Professional aparment management companies need to ensure our communities have an appropriate number of handicapped parking places to ensure disabled residents can use and enjoy our facilities. Handicap parking spaces need to be at least eight feet wide and be adjacent to a five foot wide access aisle. Additionally, handicap parking spaces need to be located next to the shortest route from the parking lot to the main entrance of the building. The general rule is that there needs to be one handicap parking space for every 25 regular spaces. Each handicap parking space must have its own sign with the access symbol along with a word indicating that the space is reserved for handicapped parking only. The bottom of the sign must be at least five feet off the ground, so that a parked car cannot block the sign. For every eight handicap parking spots, at least one must be designated as van-accessible (which requires an eight foot wide access aisle next to it and at least nine feet and five inches of vertical clearance). To be sure, you can always have more.
Here is a useful chart to help determine the number of handicap spots you will need, depending on the number of spots
Total Parking Spaces Provided Required Minimum Number of Accssible Spaces
1 to 25 1
26 to 50 2
51 to 75 3
76 to 100 4
101 to 150 5
151 to 200 6
201 to 300 7
301 to 400 8
401 to 500 9
501 to 1,000 2% of the total
Just A Thought.