In an apartment in the old center of a beautiful city lived a family that had a big problem, because the little daughter, due to her disability, was forced to spend the days always at home. Of the outside world, apart from the usual trivialities of TV and a few outings when necessary, she knew practically only what she could peek through the window, which overlooked a busy street and from which you could glimpse the corner of a tree-lined square, always animated and lively.
One day, the father thought that a balcony would allow his daughter to feel a bit of that life, almost if going out and meet someone. He turned therefore to a technician, but was disappointed: the municipal rules did not provide for changes to the facades of ancient buildings in that area. But he did not give up: he applied to the Municipality to expose his problem and on an appointed day he was received by the Building Commission.
Faced with the human case, the Commission did not feel like rejecting the request, as it would have been inevitable by applying the rules literally. In the end they decided to propose an exception for the case, but with precise conditions: medical certification, an aesthetically suitable project and finally the commitment to restore, registered with a notarial deed, when the necessity would cease.
Managers, councillors, the mayor, no one objected, and so permission was granted, the balcony was built and the little girl could spend some quiet hours there.
In the wake of this happy experience, some time later was also resolved the case of a disabled person who lived on the outskirts of the same city, in a hovel whose tiny bathroom was located halfway up the stairs, and he had to climb to it by force of his arms; so he was allowed a small extension on the ground floor, occupying a few square meters in his courtyard to build a toilet.
In short, everything was fine: technicians and administrators had listened to what common sense (and the heart) suggested, undoubtedly forcing the rules, but with the utmost transparency and setting precise conditions for small exceptions. I believe, however, that today all this would not have been possible with the on line procedures that progress has imposed for building practices, and not only for them.
