antiquity
02-03-2003, 05:30 PM
Â*Â*Disabled-access group gets results
There's grumbling, but some targeted businesses comply
------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Marcus Green
magreen@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
Nearly three months after two disability-rights groups and several disabled individuals sued four Louisville businesses, claiming they lacked wheelchair-accessible entrances, the campaign appears to be paying dividends.
Â* For information Log onto www.ada.gov (http://www.ada.gov) and www. metrosweep.org to find out the obligations of small businesses under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Metro Sweep for Access.
Â* Coming Monday With its flexibility and independence, selfemployment is a viable -- and common option for those with disabilities.
For the last year, The Metro Sweep for Access has targeted 10 businesses, primarily along Frankfort and Baxter avenues. More than half of those are now accessible or in the process of becoming so.
But getting there hasn't always been easy. Some smallbusiness owners say government red tape complicates the process and that accessibility has not increased business. And, they say, they must pay for the construction upfront and don't get federal tax credits until later, if at all.
It's all the result of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, which mandated that businesses be made accessible to people with disabilities. Title III of the ADA requires changes to buildings only if they are ''readily achievable'' -- done without excessive difficulty or cost.
Following the lead of other civil-rights groups, activists in Louisville are using the law against businesses that remain inaccessible.
''Our strategy of contacting businesses, reminding them of their requirement and then, if they fail to respond or if they fail to comply within a reasonable amount of time, we will sue'' has not changed, said Mary Johnson, a spokeswoman for the Metro Disability Coalition, one of the plaintiffs in last fall's lawsuits.
The suits allege the businesses are violating the Kentucky Civil Rights Act, which incorporates the ADA. Disability interest groups say legal action is a last resort when small businesses have been warned of their obligations under federal law but have not complied.
Highland Commerce Guild President Kelli Milligan said members of the business association, which includes merchants on Bardstown Road and Baxter Avenue, have privately expressed their concern over the ADA requirements.
''It's not like shop owners are purposely saying they don't want anybody handicapped in their shop, because that's ridiculous,'' she said. ''It's just that some of the requirements are so extreme and so unachievable both financially and physically for the building.''
Count Ralph Bridgers among those owners.
''I'm very sympathetic to the ADA's goals,'' said Bridgers, who has operated the Outlook Inn on Baxter Avenue with his wife, Linda, since 1974.
Bridgers has added a wheelchair ramp to the front entrance of his building, but he said complying with the ADA wasn't easy.
In trying to meet city, neighborhood and zoning requirements in the last year, Bridgers said, he received conflicting information from different agencies. ''There is nobody involved with the city that knows what the hell is going on. Not one office can give me an honest answer that is accurate.''
Omar Ayyash, owner of Omar's Gyro on Baxter Avenue, said smallbusiness owners could benefit from a one-stop shop that would do much of the legwork for them.
Help might be on the way.
Chad Carlton, spokesman for Metro Mayor Jerry Abram-son, said the admini-stration is re-establishing the Ameri-cans With Disabilities Act Advisory Com-mittee that Abram-son had in his prior terms as mayor.
''We're only 24 days into a new government,'' Carlton said, ''and that's one of the things that they're working on, is making sure there is a touch point for businesses, that those people get the consistent information and answers.''
Joanne Weis, director of metro government's department for human services, said it's likely that a business representative could be appointed to the advisory committee. ''That's an idea that is worth seriously putting forward.''
In addition, Tommy Clark, disabilities coordinator for metro government's office for aging and disabled citizens, said he would like to develop a business guide for ADA needs.
Charles T. ''Chuck'' Rogers Jr., a Louisville lawyer and the coalition's president, and Johnson say the federal law supersedes local ordinances.
Local agencies, they argue, should relax barriers to businesses looking to raise a sidewalk or construct a ramp into a city right-ofway.
''One of the things cities and local governments and state governments are supposed to do is modify policies if the policies serve to discriminate against persons with disabilities,'' Johnson said.
The cost of accessibility also can be a problem for small-business owners.
Bridgers said he spent $6,000 for the improvements and does not expect to recoup a significant return on his investment. The Outlook Inn has not seen any new business from people with disabilities, he said.
Ayyash said in an interview that he cannot afford to make accessibility changes even with tax breaks aimed at offsetting the costs of construction. ''I understand the issue is compliance. I'm going to comply with it,'' he said.
The tax credits aren't always helpful.
The nonprofit Louisville Academy of Music, which was sued in November, is spending $3,000 to build a wooden ramp on its Frankfort Avenue property.
''There's no way we can benefit from any tax deductions, because we don't pay taxes to start with,'' said school director Robert French.
The Metro Disability Coalition an-nounced last spring that it was creating a program de-signed to help business owners navigate the compliance pro-cess and to create a loan fund with matching funds from the city. It would include a person to deal with city offi-cials on issues in-cluding construction into city rights of way; permits for making changes; getting neighbor-hood approval; and drawing up architectural designs.
The project never moved beyond the planning stage.
The Louisville sweep followed the strategy of a Harrisburg, Pa., group that forced widespread changes to businesses in that city's Midtown Market District.
The Harrisburg group filed 20 lawsuits against businesses in that neighborhood, said Janetta Green, assistant director of the Center for Independent Living of Central Pennsylvania, and most of the businesses came into compliance.
The activists went after the landlords who rented to business owners, and they scheduled meetings encompassing neighborhood business groups, the disability community and city officials.
No further lawsuits have been filed.
''After the first 20, the group hasn't done anything more. And basically, it's because the group is happy with what was done,'' Green said.
