An article to ponder

From time to time, there are conversations on this websites about exterior change requests for disabled residents. From what I’ve seen on this website, HOA boards have been good at working things out, but these stories are about a neighborhood association that fought for two years against a couple who wanted to build an accessible garage for their disabled daughter who uses a wheelchair.

The first link is an op-ed from a disabled association on the battle and there are links in the article about the battle itself.

https://themighty.com/topic/disability/chicago-neighborhood-old-town-triangle-fights-home-remodel-disabled-girl/?utm_source=cordial&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=segment_hot_daily_article_recommendation
This one is an update on the controversy - https://blockclubchicago.org/2020/12/10/after-more-than-2-years-old-town-family-prevails-in-fight-to-make-landmarked-home-wheelchair-accessible/

Now, although a neighborhood association was involved in this, I think reading these articles could have HOA boards (and homeowners for that matter) something to ponder when they request or review exterior change requests. There are a number of takeaways in the article, depending on your point of view (I’m still chewing on mine!)

You'd think so, but this was complicated by several things - the second link I posted had some background on that: https://blockclubchicago.org/2020/12/10/after-more-than-2-years-old-town-family-prevails-in-fight-to-make-landmarked-home-wheelchair-accessible/

Basically, the house was in a historical area of the city, so several agencies have to bless the project. Part of that process allows neighborhood groups to chime in - the neighborhood organization for this area objected, saying the proposed change "looked horrible". I suspect it didn't dawn on anyone in that association to talk to the family about coming up with a design that might be more in harmony with the area's original design (this is the Chi - I suspect there are a number of architects who might have jumped on this). Or the family could have done their homework BEFORE buying said house to see what hoops they might have to jump through in order to get the conversions they wanted. Knowing the rules is something we're always talking about on this website - better to ask for permission than forgiveness and all that.

Perhaps the family could have done homework, but the hoops may also be used as a form of discrimination, in that someone who does not need an accommodation would have no trouble navigating them.