Spent a good part of today working on finishing a draft one page handout for a meeting this Tuesday afternoon at City Hall.
It's about new homes and accessibility and something I and the members of the Oshawa Accessibility Advisory Committee (OAAC) believe in and feel should be attainable. We say, 'it's time'. Hopefully the new home builder/developer stakeholders invited to the meeting will see all the benefits we do and come on board with the 'ask'.
What is being proposed to the Building Industry Liaison Team (BILT) is to ensure that a portion of houses built in future new home development projects in Oshawa are
1) constructed with wider doorways and
2) with no front steps (replacing steps with ramps if necessitated by grading).
The recommendation came from the OAAC (for which I am the City Council rep) and was on the Development Services Committee Sept 30th meeting agenda. All Councillors in attendance voted in support of this being investigated. Now the next step is to encourage a buy-in from the developer, new home builder community. Providing some built-ready homes with these two accessible features, if properly presented, would be both a powerful marketing tool for the BILT members and of immense importance to those people in situations where steps and narrow passages are barriers to accessing their own home.
I planned to include the picture below in the handout. I took it when I was handing out my Town Hall meeting invitation last month in Ward 1. It is of one of the streets where there are a lot of stairs to climb to the front door. It is daunting really how many new streets in Oshawa have 8 and 9 steps, even some with 14 and 15 to the front door. How did house design get this way...typically in the older neighbourhoods the majority of houses may have 3 or 4 front steps. They are barriers to residents, family and friends visiting with mobility challenges.
One side concern raised by my fellow Ward 1 Councillor at the Sept 30th Standing Committee meeting was that with the new home construction the narrow width of garages there is no room for a wheelchair to access a vehicle from the side.
It's about new homes and accessibility and something I and the members of the Oshawa Accessibility Advisory Committee (OAAC) believe in and feel should be attainable. We say, 'it's time'. Hopefully the new home builder/developer stakeholders invited to the meeting will see all the benefits we do and come on board with the 'ask'.
What is being proposed to the Building Industry Liaison Team (BILT) is to ensure that a portion of houses built in future new home development projects in Oshawa are
1) constructed with wider doorways and
2) with no front steps (replacing steps with ramps if necessitated by grading).
The recommendation came from the OAAC (for which I am the City Council rep) and was on the Development Services Committee Sept 30th meeting agenda. All Councillors in attendance voted in support of this being investigated. Now the next step is to encourage a buy-in from the developer, new home builder community. Providing some built-ready homes with these two accessible features, if properly presented, would be both a powerful marketing tool for the BILT members and of immense importance to those people in situations where steps and narrow passages are barriers to accessing their own home.
I planned to include the picture below in the handout. I took it when I was handing out my Town Hall meeting invitation last month in Ward 1. It is of one of the streets where there are a lot of stairs to climb to the front door. It is daunting really how many new streets in Oshawa have 8 and 9 steps, even some with 14 and 15 to the front door. How did house design get this way...typically in the older neighbourhoods the majority of houses may have 3 or 4 front steps. They are barriers to residents, family and friends visiting with mobility challenges.
One side concern raised by my fellow Ward 1 Councillor at the Sept 30th Standing Committee meeting was that with the new home construction the narrow width of garages there is no room for a wheelchair to access a vehicle from the side.
Today, more than 2.5 million people, almost 20% of Ontario's population, have a disability. The numbers are fast approaching 1 in 5, which include more than 40% of people over age 65.
The AODA “Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act” is provincial legislation passed unanimously in 2005 to implement standards that achieve Accessibility with respect to goods, services, facilities, accommodation, employment, buildings, structures and premises by 2025.
"95% of Ontarians understand the need to improve access for people with disabilities"
Phased in changes to the AODA Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation (IASR) led to enhanced accessibility standards being incorporated into the Ontario Building Code effective 2015 requiring 15% of all new apartment building units be constructed with accessible visitable features.
The fact the 2015 accessibility requirements apply to new apartment building dwellings and not to houses creates an imbalance, limiting people with disabilities from being part of ALL neighbourhoods.
.
There is a strong desire and goal for people to age in place. "The aging trend is not a temporary blip but a long-term reality that has been forecast to continue until 2063” Hence the need for more multi-generational accessible housing.
The new house construction stage is the most logical time to make detached, links, semis & townhouse dwellings ACCESSIBLE!
We want to encourage Oshawa builders and developers to take the first step and be Build-In-Accessibility Champions!
And say they can start with a model home and see accessible dwellings sell first!
The AODA “Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act” is provincial legislation passed unanimously in 2005 to implement standards that achieve Accessibility with respect to goods, services, facilities, accommodation, employment, buildings, structures and premises by 2025.
"95% of Ontarians understand the need to improve access for people with disabilities"
Phased in changes to the AODA Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation (IASR) led to enhanced accessibility standards being incorporated into the Ontario Building Code effective 2015 requiring 15% of all new apartment building units be constructed with accessible visitable features.
The fact the 2015 accessibility requirements apply to new apartment building dwellings and not to houses creates an imbalance, limiting people with disabilities from being part of ALL neighbourhoods.
.
There is a strong desire and goal for people to age in place. "The aging trend is not a temporary blip but a long-term reality that has been forecast to continue until 2063” Hence the need for more multi-generational accessible housing.
The new house construction stage is the most logical time to make detached, links, semis & townhouse dwellings ACCESSIBLE!
We want to encourage Oshawa builders and developers to take the first step and be Build-In-Accessibility Champions!
And say they can start with a model home and see accessible dwellings sell first!