HELPING WITH SMART GROWTH AND FINANCIAL STRATEGIES

REALTORS® TAKE ACTION

Maria McHale, governmental affairs and policy director for East Tennessee REALTORS^® (ETNR), said housing is no longer solely a private-market issue.

"Making sure housing is accessible is a shared opportunity between local government, economic development and planning agencies, and industry groups — everyone should care about housing and do everything we can to support it from a policy standpoint.

Housing affects jobs, the workforce and the shared economic health and success of the entire region."

HELPING WITH SMART GROWTH AND FINANCIAL STRATEGIES

REALTORS® TAKE ACTION

Maria McHale, governmental affairs and policy director for East Tennessee REALTORS^® (ETNR), said like many regions in the United States, the East Tennessee area was not building enough homes for years.

Then the post-pandemic boom created more stresses.

"It is not my job to help a county set its budget," she said. "It is my job to help REALTORS® be more proactive in creating housing and infrastructure to support it."

MITCHELL KAPLAN: FOUNDER OF BOOKS & BOOKS + MIAMI BOOK FAIR

NOW CHAMPION OF UNIVERSAL DESIGN, INCLUSION FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES AND AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT 

Gratified to report that the brilliant and caring Mitchell Kaplan responded in less than an hour to my email underscoring a major wheelchair access issue at his flagship Coral Gables Books & Books store and café.

He was two hours from needing to attend to a very major issue – but he made time to commit to fixing the barrier that I underscored in my passionate letter.

KUDOS to a giant of literature, creativity and inclusion/equity for all.

I wrote “Dear Mitchell Kaplan:”

You are a Miami literature giant. 

You have my highest gratitude for Miami Book Fair, etc.

You speak of inclusion.

So please stop blocking wheelchair access to the men's room ⁦at Books and Books Coral Gables.

The foyer to the restrooms NEVER is storage space. 

You would never guess this wheelchair blocking mess is the pathway to the toilets.

I am in that store easily every 10 days.

It always is like this.

People who use wheelchair deserve independence.

They should never have to go ask someone to stack the chairs higher, to move a hand cart out of the way.

Can you imagine having a bathroom emergency and having an accident, waiting 5 minutes to find someone, 5 minutes for a response plus 10 to fix the issue?

Even if the cart is pushed away, the stacks create maneuvering issues.

Saying things will be cleared upon request would NOT be a good answer to me.

People with disabilities are a minority group.

 

A beloved store that is a community cornerstone would NEVER say people who are Jewish or Black or LBGTQ must make prior arrangements, or make a humiliating special request -- simply to wash up and use the toilets, while enjoying the courtyard cafe, back room indoor cafe, browsing for books in Spanish or English, attending one of hundreds of readings, visiting the children's section, enjoying the hallway rotating art displays, etc.

That is the end of my sermon.

I very much want to hear back from you or your proper manager.

I live in an historic house in Shenandoah, just east, so it is easy to drop by to review things.

I am not an ADA architect or attorney, but my partner of 33 years used a wheelchair for mobility.

I know what I speak of.

Because you are a beacon of inclusion, arts and creativity in this community -- since long before I arrived in 2000 -- I have every confidence that this problem will be addressed soon and permanently.

HELPING WITH SMART GROWTH AND FINANCIAL STRATEGIES

REALTORS® TAKE ACTION

"There are some really fantastic [approaches] that help pay for things," said Maria McHale, governmental affairs and policy director for East Tennessee REALTORS^® (ETNR).

Focusing on solutions that do not artificially raise home prices, hurting potential homebuyers, the way impact fees do.

"Rather than focusing on one policy that we are trying to propose or defeat, we are looking at this holistically."

HELPING WITH SMART GROWTH AND FINANCIAL STRATEGIES

REALTORS® TAKE ACTION

Maria McHale, governmental affairs and policy director for East Tennessee REALTORS^® (ETNR), said the goal is also to create a proactive toolkit to help municipalities solve immediate financial and land-use decisions, while also helping them grow in a way that is sustainable.

The course she is developing is aimed at best practices.

"There are tools such as a development agreement. A developer might be willing to pay for infrastructure immediately, in exchange for some benefits.

There are special assessment districts — they are called different things in different areas.

But the basic idea is when new taxes collected within a development area go toward funding [infrastructure] improvements, that benefits homes and facilities there," McHale said.

HELPING WITH SMART GROWTH AND FINANCIAL STRATEGIES

REALTORS® TAKE ACTION

"They might enact a policy that seems like a short-term solution like impact fees.

That is a long-term solution.

It is regressive, because it impacts homebuyers, especially those who can least afford to pay for that passed on cost," said Maria McHale, governmental affairs and policy director for East Tennessee REALTORS^® (ETNR)

noting that virtually every governmental body in the country is trying to create housing that people can afford, so it is counter to that effort to add high-impact fees to the cost of producing dwelling units.

 

HELPING WITH SMART GROWTH AND FINANCIAL STRATEGIES

REALTORS® TAKE ACTION

East Tennessee REALTORS^® (ETNR) frequently advocates for smart growth decisions at the city and county level — where land-use decisions make a strong impact on the quality of life and future livability of communities where real people reside.

As an advocate for the residents of a 12-county region, ETNR aims to educate decision-makers.