Legal Question in Disability Law in Florida

ADA Parking

I live in a condo in Miami,Florida. The owner is my roomate; a physician. Each apartment has 1 assigned parking. If a unit has more than 1 vehicle, the 2nd vehicle must be parked in the visitors parking spaces. My roomate does not have a car. I am confined to a wheelchair and drive a Toyota Seinna mini-van which has been mechanically altered to allow me to enter van, drive and exit van independently. The association says I can park in 1 of the handicapped parking spaces for visitors, they do not have to provide me a space to park. I have an automatic ramp, and cannot park in a regular parking place. If I do I can not get out of my van. If the handicap visitor parking is occupied my choice is to stay in my van until they leave, or park on an angle in the visitor parking and occupy 2 spaces. I am then threatened that if I do not move my van they will tow it. This can occur at 2pm or 11 pm. There is no other individual that lives here that is confined to a wheelchair and drives a mechanically altered van. A number of people have ''disabled parking permits'' they all have an assigned parking spot for their unit and they do not have any difficulty using it. Isn't it discriminatory to refuse to assign me a spot I can park and exit my van?


Asked on 9/10/08, 1:28 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
William Gwaltney William W. Gwaltney, Attorneys at Law

Re: ADA Parking

So long as the Condo Association is providing the required access and parking spaces then it is not likely that you will have any claim against them. You are not the registered owner of the unit and have no real standing to challenge their policy of parking space distribution. However, your landlord/roommate should review the Condo Association Documents to determine if there is any remedy available to authorized tenants in this situation. Then it can be brought to the attention of the Condo Board.

Good Luck.

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Answered on 9/10/08, 12:44 pm


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