Gayle Anderson is used to waiting, but that doesn’t mean he likes to.

The rural Lawrence man has relied on a wheelchair to get around since 1994, the year his right leg was amputated below the knee after a freak industrial accident. Life has moved at a slower pace since then, Anderson said, with patience serving as a personal virtue.

“And you know, I see things now that I wouldn’t have noticed 10 years ago,” he said.

Anderson, an advocate for the Americans with Disabilities Act, hasn’t been shy about pointing out what he observes. In September, he presented a list of 299 alleged ADA violations by Lawrence businesses to City Hall officials. Anderson said he had been waiting to see results ever since.

Gayle Anderson, Lawrence, has given the city a list of 299 violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act at businesses around town.

“It sure has seemed like a slow process to get these problems addressed,” Anderson said.

Anderson, 66, compiled the list, which included businesses on and south of 23rd Street, over four days. He said most of the violations pertained to poorly marked handicapped parking spaces and parking spaces located too far from buildings.

“This is obvious stuff,” Anderson said.

According to the ADA Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities, “accessible parking spaces shall be located on the shortest accessible route of travel from adjacent parking to an accessible entrance.” The ADA guidelines also specify that parking spaces must be clearly marked and that such signs must be sufficient in height so as not to be obscured by a parked vehicle.

Anderson said the city required signs to be 60 inches above the ground, a height he found “ludicrous.”

“There is no way that sign will be visible over a van or sport-utility vehicle,” he said.

However, Victor Torres, Lawrence Neighborhood Resources director, said the city merely was following the ADA’s written advice.

“The 60-inch height is a recommended height as described in the ADAAG manual,” Torres said.

Torres said guidelines for the location of parking were not as easy to interpret.

“The key is that the parking spot has to be the ‘shortest route to an accessible entrance,'” Torres said. “The accessible entrance — one with a ramp — is what you have to look at.”

Torres said the most common ADA violations cited by the city were missing signs, signs posted improperly and a lack of van-accessible signs.

Though the city can initiate an ADA compliance inspection, it primarily relies on Lawrence residents to report problems they see. Once a violation is reported, the city investigates. If a business is found to be in noncompliance with ADA rules, the city issues an order to correct the problem. Businesses have 30 days to comply before a second inspection takes place.

“Most businesses are almost always willing to adjust,” Torres said. “In fact, most don’t even know there is a problem.”

Since September, Torres said the city had inspected 270 businesses on Anderson’s list, with 214 having received subsequent violation letters. The city released a report documenting the status of the violations on Jan. 16.

Anderson, however, wasn’t pleased with the report, which failed to identify businesses in violation by name. Instead, it provided case numbers and names of property owners.

“That list just didn’t provide much information when you got down to it,” Anderson said.

At Anderson’s request, the city released another report in February. The document named 50 businesses that had complied with ADA guidelines since an initial inspection.

Anderson said that while the new report gave more information, he couldn’t help but wonder why only 50 businesses had achieved compliance with ADA guidelines.

“It seems like there should be more,” Anderson said.

City Manager Mike Wildgen said he would be willing to discuss any of Anderson’s concerns with him.

“I certainly want to keep an open line of communication,” he said. “It is important for Lawrence to be accessible to everybody.”