Handicap-accessible spaces

The ADA usually is not the rule that applies

Many boards assume the Americans with Disabilities Act sets a required count of marked accessible spaces, the way a retail parking lot has to post them. For an ordinary residential community with no public-facing areas, that assumption is usually wrong. The U.S. Department of Justice has taken the position that a private condominium without areas open to the public does not fit any of the ADA's categories of a place of public accommodation, so Title III of the ADA generally does not apply.

This turns on whether any part of your property functions like a public space, for example a clubhouse rented out to non-members for events. That is a fact-specific question for your association's attorney, not something to assume either way.

The Fair Housing Act is what actually binds you

The real federal hook is the Fair Housing Act's reasonable accommodation duty, and it applies whether or not any part of your property is open to the public.

"It shall be unlawful for any person to refuse to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services, when such accommodations may be necessary to afford a handicapped person equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling unit, including public and common use areas."

Source: 24 CFR §100.204, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

HUD's own guidance gives the exact scenario most boards will run into: a resident with a mobility impairment in a large complex with first-come, first-served parking.

"It is a violation of § 100.204 for the owner or manager of Progress Gardens to refuse to make this accommodation. Without a reserved space, John might be unable to live in Progress Gardens at all or, when he has to park in a space far from his unit, might have great difficulty getting from his car to his apartment unit. The accommodation therefore is necessary to afford John an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling."

Source: 24 CFR §100.204, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

An ordinary, unassigned lot is exactly the kind of shared amenity this duty reaches. It does not matter that your community is entirely private.

Weigh each request, do not write a blanket rule

Federal guidance calls for an individualized, case-by-case review of every request, not a standing policy. A board may decline an accommodation only where granting it would impose a genuine undue financial and administrative burden, or fundamentally change how the association operates, weighed against the cost, the association's resources, the benefit to the resident, and whether an effective alternative exists.

A related question is coming up more often: an accessible space next to an EV charger. Where your state or city has adopted the 2021 International Building Code, an accessible EV charging space has its own minimum width and aisle dimensions, separate from an ordinary accessible space, but that only applies once your jurisdiction has adopted that code edition. Check with your local building department, and see Charging stations.