DJ 202-PL-325
                                                NOV 5 1992
(b)(6)
Plantation, Florida 33317

Dear (b)(6)

        This letter is in response to your inquiries of September 3,
1992, and October 2, 1992, requesting information about the
effect of title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act
("ADA") on your plans to purchase an antebellum house and operate
it as a bed and breakfast inn.

        The ADA authorizes the Department of Justice to provide
technical assistance to individuals and entities having rights or
obligations under the Act. This letter provides informal
guidance to assist you in understanding the ADA's requirements.
However, it does not constitute a legal interpretation or legal
advice and it is not binding on the Department of Justice.

        As discussed in your recent telephone conversation with
Thomas Contois of this office, there are four general
requirements that appear to apply to your plans for the bed and
breakfast. First, the ADA requires existing facilities to take
certain steps to make their services accessible to persons with
disabilities. In particular, title III and the Department of
Justice's implementing regulation require existing facilities to
provide auxiliary aids and services to ensure effective
communication -- for example, telecommunications devices for deaf
persons and closed caption decoders -- and to remove barriers to
access where it is readily achievable to do so. These
requirements for existing facilities are spelled out in sections
36.303 and 36.304 of the title III regulation (which is included
as Part III of the ADA Handbook).

        Second, you indicated that you intend to make certain
changes to the rooms on the second floor of the inn. The ADA
requires that any alterations to existing facilities that take
place after January 26, 1992, must comply with the ADA
Accessibility Guidelines. These guidelines are also included in
the ADA Handbook, as Appendix B. You will want to look
particularly at part 4, which sets out requirements for several
types of building features and facilities, and part 9, which sets
out additional requirements for places of transient lodging.

cc: Records, Chrono, Wodatch, Breen, Contois, Friedlander, FOIA
    Udd:Contois:PL.bednbreakfast

01-01709
                                     - 2 -
        Third, you should be aware of the path of travel
requirements that are triggered by alterations to primary
function areas. As section 36.403 of the title III regulation
spells out, whenever a place of public accommodation alters a
part of its facility that contains a primary function -- as, for
instance, guest rooms or bathrooms at a bed and breakfast inn --
the place of public accommodation must also provide an accessible
path of travel to the altered area. You are not required to
spend more than 20% of the total cost of the alterations on the
path of travel, but you are obligated to make necessary
expenditures up to that 20%. This requirement is further
explained in the enclosed Title III Technical Assistance Manual,
at pages 49-51.

        Finally, because the house you are considering buying is an
historic building, some of the ADA requirements that would
ordinarily apply may be relaxed. The special provisions that
apply to historic buildings are set out in part 4.1.7 of the ADA
Accessibility Guidelines, and are explained at pages 52-53 of the
Technical Assistance Manual.

        Thank you for your inquiry. I hope this information is
useful to you in understanding the requirements of the ADA.

                                        Sincerely,

                                     Philip L. Breen
                                  Special Legal Counsel
                                  Public Access Section

Enclosure
        Title III Technical Assistance manual
01-01710                                        XX (b)(6)
                                        OF FORT LAUDERDALE

                                                        October 2, 1992

TO: Office of the Americans with Disabilities

FROM: (b)(6)

SUBJECT: Attached letter of September 3, 1992

To date I have not received and answer to letter that is
attached to this correspondence.

I now desire to make an offer on the property in question but
still need the answers to the questions I have raised in my
letter of September.

I cannot make an offer if I am not assured that certain items
of the Americans with Disabilities Act will prevent me from
using the property as a bed and breakfast inn.

Please review my letter of September and answer the
questions raised.

I thank you for your cooperation

Sincerely,

(b)(6)

                        (b)(6)

01-01711
                                         (b)(6)
                                        OF FORT LAUDERDALE

                                                        September 3, 1992

TO: Office on the Americans with Disabilities Act.

From:  (b)(6)

Subject: Interpretation of Handbook

I have received the subject handbook and have spent many
hours trying to find the answer/s to my application of the
Disabilities Act to a business my wife and I are pursuing.
We will purchase a antebellum house in West Georgia that is
on the Historical Register due to it's age, former use and
classic neo-Greek design which is one of the few in the
United States. We desire to establish this facility as a Bed
and Breakfast Inn. The proposed conditions are the following.

        1.      The inn will have six (6) bedrooms, and in the future
                possibility 10, all on the second floor.

        2.      We will also live in the facility as our permanent
                and only residence.

        3.      We are greatly restricted by the historical society
                as to the changes and modifications we can make to
                the facility.

        4.      What faction, Act or Society, has jurisdiction in
                this situation?

I thank you for your cooperation in answering these questions
and interpretation of the Disabilities Act as it applies to
my situation.


Sincerely,

(b)(6)
Plantation, FL.
          33317

01-01712