Laura
07-20-2010, 08:32 AM
ACTION ALERT
July 19, 2010
Issue: Urge Speaker Silver to take action on Visitability.
Action: The Senate passed the Visitability bill (S.8150) on June 18th, but
the Assembly left town without doing the same. In order to get it to the
Assembly floor for a vote, it still has to go through the Assembly Committee
on Rules.
Contact Speaker Silver, Chair of the Assembly's Committee on Rules, in his
district office at 212-312-1420 or via email
< http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103574291492&s=33&e=001sDUOdNMBBK4nT4madAUXUt
lGOZsA9VhmTxVbLDlr2FUjkDZGir2lpveQQkOwpEHTUztUYw4E bL6heH_bu5MbDcn20ifG2BFTU0
MDtWeY5z5AIA-qo8wC3l0q64FdZ5oeK8-EjaYBtw8E3TnYIu_eE3YaQBcN9ZOR> and urge him
to take action on the Visitability bill (A.9409) immediately following the
Assembly's return to Albany by bringing it to the floor for a vote.
Talking points:
. The Visitability bill (S.8150/A.9409) will ensure that people with
disabilities are no longer excluded from new home construction sponsored by
government funding.
. This bill will save NYS money because it is much more expensive to
renovate new homes for access, after they have been already built, rather
than include access features from the beginning. Everyone will benefit from
those basic access features like no-step entrance and wider hallways and
doorways.
. The demand for access to housing is growing drastically with baby
boomer and senior population and visitability will help meet that need in a
cost effective way in our local communities across the state.
Background: "Visitability" is a movement to change home construction
practices so that new homes offer specific features that would make it
easier for people with a mobility impairment to occupy and visit. The spirit
of "Visitability" is the belief that it is unacceptable that new homes
continue to be built with gross barriers, given the ease and low cost of
building basic access into the majority of new homes and the harsh effects
major barriers have on people's lives, including physically unsafe
conditions, social isolation and unwanted institutionalization.
Visitability requires only those accessibility features needed to allow a
person with a mobility impairment to comfortably visit a home, not the full
range of features that make a building "accessible."
The purpose of the visitability bill, S.8150/A.9409, is to establish minimum
regulations for the design and construction of new single family homes,
townhouses or the ground unit of a building with three or less units. This
bill only affects new homes that are built using state or federal funds and
subsidies.
The bill establishes minimum standards in every home for accessibility for
the mobility impaired:
o At least one no-step entrance to the home from the public street or
driveway to the exterior door
o All interior doorways at least 36 inches wide
o All environmental controls on the ground level at accessible
heights, between 15 " and 48" from the ground
o One accessible bathroom on the ground level
If you have any questions or would like to report back, contact:
Mike Godino
Director of Advocacy, BCID
Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled, Inc.
27 Smith Street, 2nd Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11201-5111
Voice: 718-998-3000
TTY: 718-998-7406
Fax: 718-998-3743
mgodino@bcid.org
July 19, 2010
Issue: Urge Speaker Silver to take action on Visitability.
Action: The Senate passed the Visitability bill (S.8150) on June 18th, but
the Assembly left town without doing the same. In order to get it to the
Assembly floor for a vote, it still has to go through the Assembly Committee
on Rules.
Contact Speaker Silver, Chair of the Assembly's Committee on Rules, in his
district office at 212-312-1420 or via email
< http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103574291492&s=33&e=001sDUOdNMBBK4nT4madAUXUt
lGOZsA9VhmTxVbLDlr2FUjkDZGir2lpveQQkOwpEHTUztUYw4E bL6heH_bu5MbDcn20ifG2BFTU0
MDtWeY5z5AIA-qo8wC3l0q64FdZ5oeK8-EjaYBtw8E3TnYIu_eE3YaQBcN9ZOR> and urge him
to take action on the Visitability bill (A.9409) immediately following the
Assembly's return to Albany by bringing it to the floor for a vote.
Talking points:
. The Visitability bill (S.8150/A.9409) will ensure that people with
disabilities are no longer excluded from new home construction sponsored by
government funding.
. This bill will save NYS money because it is much more expensive to
renovate new homes for access, after they have been already built, rather
than include access features from the beginning. Everyone will benefit from
those basic access features like no-step entrance and wider hallways and
doorways.
. The demand for access to housing is growing drastically with baby
boomer and senior population and visitability will help meet that need in a
cost effective way in our local communities across the state.
Background: "Visitability" is a movement to change home construction
practices so that new homes offer specific features that would make it
easier for people with a mobility impairment to occupy and visit. The spirit
of "Visitability" is the belief that it is unacceptable that new homes
continue to be built with gross barriers, given the ease and low cost of
building basic access into the majority of new homes and the harsh effects
major barriers have on people's lives, including physically unsafe
conditions, social isolation and unwanted institutionalization.
Visitability requires only those accessibility features needed to allow a
person with a mobility impairment to comfortably visit a home, not the full
range of features that make a building "accessible."
The purpose of the visitability bill, S.8150/A.9409, is to establish minimum
regulations for the design and construction of new single family homes,
townhouses or the ground unit of a building with three or less units. This
bill only affects new homes that are built using state or federal funds and
subsidies.
The bill establishes minimum standards in every home for accessibility for
the mobility impaired:
o At least one no-step entrance to the home from the public street or
driveway to the exterior door
o All interior doorways at least 36 inches wide
o All environmental controls on the ground level at accessible
heights, between 15 " and 48" from the ground
o One accessible bathroom on the ground level
If you have any questions or would like to report back, contact:
Mike Godino
Director of Advocacy, BCID
Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled, Inc.
27 Smith Street, 2nd Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11201-5111
Voice: 718-998-3000
TTY: 718-998-7406
Fax: 718-998-3743
mgodino@bcid.org