Accessibility and building regs ironically combined to prevent a bookstore where I used to work from replacing a set of skinny, awkward, inward-opening doors wh

Accessibility and building regs ironically combined to prevent a bookstore where I used to work from replacing a set of skinny, awkward, inward-opening doors which made the entire store a fire trap. Why? Because state law required that any part of the building being modified be brought into compliance with modern building code. In this case: - Replacing the doors with outward-opening doors would mean bringing the doorframe into compliance by widening it - Widening the doorframe would mean widening the alcove into which it opens, and in a 19th-century masonry mid-rise every wall is structural - Widening the door also means widening the short (3-4 steps) staircase leading up to it and bringing them into code by making them less steep - Making the stairs less steep means they are now longer than the alcove and protrude beyond the property line onto the sidewalk