''Now we've been trying to talk to the group about expanding it past their community to other parts of the city, but they aren't interested in that yet.''
http://www.courier-journal.com/business/news2003/02/02/bu020203s359534.htm
There's grumbling, but some targeted businesses comply
------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Marcus Green
magreen@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
Nearly three months after two disability-rights groups and several disabled individuals sued four Louisville businesses, claiming they lacked wheelchair-accessible entrances, the campaign appears to be paying dividends.
Â* For information Log onto www.ada.gov (http://www.ada.gov) and www. metrosweep.org to find out the obligations of small businesses under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Metro Sweep for Access.
Â* Coming Monday With its flexibility and independence, selfemployment is a viable -- and common option for those with disabilities.
For the last year, The Metro Sweep for Access has targeted 10 businesses, primarily along Frankfort and Baxter avenues. More than half of those are now accessible or in the process of becoming so.
But getting there hasn't always been easy. Some smallbusiness owners say government red tape complicates the process and that accessibility has not increased business. And, they say, they must pay for the construction upfront and don't get federal tax credits until later, if at all.
It's all the result of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, which mandated that businesses be made accessible to people with disabilities. Title III of the ADA requires changes to buildings only if they are ''readily achievable'' -- done without excessive difficulty or cost.
Following the lead of other civil-rights groups, activists in Louisville are using the law against businesses that remain inaccessible.
''Our strategy of contacting businesses, reminding them of their requirement and then, if they fail to respond or if they fail to comply within a reasonable amount of time, we will sue'' has not changed, said Mary Johnson, a spokeswoman for the Metro Disability Coalition, one of the plaintiffs in last fall's lawsuits.
The suits allege the businesses are violating the Kentucky Civil Rights Act, which incorporates the ADA. Disability interest groups say legal action is a last resort when small businesses have been warned of their obligations under federal law but have not complied.
Highland Commerce Guild President Kelli Milligan said members of the business association, which includes merchants on Bardstown Road and Baxter Avenue, have privately expressed their concern over the ADA requirements.
''It's not like shop owners are purposely saying they don't want anybody handicapped in their shop, because that's ridiculous,'' she said. ''It's just that some of the requirements are so extreme and so unachievable both financially and physically for the building.''
Count Ralph Bridgers among those owners.
''I'm very sympathetic to the ADA's goals,'' said Bridgers, who has operated the Outlook Inn on Baxter Avenue with his wife, Linda, since 1974.
Bridgers has added a wheelchair ramp to the front entrance of his building, but he said complying with the ADA wasn't easy.
In trying to meet city, neighborhood and zoning requirements in the last year, Bridgers said, he received conflicting information from different agencies. ''There is nobody involved with the city that knows what the hell is going on. Not one office can give me an honest answer that is accurate.''
Omar Ayyash, owner of Omar's Gyro on Baxter Avenue, said smallbusiness owners could benefit from a one-stop shop that would do much of the legwork for them.
Help might be on the way.
Chad Carlton, spokesman for Metro Mayor Jerry Abram-son, said the admini-stration is re-establishing the Ameri-cans With Disabilities Act Advisory Com-mittee that Abram-son had in his prior terms as mayor.
''We're only 24 days into a new government,'' Carlton said, ''and that's one of the things that they're working on, is making sure there is a touch point for businesses, that those people get the consistent information and answers.''
Joanne Weis, director of metro government's department for human services, said it's likely that a business representative could be appointed to the advisory committee. ''That's an idea that is worth seriously putting forward.''
In addition, Tommy Clark, disabilities coordinator for metro government's office for aging and disabled citizens, said he would like to develop a business guide for ADA needs.
Charles T. ''Chuck'' Rogers Jr., a Louisville lawyer and the coalition's president, and Johnson say the federal law supersedes local ordinances.
Local agencies, they argue, should relax barriers to businesses looking to raise a sidewalk or construct a ramp into a city right-ofway.
''One of the things cities and local governments and state governments are supposed to do is modify policies if the policies serve to discriminate against persons with disabilities,'' Johnson said.
The cost of accessibility also can be a problem for small-business owners.
Bridgers said he spent $6,000 for the improvements and does not expect to recoup a significant return on his investment. The Outlook Inn has not seen any new business from people with disabilities, he said.
Ayyash said in an interview that he cannot afford to make accessibility changes even with tax breaks aimed at offsetting the costs of construction. ''I understand the issue is compliance. I'm going to comply with it,'' he said.
The tax credits aren't always helpful.
The nonprofit Louisville Academy of Music, which was sued in November, is spending $3,000 to build a wooden ramp on its Frankfort Avenue property.
''There's no way we can benefit from any tax deductions, because we don't pay taxes to start with,'' said school director Robert French.
The Metro Disability Coalition an-nounced last spring that it was creating a program de-signed to help business owners navigate the compliance pro-cess and to create a loan fund with matching funds from the city. It would include a person to deal with city offi-cials on issues in-cluding construction into city rights of way; permits for making changes; getting neighbor-hood approval; and drawing up architectural designs.
The project never moved beyond the planning stage.
The Louisville sweep followed the strategy of a Harrisburg, Pa., group that forced widespread changes to businesses in that city's Midtown Market District.
The Harrisburg group filed 20 lawsuits against businesses in that neighborhood, said Janetta Green, assistant director of the Center for Independent Living of Central Pennsylvania, and most of the businesses came into compliance.
The activists went after the landlords who rented to business owners, and they scheduled meetings encompassing neighborhood business groups, the disability community and city officials.
No further lawsuits have been filed.
''After the first 20, the group hasn't done anything more. And basically, it's because the group is happy with what was done,'' Green said.
''Now we've been trying to talk to the group about expanding it past their community to other parts of the city, but they aren't interested in that yet.''
http://www.courier-journal.com/business/news2003/02/02/bu020203s359534.htm