Posted on 02/13/2018 2:26:53 PM PST by Leaning Right
This lady I know opened up a sandwich shop recently. She sunk her life savings into it. The location she picked wasn't bad. It was in a strip mall that had a pizza parlor, but no other food establishment.
Here's the problem. Shortly after she opened, an inspector came in and told her she must remove all her customer tables! It seems there's some law that says new restaurants without a handicapped accessible restroom cannot have tables. So she removed her tables, and her business has dropped off dramatically.
One would think that with such enterprises that difficult to keep going, there would be a lucrative field of soup-to-nuts restaurant coaching firms. The lawyer is the least of it; there is the logistics.
It ain’t the roaring 20s any more.
> He’s asking, “ for a friend.” <
LOL. Sometimes that’s true. But not in this case. I’m not the owner. And she is not even a friend of mine. I’m just a customer who hates to see a good person backed into a corner.
Very well could be, like I said there is more to this story.
1) will mall management be amiable to her transferring her space lease to a space that has a restroom if she doesn’t have one in her shop?
2) will mall management let her put a few bistro tables outside ala Starbucks (corner location)?
3) was the fact she was opening an eat-in restaurant spelled out in the lease and did the management company represent the space as suitable for an eat-in restaurant?
If the answer to all 3 is ‘no’, then she has no recourse.
If the answer to the first two is ‘yes’ then problem solved. If the answer to the first two is ‘no’ but the answer to the last question is ‘yes’ then she needs to see a lawyer tootsweet. p.s., don’t withhold the rent but have it paid to a trust account the lawyer will set up - looks better with the judge if it comes to that.
I don’t know about 10K, (unless that’s a quote from the management co. who will fleece her six ways to sunday since she is their ‘captive audience’) but basically, a handicapped accessible restroom is an extended stall or single room wide enough for a wheelchair to do a three-point turn, with a door wide enough for a standard wheelchair, with handrails by the toilet, and a sink with lever faucets that’s table-height a person can reach seated, where there is another handrail. Subway is a good example to visit. Slap a handicap-assessible sign on the door. A few hundred dollars at the most to upgrade an existing restroom, and a thousand in city inspector work permits. (another p.s., - do NOT install the handrails yourself - hire a licensed contractor. Somebody is bound to pull one out of the wall and you want to deflect the lawsuit that will surely follow)
What state and what agency did the “inspector” come from?
Restaurants are usually inspected by the health department and generally speaking, ADA enforcement is not part of their job (at least where I live).
From experience I can tell you that anytime an inspector tells you something, you should ask them to show you where that is in the code. About half the time they are making stuff up because somehow they got it into their thick head that they are supposed to micromanage the businesses they inspect.
I worked in a small Post of Duty for a government agency during the 80s. The agency rented the office from the GSA who in turn rented it from the owner. I think there were 0 employees.
Around 1987 the owner had to modify our bathroom for handicapped. No choice about it.
Some of the older guys had been there over 20 years and they got to remembering and there had never been a handicapped person in the office. In the odd event one did need to use the facilities, someone would have been happy to help them without the huge stall.
why? do you own the shop?
All great things to ask the lawyer(s) about I suppose.
I’ve heard about the difficulty in getting restaurants going. I wondered why in some cities it’s impossible to find a good indy Greek restaurant. Maybe it’s the regulations — nobody even wants to try. Unless you have a parent company and a lot of franchises.
9 employees.
Is there no grandfather clause in that law, so that pre-existing buildings that don’t have handicapped-accessible restrooms are exempt?
I'd think..that was an extreme move.
Just maybe...she wasn't prepared money wise for any hiccup..????
> Just maybe...she wasn’t prepared money wise for any hiccup..???? <
That’s for sure.
And there ARE zero handicapped restrooms....in the places...I've worked.
no you just being a noobie
She should have done her due diligence. ADA regulations are readily available. Her architect or whomever drew up floor plans should have advised her about the seating requirements for wheelchair access in a restaurant. There was no reason for her to rip up all the tables.
Was this an existing tenant space with existing bathrooms? The requirements for alterations are not as strict as for new construction.
The real estate agent who handled the sale might have been required to disclose if the space would need alterations to meet the new occupancy. I’m not sure but your friend should find out.
That solution is not very likely and is not an option unless the bathroom is designed to be a shared facility. As in a multi tenant building where a restroom is accessible from the interior of the various tenants.
She’s got a right to try, but it sure sounds like a field that, well, tends to suck one’s blood. Who’s ever gotten filthy rich from restaurants? You’d have to love doing it. Of course a good place can be very very memorable, but others’ memories don’t pay your bills, alas.
Maybe “Quit if possible” is the best advice for her. Go into a different kind of business.
Restaurants are required to have restrooms. "No public restrooms" simply means the restrooms are for customers only.
They are both elements covered under ADA. Specifically addressing wheelchair accessibility.
Thanks for those ADA links. I have an acquaintance who’s a lawyer. I’m going to see what he says about this problem. Maybe I should have touched base with him before posting here. But I did get some helpful FR responses, yours included.
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