SELBY GARDENS CHILDREN’S RAINFOREST GARDEN

Issue: Vertical accessibility to the Tree House and Canopy Walk of Children’s Rainforest Garden and Learning Center

Analysis: The applicant is requesting a waiver from providing vertical accessibility to the Tree House feature and the Canopy Walk feature with an estimated cost of $1,750,000.00. Access to the features will be gained from stairs. The entire Children’s Garden will be accessible with the exception of the two features. An estimate of $76,755.00 for two lifts was submitted to substantiate the applicant’s statement that it would incur substantial financial costs. Note please look at other features of the project, such as the caves, to determine if they are accessible.

Project Progress:

This project is in plan review.

Items to be waived:

Vertical accessibility to the Tree House and Canopy Walk features, as required by section 553.509, Florida Statutes.

553.509 Vertical accessibility. Nothing in Sections 553.501-553.513 or the guidelines shall be

construed to relieve the owner of any building, structure or facility governed by those

sections from the duty to provide vertical accessibility to all levels above and below the

occupiable grade level regardless of whether the guidelines require an elevator to be

installed in such building, structure or facility, except for:

(1) Elevator pits, elevator penthouses, mechanical rooms, piping or equipment catwalks

and automobile lubrication and maintenance pits and platforms;

(2) Unoccupiable spaces, such as rooms, enclosed spaces and storage spaces that are not

designed for human occupancy, for public accommodations or for work areas; and

(3) Occupiable spaces and rooms that are not open to the public and that house no more

than five persons, including, but not limited to equipment control rooms and

projection booths.

Waiver Criteria: There is no specific guidance for a waiver of this requirement in the code.

The Commission’s current rule, authorized in Section 553.512, Florida Statutes, provides criteria

for granting waivers and allows consideration of unnecessary or extreme hardship to the

applicant if the specific requirements were imposed.