pages: CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities/2016-06-08.pdf, 10
This data as json
body | date | page | text | path |
---|---|---|---|---|
CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities | 2016-06-08 | 10 | Beth Kenny: And it's to be done in a way that using design to do things in an intelligent way that takes into consideration the wide range of humans. So, why we need this in Alameda, is we have, Alameda, along with pretty much every place in this country, has a shortage of accessible housing stock. And we have a growing senior population, and many disabled people are living much longer. So we have a growing disabled population. So in order for people to be able to stay in the community, or age in place, somebody who buys a universally designed place can stay in their house and not have to face moving out as they become older because it's inaccessible to them. So this all started because of a joint meeting between the Planning Board and the Commission on Disability Issues. And I'm going to ask Susan to talk a little bit about that, because she was one of the participants in that. Susan Deutsch: It was just such a long time ago, [chuckle] I don't remember that much about it. But I do remember going to the City Council meeting, talking about Universal Design, and feeling that we did have support. And I felt that they were very supportive of what we wanted. Really, all I remember about the meeting because it was four years ago. Beth Kenny: Yes, it was indeed over four years ago. But since after that meeting, Commissioner Deutsch, former Commissioner Lord-Hausman, and former Commissioner Harp got together and drafted a sample Universal Design Ordinance. And that was submitted about four years ago, and we've now come to the point where the Planning Department, they have a draft that they expect to get to us in the next week, or so, and the schedule of events is that we will meet, we have a work group from CDI that is working on this, and the Planning Board Work Group will meet together to go over the draft, and make any changes that we think are necessary, possibly have one more meeting. And then in September, we'd like to hold a joint meeting between the Planning Board and the Commission on Disability to vote on the Universal Design Ordinance. This September meeting works for us because in August, we are scheduled to have an August meeting, but the City of Alameda goes dark in the month of August, there are no City Council meetings. And so we've been asked to reschedule our August meeting, which having this joint meeting in September with the Planning Board, I think is a good way to reschedule that meeting. Beth Kenny: So let me throw some statistics out at you guys for the need for accessible units. Research shows that over the span of a typical housing unit that 25% to 60% of those units will house a disabled person. Additionally, 53% to 91% will have a disabled visitor over the course of a unit's lifetime. Those numbers do not include people with temporary disabilities from surgery, or broken legs, and it does not include people who might have mobility impairments, but not necessarily identified as disabled, which is a common phenomenon in the senior population. Beth Kenny: So it is expected that population of Alameda will grow 8.8%, according to the Alameda Housing Element Background Report. In addition to a growing senior population, people with disabilities are now living longer, and aging in larger numbers than previous experience, resulting in overlapping categories. In 2002, it was estimated that 52% of Americans with disabilities were 65 plus. It's gone up significantly since 2002. Apparently, only 10% of multifamily buildings of four units or more need to be designed excessively, and those are the type of units that we normally think of as ADA units, where they have the grab bars installed, they have the clearings. Beth Kenny: So there's a difference between an ADA unit and a universally designed unit. The universally designed unit would have the accessible pathways, accessible entrance that an ADA unit would have, but you don't necessarily need to have the grab bars up if the person doesn't need them 08/17/16 Page 10 of 19 | CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities/2016-06-08.pdf |