Wheelchair-access complaint settled for $1.4 million

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Wheelchair-access complaint settled for $1.4 million

HUD says money to be used to fix downtown high-rise

By Lori Weisberg SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

June 9, 2005

A disabled homeowner's complaint that his downtown condominium failed

to meet federal accessibility standards has resulted in a record $1.4

million settlement agreed to by the developers of the 221-unit high-

rise.

The hallway in Felchlin's condo is 2 " narrower than the

required 36 " .

The Department of Housing and Urban Development, which negotiated the

settlement on behalf of the homeowner, a resident of The Renaissance

complex in San Diego, said the money will go toward making common-

area improvements and retrofitting individual units. Work will

include widening doorways, lowering thresholds and expanding floor

space in bathrooms for wheelchair access.

The settlement, announced yesterday, stemmed from a complaint

alleging violation of the federal Fair Housing Act. The law requires

that multifamily housing occupied after March 13, 1991, be made

accessible to people with disabilities, according to HUD.

Project developer Lambert Development LLC cooperated along with

contractor Roel Construction Co. and architectural firm r

, both of San Diego, in settling the discrimination complaint

against the 2½ -year-old project.

Homeowner Felchlin moved into the luxury complex in December

2002, and said he filed his complaint three months later after

receiving little cooperation from the developer to make what he felt

were necessary fixes to his unit.

Felchlin, who uses a wheelchair because of a spinal injury from an

auto accident more than 30 years ago, spent $15,000 of his own money

to make his two-bedroom condo wheelchair-accessible. The work focused

on major alterations to his master bathroom. He will receive $95,000

as part of the settlement.

" I felt that if there was a problem in my unit, it could be in the

units of other people who use mobility aids and it would be a

challenge for them as well, " said Felchlin, 47, who is diversity

adviser for Sempra Energy. " I hope this reminds contractors and

builders that there are accessibility guidelines on the books and

they need to be followed. "

San Diego building officials said yesterday that they were unaware

there had been accessibility problems at the downtown complex and

promised to review the project's plans to determine whether mistakes

had been made in allowing construction.

The $1.4 million agreement is the largest " design and construction "

disability settlement ever brokered by HUD as opposed to the federal

court system, said Chuck Hauptman, director of HUD's regional office

of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity in San Francisco.

" It's significant because everyone in this country could find

themselves tomorrow needing accessible housing, " Hauptman said. " The

whole purpose of the Fair Housing Act is to increase the inventory of

accessible housing in this country because it's severely lacking.

" Building inaccessible housing is akin to putting a sign on the front

door, 'If you're mobility-impaired, you need not apply.' If you use

the analogy to race, most people would be appalled if you said, 'If

you're black, you need not apply.' It's not race discrimination, but

it's just as illegal. "

The settlement marks a milestone for disabled people fighting for

greater accessibility, said Cyndi , director of the San Diego-

based Center for an Accessible Society.

" This is a big deal because it shows that the buildings being built

since the Fair Housing law went into effect aren't necessarily in

compliance, " said. " And how come the city plan checkers didn't

find this? Why should we be the plan checkers?

" This puts the builders on notice that they're going to have to

comply with the law, and in the future that means there will be a lot

more accessible housing built, " she said.

Under the settlement, the developer will make roughly $200,000 in

improvements to common areas, including modifiying building entrances

and doors in the corridors, exercise room and public bathrooms and

making the common-area kitchen and bathrooms more accessible.

In addition, $1.2 million will go toward making improvements, upon

request, to individual units, such as widening doors, lowering

thresholds, making lavatories accessible and reinforcing walls to

allow the installation of grab bars as needed in some toilet and

bathtub areas.

Two-bedroom condos in the twin-tower high-rise on Front Street are

currently selling in the $800,000 range, with the asking prices of

larger units exceeding $1 million.

" We settled with HUD the claim that certain portions of the

construction were inaccessible, and we worked out a compromise to

everyone's mutual satisfaction, " said Lambert President Henry

Lambert, who declined to say anything more. Lambert has offices in

New York and Los Angeles.

Attorney DeSantis, representing r , said he

believes there are a lot of complexities in the Fair Housing Act and

few standards on how to apply all the provisions.

" I think the parties are pleased that the matter was resolved without

protracted and expensive litigation, " he added.

Hauptman noted that more than half the cases handled by his regional

Fair Housing office are related to disability discrimination

complaints. Given the high volume of development in California and

Nevada, Hauptman said, he suspects there may be a number of

multifamily buildings in his region not in compliance with the

disability provisions of the law.

" There's no obligation under the Fair Housing Act for permit issuers

to check for these (accessible) features, " he said. " They face no

liability. However, we don't see as many complaints out of California

because the design and construction requirements are incorporated

into the California building code. "

San Diego Development Services director Halbert said his

department will be taking a look at the original plans for The

Renaissance to determine whether the accessibility requirements were

overlooked when the project was reviewed by employees in his

department.

" Conformance with disability requirements is very important to us,

and we're working with representatives from the disabled community to

work on universal design guidelines, " Halbert said. " Not having had

an opportunity to look at this project and know what the specific

deviations are, I can't say whether this was something missed in plan

review. "

Architect Doug Austin, who has designed high-rise projects, said he

suspects that building departments pay more attention to requirements

under the Americans With Disabilities Act than those of the Fair

Housing Act.

In general, the Disabilities Act focuses less on accessibility within

individual units in privately owned developments than does the Fair

Housing Act, which is more precise in that area, Hauptman said.

" We work to make our projects comply, but I can see how the developer

and architect would miss it, " Austin said. " It's not broadly known in

the industry, and I think a lot of people believe that the building

department would look for all applicable codes and they don't

necessarily do so. "

Individuals who believe they may have been victims of housing

discrimination can call the Department's Fair Housing and Equal

Opportunity Office at (800) 669-9777. Those requiring

Telecommunications Device for the Deaf service may call (800) 927-

9275.