ADA Accessibility – “Grandfathered”??
I have a mobility impairment and use crutches, and I am unable to climb stairs. I recently went to a restaurant with some friends and the entrance had no ramp, forcing us to go elsewhere for dinner. When we complained to the manager about this problem, he said that because theirs was an older building, they were “grandfathered in” and were not subject to the accessibility requirements of Americans with Disabilities Act. Is this true? This is a common response from businesses to a common complaint. Let me clarify a couple of things. No building is “grandfathered in” and exempt from Americans with Disability Act (ADA) requirements because of its age. There are, however, other reasons why a place of public accommodation might not be required to make the modifications necessary to provide access to patrons with disabilities. Both the ADA and the New Jersey Barrier-Free Subcode stipulate that a building which was constructed prior to the passage of the ADA must be modified unless the busine
