaces really should be left for those who actually NEED them, that is, have a legitimate call on the space. In the last years of her life my late mother might have appeared to be able to walk with no problem but she absolutely needed to be close to entrances and minimize walking due to her heart being the problem (her legs were fine).
Jack, you’re being insulting here. Please restrain yourself. Ambivalid, you’re being a little shrill and, while not against the rules, you might consider dialing back as well.
Sorry for being insulting, but I don’t take kindly to someone claiming I don’t understand my own daughter’s needs because he claims to be the ultimate authority on the matter.
I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to suggest you didn’t understand your own daughter’s needs; such a thing would be very insulting, I understand. My bad.
Cool. Truce.
A couple of weeks ago, I drove my Mom to her eye surgery checkup at her local medical center. We used her car. I pulled up to the front of the building and as the porter opened Mom’s door to help her out, he noticed she had a handicapped placard and told me to hang it off the rear-view mirror and park in the closest handicapped spot.
So I did.
So there!
I felt a little dirty, but at least we were parked close enough to the front so Mom could walk to the car when her appointment was done instead of waiting for me to bring the car around.
If I was driving Mom’s car without her in it, I would never dream of using her handicapped placard.
My mom has a placard (very bad knees) that I would never dream of using if I were not driving her. One thing that kinda bugs me a little bit is that when we drive up, she’s so excited that she has the placard (probably from years of walking with pain in her knees) that she almost insists we take the HC spot, even when there are non-HC spots basically the same distance from the door. She doesn’t need the extra room, so I always tell her that if a non-HC spot is just as good, we should take that one and leave the HC spot for a wheelchair user who might need more room. (I’m not some evil daughter who would suggest she walk farther just to leave the spots open. It’s only when other spots are just as close.) To her credit, she usually agrees with me, but it’s funny. It’s like she has the placard and she wants to USE it.
*Hell *yes. But only at one place, under very specific circumstances.
I actually have one, tucked away, but haven’t pulled it out yet.