Texas city votes for possible cuts in the number of accessible apartments required to be built

From the El Paso Times:

EL PASO, Texas -- A proposal to reduce the number of apartments dedicated to disabled people may be in for a fight.

The City Council voted 5-3 this week to introduce an ordinance that would cut the number of disabled-accessible apartments that developers are required to build. The ordinance will be up for a public hearing and vote Sept. 8.

"There will be a fight," said Arne Schonberger, a member of the city's Accessibility Advisory Committee, which voted unanimously to oppose the change.

Groups representing disabled and elderly people will attend Tuesday's meeting to voice their opposition, Schonberger said.

Any complex built after 1993 with at least five units must have 5 percent of its apartments fully accessible for disabled people. The proposed ordinance would reduce that to 2 percent for new construction.

City Reps. Emma Acosta, Rachel Quintana and Eddie Holguin Jr. voted "no." Usually, introductions of ordinances are a formality and are approved unanimously.

One of the city's goals is to help spur apartment development for thousands of soldiers who will arrive at Fort Bliss by 2013. The new rule would also bring the city in line with a 2 percent national standard established by the international building code.

Builders call the 5 percent rule excessive. They say it leads to difficulties in renting the units and having to offer discounts to able-bodied people to fill those apartments.

Disabled people say that the 5 percent rule was a hard-fought victory for them, and that reducing it would be a step backward.

Apartment developer Tom Bohannon said in a recent interview that his company owns and manages about 1,000 apartment units in El Paso.

Fifty are fully accessible for disabled people, as required by city regulations, he said, and an additional 390 can easily be converted for handicapped tenants.

Only one person in a wheelchair is renting any of those units, he said.

"It's not an 'us against them,' " Bohannon said. "If they were coming in and renting these units, we'd have no problem with this regulation. But we've been building them for 16 years, and they're not being rented by people in wheelchairs."

Holguin said he voted against the introduction of the ordinance because "disabled people need a place to live, too."

Acosta said she did not believe the ordinance would do much except reduce the number of apartments that can meet the needs of disabled people.

Rep. Carl L. Robinson said he voted to introduce the ordinance, but had not made up his mind about it.

A different view came from Rep. Beto O'Rourke, who said he was leaning toward supporting the new 2 percent rule.

Builders say the current rule is "too onerous," O'Rourke said.

Rep. Susie Byrd voted to introduce the ordinance, but said she had not made up her mind, either.

Byrd was on the subcommittee that heard the issue and recommended the reduction to 2 percent, but she would like more information before casting a final vote.

"It's a very important issue that impacts the quality of people's lives," she said.