^
I suspect that what you have observed is permitted by NH law.
Of course it is illogical, but if a business owner is allowed to do something like this, then some will do it–even if it is morally wrong and even if it defies logic.
In NJ, every handicapped parking space that I have ever observed is one of the spaces closest to the entrance of the business or agency in question. So, I suspect that the NJ statute related to handicapped parking spaces is written very differently from the equivalent statute in NH. Perhaps a letter to your state representative is in order.
It is not. I have copies of the state ADA requirements in my glovebox.
Most state regs are based upon the federal recommendations, so most are pretty much the same. But it doesn’t matter if the people who layout and who paint the lots don’t know or care. And it is so prevalent that I have to believe that they don’t.
I don’t expect anything to change unless some entrepreneur decides to use handicap accessibility as a marketing tool. Ah, but I do dream, don’t I?
A local restaurant also recently changed its HC spots from next to the doors to around the corner of the building. In this case it’s clear that someone navigating a wheelchair would be safer this way because the slope of the pavement next to the doors might cause an uncontrolled wheelchair to roll into traffic.