back showing the average price increase per home would be no more than 1.5 percent, homebuilders' fears were stymied.
One developer led the way in accepting the changes.
"Pasquinelli Homes really stepped up to bat for us and took the lead," said Daniel Buonamici, Bolingbrook 's Building Commissioner and one of the program's internal architects.
Pasquinelli began incorporating Visitability features into their new homes in the Whispering Oaks subdivision. Once Pasquinelli began doing it, other builders followed suit.
From 1999 to June 24, 2004, when the Visitability Ordinance was adopted as law, more than a dozen area home builders voluntarily complied with the program, and Bolingbrook's brisk home sales didn't skip a beat, to the contentment of the homebuilding community.
About 2,000 homes built in Bolingbrook over the last three years now are accessible, and by the time the Village builds out to a population of 88,000 in another 10 years, an additional 3,500 homes will meet Visitability standards.
Claar said he became an advocate of creating Visitability codes when his mother began using a walker about five years ago and family members struggled with the possibility of adding grab bars to the shower in the residence she occupied in Effingham.
"We looked at what the cost would be to retrofit the bathroom shower, and it was very expensive, almost cost-prohibitive," Claar said. "That got me very interested in making this code."
The program has drawn the attention of communities in Illinois , as well as nationally.
"We have received calls asking us to offer information from communities like Silver Springs , Colorado , and San Diego ," said Buonamici.
What other communities have found out is that the modifications do not impact the sale or resale value of the home, and in fact, are considered features.
"This ordinance isn't only for the resident who is disabled and in a wheelchair, but for those people who have friends or relatives who may want to visit the home and have impaired mobility, such as a broken leg, and have need to use a chair," Buonamici said.
"Wider doors also make it that much easier for people who are moving furniture in and out of a home, or pulling luggage on wheels," Buonamici said.
Starns says the codes are necessary because, "As our population ages everyone is likely to encounter some sort of Disability or lack of mobility. Since our entire country has enjoyed a high level of mobility, a loss of mobility will not be easily accepted."
"As our population moves and relocates, especially at retirement age, doesn't it just make sense that the codes for homes should be consistent throughout the country?" Starns said.
Bolingbrook's new ordinance had the strong support of the community as well. Edward Bannister, a Bolingbrook resident, not only supported the ordinance, but helped lobby for it.
Bannister, a past president and member of the Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities and the Vice President of the statewide Rehabilitation Board, was one of the first residents to retrofit a home in town to accommodate a wheelchair.
Bannister sat in on many meetings that eventually led to the program's adoption.
"With the aging of baby boomers, the existing senior population, and the disability population now numbering 54 million and increasing, accessible homes are something that every city in America must address eventually," Bannister said.
"I am fortunate that, being disabled, I live in Bolingbrook, because the mayor and his staff had the foresight to ensure that accessible single family homes are available to the citizens of this village," Bannister said.
The modifications seem minor, but many communities still have yet to act on Visitability requirements.
One neighboring community to Bolingbrook adopted similar ordinances, but failed to require a no-step entrance.
"A city goes and requires almost all of the features necessary, but fails to require a no-step entrance, so it makes it difficult for people in wheelchairs to enter the homes and take advantage of the other features. Why even adopt the others in the first place?" Bannister said.
Any concerns that the features might hurt a home's resale value are unfounded, say local realtors.
"Over the last few years I have found I can use these features as selling points, because eventually people want to get top dollar for their homes," said Eric Jensen, a sales consultant for Realty World Jensen, Bolingbrook.
"These items increase not just the quality of living for homeowners, but the quality of the home itself. They
