A1A BURRITO WORKS
Issue:
Vertical accessibility to a new deck.
Analysis;
The applicant is requesting a waiver from providing vertical
accessibility to a new, $60,000 42’ x 18’ deck being added to an existing
restaurant. The cost for the project is $60,000
and estimates from $47,620 5to $137,000 were submitted as the cost to add an
elevator or protected lift to the site.
The restaurant is located adjacent to the ocean and the marine
environment makes upkeep and maintenance of mechanical equipment very difficult
and costly. NOTE: This application for waiver was previously
denied; however, the applicant has submitted a new package that includes more
detailed analysis of the costs to provide vertical accessibility.
Project Progress:
The
project is under design.
Items to be Waived:
Vertical
accessibility to a deck, as required by Chapter 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.