Two years ago, Gayle Anderson took a Journal-World reporter and a city administrator on a tour of Lawrence businesses he said were in violation of Americans with Disabilities Act rules.

And, he said, nothing much changed after that.

So in September, Anderson got in his van again and started making a list. This fall he presented the list to officials at City Hall: 299 alleged violations of the ADA at businesses throughout Lawrence.

“I noticed old, established businesses that did not have the proper signage,” Anderson said. “I noticed new businesses opening up that did not have the proper signage. I spoke to several business owners who told me the city approved of their handicapped signage, and that was OK with them.”

City officials have spent the past six weeks investigating the list. But they said some ADA “requirements” were really just recommendations and that few businesses were clearly breaking the rules.

“There are some violations that are out there,” said Victor Torres, the city’s Neighborhood Resources director.

But, he added: “There are some areas that lack clarity and are subject to interpretation. … They think there’s a violation there when in fact, there isn’t.”

Skeptic

Anderson is skeptical of such explanations.

City’s commitment to ADA questioned (07-22-01)

“It is discrimination against handicapped people not to have the proper signage,” Anderson said. “It is absolute discrimination for the building owners not to comply with the requirement.”

Anderson, 66, has lived in Lawrence since 1984. He’s a retired investigator for the Naval Investigative Service; his right leg is amputated below the knee.

Most of his complaints are about parking. Many businesses in Lawrence, he said, don’t have proper signs designating parking spaces for people with disabilities. Some have no signs at all; others put the spaces farther from a business entrance than required by ADA.

He said the city should not allow Lawrence businesses to open without meeting ADA requirements.

“Who issued the occupancy permit?” Anderson asked of the final permit businesses must obtain before building construction is considered complete. “Why was the occupancy permit issued when they didn’t have the proper handicapped signage?”

It’s not that simple, City Manager Mike Wildgen said.

“I know that it’s part of the review of site plans to check on those situations,” Wildgen said. “I think what happens is that a lot of times changes happen that we don’t know about — signs get knocked down or they restripe (the parking spaces), and that doesn’t trigger a new inspection.”

The process

Torres said 239 of the 299 allegations had been investigated. Of those, he said, no violation had been found at 10 businesses. And of the remaining 229 allegations, he said, roughly 80 percent were violations of ADA recommendations, not rules.

Torres said all the businesses had been notified, even if they met requirements but not the recommendations. Rule-breakers have been given 30 days to bring their business to code, he said.

“We haven’t had any business that isn’t willing to comply,” he said.

Anderson said he wouldn’t comment on the city’s investigation until the work was complete. But it is clear he lit a fire under City Hall.

“Typically we don’t get that many complaints on ADA violations,” Wildgen said. “When he gave me 299 — well, that was a lot more than we usually get in the course of a year.”