Palm Beach family sues HOA, wants better beach access for disabled son

PALM BEACH, Fla. - A Palm Beach husband and wife are suing their own homeowners association, claiming that their disabled son does not have adequate access to the beach directly in front of the family's home. The family has hired an attorney and an architect and also spent thousands of dollars to better access to the shoreline.

Jeffrey and Judi Weiss say they are part of a 'beach' family. The sand is just outside their Palm Beach condominium at Sloan's Curve, but getting to the water beach can be a struggle every step of the way. Their son, Justin, 11, has been in a wheelchair since a near-drowning incident when the boy was two years old.

Seven years ago, they purchased a home at Sloan's Curve because of the close proximity to the ocean.

"Driving up here, you see the smile on his face because he knows where he's coming. He loves it up here," Jeffery Weiss said about his son.

To prevent further beach erosion, the couple said their homeowners association put a metal 'A' frame staircase in place at the end of an existing staircase. The HOA told the family the staircase was temporary. That was two years ago.

The family says that the stairs are too steep and, when wet or sandy, can become slippery. Mr. Weiss feels it is too dangerous to carry 62 lb. Justin down to the water.

"Conceptually it makes no sense because you had to go up nine steps and then go down nineteen steps to go down," he said.

The couple instead began pushing Justin's wheelchair along a path through the dunes. But the family contends that the HOA then decided to let the path grow in with vegetation, leaving no safe option to reach the beach. The family went to the HOA hoping for a suitable fix, but they say they were refused.

"We were told that we should take our son to a public beach. Which, again, defies imagination because we purchased a property because it is on the beach," Jeffery Weiss said.

Mr. and Mrs. Weiss said they had no choice but to file a lawsuit against their own neighbors on behalf of their own son.

"There are times that I'm up here crying," said Judi Weiss. "I feel so sad because I can't enjoy my place. If we could pick up a lamp on the beach that had a genie in it and we had three wishes, of course my first wish would be for him to get all better."

There have been repeated attempts to speak with a representative from the Sloan's Curve homeowners association, but requests for a response have so far gone unanswered. The Weiss family, meanwhile, said it will continue its fight in the Palm Beach County court system, claiming the association has failed to make reasonable accommodations for a person with a disability.

"This is a little boy that doesn't have a lot of joy in his life. But this is something that he likes," said Mr. Weiss.