1997-037-RES WHEREAS, TEXAS DEPT OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY AFFAIRS PROVIDES FUNDING

Home Browse Search

Americans with Disabilities Act ~1040 would be disproportionate to the cost of the renovation, For example, this requirement would apply to a restaurant that renovates its dining room. The route to get to the dining room, and any bathroom, water fountain and telephone serving it, would have to be made accessible. In the title ill rules, the Justice Department set a 20 percent limit on the amount a business must spend to comply with the path of travel requirement. If the restaurant renovations cost $10.000, for example, the path of travel alterations would not have to exceed $2,000. 111044 Reasonable Modifications Besides requiring architectural and structural modifications, the ADA adopts section 504's concept of ensuring equal opponunity for access to programs and public accommodations for disabled people through modifications of policies, practices or procedures (see ~350). Modifications are not considered reasonable and do not have to be made if they would alter the fundamental nature of the goods or services being pro- vided, or if making them would place an undue burden on the entity. Taken together, the requirement for modification of policies and procedures and the requirement to provide "auxiliary services" embody the same concept as "reasonable accommodation" in the employment setting (see ~640, ~1024). Modifications to policies and practices Consistent with section 504 (see Chapter 300 generally), the ADA (~302(b)(2)(A)(ii)) requires public accommodations to make "reasonable modifications" to their policies, practices or procedures to enable people with disabilities to have access to all the goods. services and other opponunities they provide, unless to do so would "fundamentally alter" the nature of those goods or services being provided. Many of these modifications will entail simple policy changes. such as: . permitting (but not requiring) a mobility-impaired patron of a restaurant or lounge to be served beverages at a table, even though the facility' s policy is to serve customers who are not ordering food only at the inaccessible bar; . altering a "no pets" rule for a disabled person who uses a guide or service dog; . allowing patrons to produce forms of identification other than a driver's license when writing per- sonal checks or purchasing alcoholic beverages; or . recognizing that a child with a mobility impairment can participate in a recreation class with non- disabled children, rather than requiring the child to attend a similar class for mobility-impaired children. Entities that operate places of public accommodation are expected to examine their policies, procedures and practices and eliminate any bamers to equal program access. The ADA does not, however. require an entity to make modifications to policies that would fundamentally alter the nature of the goods and services or cause an "undue burden" on the entity. Unlike section 504, the ADA does not require private public accommodations to conduct a self..evaluation of their programs and activities to determine which ones need to be modified to achieve accessibility (see P20). Cl Thompson Publishing Group, Inc. November 1991 Tab 1000 . Page 109