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A question, if there is someone that can answer this: It said her options were either build a ramp for $100k or settle for $60k. Who can she settle with, and w
by reverend_gonzo 7y ago
A question, if there is someone that can answer this:
It said her options were either build a ramp for $100k or settle for $60k. Who can she settle with, and who agrees that she doesn’t need to build a ramp anymore? What happens if someone else comes along and wants a ramp?
- tylerrobinson 7y agoThe article addresses this. The business owner says even if she could settle, nothing prevents her from being sued again.
- astura 7y agoIf someone else comes around wanting a ramp they get to sue too. >Tran said. “And even if we settle, there’s always the risk of someone else coming around and suing us again.”
- 55555 7y agoCan someone explain to me why a ramp costs $100k?
- reaperducer 7y agoI don't know anything about the building, but I can easily see how that could happen. Lawyers. Architects. Permits. Construction. Traffic control during construction. Environmental studies. Heck, even archeological studies if it's the right area. Maybe even soil remediation if it's determined there's anything below the ramp, like oil or radon, or who knows what. Plus, if any of it touches the sidewalk, you might have to pay the city rent every month for as long as the building stands.
- JoeAltmaier 7y agoOr, put plywood over half those steps? Probably its not the steps - its the doorway being rebuilt. On a historic building.
- LorenPechtel 7y agoPlywood over half the steps would be far too steep.
- JoeAltmaier 7y agoYeah, but there's that long bottom step. Extend it all the way to ground level? Anyway, sad to lose this business.
- bananamerica 7y agoI'm all for regulation, but that is too much even for me. 100k for a freaking ramp is clearly an absurd distortion.
- x0x0 7y agoAs pointed out elsewhere, this may not be just a ramp. Glancing at the pic of the front of the business, it looks like they'd need about 5 vertical feet to cover both sets of stairs. To keep a ramp at appropriate grade (1:12), that may consume quite a lot of space. Unless I don't understand grades, 60-ish feet. Once you add permitting costs, business downtime while the front of your building is gone, and possibly removing big chunks of that patio to make room, $100k doesn't seem that unreasonable. And that door looks narrow too; that may well need to be widened. If interior renovations are required (bathroom not large enough?) it's easy for things to get very expensive, very fast. And in a 100 year old building, you quite likely also have lead paint and asbestos. A small asbestos remediation can easily run $13k (source: did one). And if the business is going to be closed for more than a week, don't forget paying your employees. You obviously don't have to, but if you tell your employees you aren't paying them for 3-12 weeks, they probably won't still be there when you reopen.
- pacetherace 7y agoThe city will also require bringing electrical, plumbing, mechanical up to code.
- DataWorker 7y agoPositively draconian. What’s next, health inspections, property tax, it’s all so unfair.
- EricE 7y agoPerfect example of trampling common sense with the love for regulations to save us from ourself :/
- mcntsh 7y agoI used to visit this place a lot. You're right about what you wrote. The coffeeshop is on a small plot raised pretty high off the ground. The only way you can get a ramp in there which is ADA compliant is by demolishing the patio area, which accounts for half the seating of the coffeeshop itself.