Legal Question in Disability Law in Virginia

Construction of a ramp

My in-laws live in a sub-division that has covenants. For any work to take place, it needs to be approved by the architectural review committee.

My father-in-law is a 2nd WW veteran with a Purple Heart. His wounds shut down 1 kidney 40 years ago and he has diabetes. He now has cancer of the bladder and the doctors are carrying out extensive tests to determine if he can undergo surgery. Last week he had 2 falls and could not get back up. 911 service came to help him on 1 occasion and I attempted to help him on the other.

As a result we need to build a ramp in front of his house to enable us to get him to the car so that he can keep his doctor�s appointments. I went there today to build it, but several members of the sub-division came around questioning what we are doing and told my mother-in-law to submit an application.

Are they legally entitled to stop us?


Asked on 1/14/07, 9:05 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Re: Construction of a ramp

If the covenants actually require "for any work to place, it needs to be approved by the architectural review committee", the answer is likely yes,

the other members of the subdivision are probably legally entitled to stop your project if it continues to lack the necessary approval. (You might want to have a lawyer review the relevant covenants to determine whether

such approval for your particular project is in fact required.)

Another approach would be to contact the architectural review committee folks to see whether some kind of emergency approval could be granted for the project on the basis of the exigent circumstances which you've described.

Read more
Answered on 1/14/07, 10:50 pm


Related Questions & Answers

More Disability Discrimination Law (ADA) questions and answers in Virginia