Notebook

Contractors dealing with wet basements have a new tool in In February of 2002, the Chicago suburb of Naperville, Ill., passed a local “visitability” ordinance meant to improve wheelchair access to new single-family private homes. The ordinance, vigorously promoted by advocates for the disabled, mandated wider first-floor doorways, the installation of grab-bar blocking in bathrooms, and accessible light switches and electrical outlets (see “Builders Wary of ‘Visitability’ Regulations,” Notebook, 3/02). One key provision not included in the original ordinance — a requirement for a no-step entrance ramp — was shelved for further study, although it was widely expected to be phased in later. But at a city council meeting in May, the no-step entrance provision was thrown out altogether after the city’s