POLICY REPORT
AGING, DEVELOPMENT AND BUILDING
Date: August 29, 1995
Dept. File No. JHD
TO: Vancouver City Council
FROM: Associate Director of Planning - Land Use and Development
Division in consultation with the Directors of Permits and
Licenses, Law, Engineering, Health, Social Planning and the
Housing Centre
SUBJECT: Accessible and Usable Dwellings for Everyone (Including People
with Varied and Varying Physical Abilities)
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT the Accessible and Usable Dwellings Project be endorsed
as outlined in this report. The project will develop practical
strategies within the context of adaptable design to improve
accessibility and increase long-term usability of Vancouver's
housing stock. The project will be carried out by a working
team including people with disabilities, seniors, housing
industry representatives and staff.
B. THAT costs associated with pursuing this project be funded
from the Contingency Reserve Fund to a maximum of $20,000.
GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The General Manager of Community Services RECOMMENDS approval of A
and B.
COUNCIL POLICY
Council Policy regarding building design for people with disabilities is
reflected in various initiatives including:
- the incorporation of accessibility requirements in the Vancouver
Building By-law beginning in 1973;
- negotiation to include barrier-free dwelling units in residential
projects requiring rezoning approval;
- development of the Accessible Design Guidelines by the Housing
and Properties Department to assist designers with barrier-free
design; and
- the creation of the Special Advisory Committee on Disability Issues
which reviews the implementation of accessibility measures in major
building projects.PURPOSE
Existing municipal policies respond in a limited way to the residential
accessibility and usability needs of people with varied and varying
physical abilities. This report proposes development of a response to
current and future accessibility and usability needs.
BACKGROUND
In May 1994, Council requested that staff report back on " ... the
opportunities and limitations for improving new buildings for wheelchair
accessibility through amendments to the Zoning and Development or
Building By-laws". The Special Committee on Disability Issues and the
Senior's Committee also requested that hindrances to dwelling
experienced by people with a wide variety of physical abilities be
addressed.
DISCUSSION
The current and future dwelling needs of people with varied and varying
physical abilities are not readily met by today's conventional dwelling
designs and supply. Physical abilities include mobility, agility,
seeing, hearing and speaking capabilities and chemical and sensory
sensitivities. As our understanding of varied abilities is broadened
through public education, and our definition of conventional abilities
evolves in the context of the aging population, dwellings will change.
To encourage and enhance this natural process, staff propose development
of an accessible and usable dwellings strategy for the city.
The accessible and usable dwellings strategy will encompass two
community objectives and accommodate a range of existing variables. The
objectives include:
- "equality of dwelling" whereby there are no more and no fewer
limitations on the choice, availability and usability of housing
for people with disabilities than would typically exist for people
with conventional abilities; and
- "efficient use of resources" whereby the maximum amount of housing
appropriate for people with all types of abilities is created at
the lowest possible public and private cost.
The variables include:
- the wide range of types and levels of abilities;
- the changing nature of individual abilities over time;
- the range of dwelling, building and tenure types;
- new and existing buildings; and
- the structure and economics of the housing market.Staff anticipate
that an effective accessible and usable dwellings strategy will be
based on the concept of "adaptability". Adaptability entails the
creation of dwellings that, if not immediately suited to the needs
of a user, can be readily altered as and when required.
Adaptability should increase the possibilities for independent
living and aging in place. It should also overcome some of the
problems with past solutions, such as:
- the ghettoisation implicit in special housing;
- the limitations around the types and levels of disabilities
addressed with the universal design approach;
- current restrictions on the housing and tenure types available; and
- the reluctance of developers to invest in highly specific dwelling
designs that are not widely marketable.
The first steps of this project will be to:
- identify existing design and construction circumstances that limit
accessibility and usability and can be easily rectified; and
- develop accessibility and usability design and construction
standards to make dwellings more easily adaptable to the specific
needs of individual users.
Future steps may include:
- developing a means of funding the costs of individual adaptations;
and
- exploring alternative ideas generated during the first part of the
work.
To develop the accessible and usable dwellings strategy, staff propose a
process whereby advocates and experts representing the major interest
groups - people with varied and varying abilities and the housing
industry - work together to create a solution that is mutually
supportive. Staff will facilitate and assist in this process.
Staff expect to report back with recommendations concerning
implementation of the first steps and pursuit of additional steps early
in the new year.
ADVISORY COMMITTEES
The Special Advisory Committee on Disability Issues and the Senior's
Committee have reviewed earlier drafts of this report and generally
support the recommendations. Outstanding concerns or comments raised
prior to Council's consideration of this report will be forwarded to
Council by memo.SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS
With a plan in place to better enable all citizens to dwell
independently in the residential community, staff hope that additional
community support services (dwelling and non-dwelling) can be more
easily and efficiently provided. This benefit would apply equally to
families, children and individuals.
PERSONNEL IMPLICATIONS
The overall project will be co-ordinated and facilitated by Land Use and
Development Division staff, in conjunction with staff of other divisions
and departments. Implementation measures arising out of this work will
require a future staff commitment which will be better understood in the
context of specific recommendations.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
Funding of the working group process is proposed to occur via the
Contingency Reserve Fund. The funding requirements for the first phase
of the project are anticipated to be $20,000 or less. Staff will also
be applying for an "Affordability and Choice Today" (Federal Government/
Industry Consortium) grant to support this project.
CONCLUSIONS
Staff believe the community could benefit in both the short and long
term by exploring and implementing a strategy to better accommodate the
evolving needs of people with varied and varying abilities. Staff are
optimistic that a participatory process including people with varying
abilities and housing industry representatives will yield the most
workable response to this objective.
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