T. 6-30-92 JUL 8 1992 DJ 202-PL-00077 DIRECTOR WODATCH Mr. Roy Hendrick 5647 Galleria Avenue DATE Suite H Baton Rouge, LA 70816 Dear Mr. Hendrick: DEPUTY LIB I am responding to your letter asking if title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), Pub. L. 101-336, DATE 104 Stat. 327 (July 26, 1990), 42 U.S.C.A. SS 12101 et seq.,, and this Department's regulation implementing title III, 56 Fed. Reg. 35544, to be codified at 28 C.F.R. pt. 36, require that elevator access be provided to a mezzanine in a one-story supermarket. You have also asked if the requirement differs if the supermarket SPECIAL is located in a shopping center or shopping mall. COUNSEL BREEN The ADA authorizes the Department to provide technical assistance to individuals and entities that have rights or DATE responsibilities under the Act. This letter provides informal guidance to assist you in understanding the ADA and the Department's regulation. However, this technical assistance does not constitute a determination by the Department of Justice of your rights or responsibilities under the ADA, and it is not BLIZARD binding on the Department of Justice. DATE Title III of the ADA requires all places of public accommodation designed and constructed for first occupancy after January 26, 1993, to be accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, including people who use wheelchairs. Therefore, the ADA generally requires that at least one accessible passenger elevator serve each level, including mezzanines, in a newly constructed multistory building. However, title III contains an exception to this general rule. Elevators are not required in facilities that are less than three stories or have fewer than 3000 square feet per story, unless the building is a shopping center or mall; the professional office of a health care provider; a public transit station; or an airport passenger terminal. To determine if elevator access to a mezzanine in a specific building is cc: Records, Chrono, Wodatch, FOIA, Library, Blizard udd:Blizard.ada.interpretation.Hendrick 01-01025 - 2 - required, you must look to the requirement that applies to the building in which the mezzanine is located. Section 3.5 of the ADA accessibility guidelines (Appendix A to the Department's title III regulation) defines a "story" as: That portion of a building included between the upper surface of a floor and upper surface of the floor or roof next above. If such portion of a building does not include occupiable space, it is not considered a story for purposes of these guidelines. There may be more than one floor level within a story as in the case of a mezzanine or mezzanines. A mezzanine is not, itself, considered a "story" for the purpose of determining if an elevator is required. If you are constructing a grocery store in a building that has fewer than three stories, and is not part of a shopping center or shopping mall, no elevator is required. When no elevator is required in a building, you are not required to provide any accessible means of vertical access to mezzanines within that building. However, a grocery store with a mezzanine that is part of a shopping center or shopping mall is not eligible for the statutory exemption from the elevator requirement. The Department of Justice regulation implementing title III requires that all floor levels within a newly constructed shopping center or shopping mall be made accessible to people with disabilities; therefore, elevator access must be provided to mezzanines located in grocery stores that are part of a shopping center. For your information, I am enclosing a copy of this Department's regulation implementing title III of the ADA and the technical assistance manual that we developed to assist individuals and entities subject to the ADA to understand the requirements of title III. The questions you raise are addressed in section III - 7.3110. I hope that this information is helpful to you. Sincerely, John L. Wodatch Director Office on the Americans with Disabilities Act Enclosures 01-01026 ROY HENDRICK, AIA ARCHITECT 5647 Galeria Avenue Suite H Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70816 February 28, 1992 Mr. John Wodatch, Director Office of A.D.A. Civil Rights Division Department of Justice P.O. Box 66118 Washington, DC 20035-6118 RE: A.D.A. Elevator Requirements Grand Union Supermarket Monroe, NY Dear Mr. Wodatch: We have a problem concerning the A.D.A. requirements and cannot get confirmation on the requirements and decisions as they affect our project. Our architectural firm has been trying to resolve one question since September, 1991 and to date we have not received any written confirmation on Justice Department letterhead. We have designed a supermarket for the Grand Union Company and based upon our interpretations and telephone conversations with A.D.A. personnel, it is understood that an elevator is not required to the mezzanine in the one-story supermarket. Ms. Linda King has been extremely helpful in her research and by providing A.D.A. literature to us. We have requested written confirmation since last September and to date no "definitive" written response has been received. Grand Union is working with many architects and the majority of these architects are interpreting the A.D.A. requirements as "an elevator is required to the mezzanine in a single story supermarket". Grand Union is requiring us to obtain written confirmation of our interpretation of the A.D.A. requirement that an elevator is not required. Without this written confirmation, we are told to either put an elevator in the building or prepare to be sued in the event a Monroe, New York building inspector demands the elevator should be installed during or after construction. Our decision is complicated, without immediate written confirmation, we are forced 01-01027 Mr. John Wodatch February 28, 1992 Page Two to redesign the building to receive an elevator. We have previously submitted letters and drawings to the A.D.A. office in September and October of 1991. Weekly telephone calls, mainly to Ms. Linda King and Ms. Irene Bowen have been conducted since November, 1991. On February 21, 1992 Ms. King faxed us several pages of Title III, Technical Assistance Manual which seemed to confuse the issue. According to telephone conversation with Ms. King after receiving the fax, she discussed the elevator problem with Ms. Friedlander who said that "An elevator is never, never required in a single story building, ever, ever. Even if it is in a shopping center or connected to a shopping center". The problem is that other people have read the pages from the Technical Assistance Manual and the above interpretation is not found. Their opinion, based on the manual, is that an elevator is required. Please assist us by confirming immediately on letterhead by fax, the correct A.D.A. decision or interpretation one way or the other. Your prompt response would be greatly appreciated. Sincerely yours, Roy Hendrick, AIA Architect RH/dc cc: Al Rossi Richard Krumrich The Grand Union Company 01-01028