Building Incentives for Handicapped Housing

Re “Wheelchair Access as a Must for Residences,” Dec. 2: The city of Santa Monica’s effort to establish wheelchair accessibility for housing is a reality in Sun Meadows, a Sun City senior community located in Riverside. Sun Meadows is a barrier-free, 392-home-site community with easy access to all of the recreation facilities. The streets have rolled curbs that wheelchairs can negotiate. All access doors and restrooms can accommodate wheelchairs. Hoists are available to place handicapped homeowners into the swimming pool and therapeutic spa. All of these accommodations are subtle, so the handicapped are part of the activities and not separated from the rest of the participants. The entire community was designed to meet the needs of both the able-bodied and those who are physically challenged.

The homes can be customized in various ways, including designs that are barrier-free and handicapped-accessible.

Rather than try to legislate accessibility to homes, Santa Monica should use incentives for contractors to be creative in providing these features. Barrier-free homes should make sense to developers, -adding value to the homes they build.

Sumner Saul

Beverly Hills

Alan Toy’s proposal is yet another example of special-interest groups co-opting the system for their own ends. The chances that a handicapped person would actually come to live in one of these private residences is minuscule. But more important, it distracts attention and money away from a real problem, which is supplying affordable housing to the poor and working class of this region.

Thomas Sullivan

Long Beach