THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 2, 1996 TAG: 9606010204
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOE TAYLOR, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LENGTH: 79 lines
Peggy Bendrick can't get her wheelchair into a lot of places, including the bathroom at her church. She doesn't get too upset about it, though.
``If you can't do it there, then go somewhere else,'' said Bendrick, a paraplegic who for years has been a familiar figure at Virginia's state Capitol, where she buttonholes lawmakers about disability issues.
Buildings with barriers that limit Bendrick and other people with physical handicaps may soon come under tighter scrutiny as the federal government beefs up enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In April, the United Artists Theaters chain reached an agreement with lawyers for the disabled and the Justice Department to make more than 2,300 movie houses in 29 states and Puerto Rico more accessible.
John Wodatch, chief of the Justice Department's disability rights section, said the department was investigating other major theater chains for possible violations of the act, which former President George Bush signed into law in 1990.
In March, Avis, the car-rental company, reached an agreement with the government to provide cars with hand controls and to allow disabled people who don't drive to take financial responsibility for rental cars if they are with a licensed driver.
And in February, the Justice Department sued the Days Inn hotel chain for allegedly failing to provide facilities for disabled travelers.
Still, not everyone is getting the message, say three Virginia businessmen who started looking for consulting work last year to bring buildings into compliance with the law.
Many owners and managers of facilities that are open to the public, from restaurants to office complexes to government agencies, don't seem concerned about what they have to do, said Wayne B. LeGrande of Norfolk.
``The more you beat the bushes, the more interesting the comments are,'' LeGrande said. ``We've been told, `Well, we're grandfathered because our building is too old. We don't have to comply.' ''
But the law, which sets specific architectural guidelines for providing access to disabled people, requires at least a plan of compliance, even for buildings that don't have to make actual physical changes until they undergo substantial renovations.
LeGrande and two partners, Michael C. Baechner and John W. Kern, thought they'd have plenty of takers when they expanded their work in building damage assessments to include disabilities-act consulting.
Instead, they've gotten lots of excuses and bemused looks, and even occasional hostility - but only one contract.
``We're starting to get people who know it's a potential problem,'' LeGrande said. ``But they don't really know what to do about it.''
The partners believe they're facing a dual obstacle. Enforcement of such things as wheelchair ramp widths and angles of climb is just beginning, and business owners see the complex rules as unnecessary government interference.
Unless businesses get a complaint, they're inclined to pretend everything is OK, Baechner said. ``Until this is needed, it's not on top of the priority list,'' he said. ``So many of them are ignorant as to what the facts are.''
One key fact that many building owners don't know is the penalty for failing to comply - $50,000 for the first violation, $100,000 for subsequent violations.
Even that doesn't convince everyone. LeGrande cited the response he received from one manager: ``Well, the city wouldn't let me get a building permit if I wasn't in compliance,'' he was told.
An implementation plan includes what work should be done, a cost estimate and a timetable for doing it. When renovations are undertaken, some of the expense must go toward the act's requirements.
The consultants offer to go through a structure and pinpoint every place that needs modification. Even if the changes remain only on paper, a written report on a building's deficiencies can demonstrate good-faith intent to comply, LeGrande believes.
He and his partners hope the theater, car-rental and motel cases will prompt fast-food restaurants and other businesses with high public profiles to begin removing barriers before the Justice Department steps in.
Bendrick said she's not surprised at the reluctance. Government rules sometimes overtake common sense, she said.
``Some of it is all right,'' she said. ``I like to get into movie theaters.
``But I don't blame the business people. If you go make renovations, that's very costly. And how many people are going to use it? . . . I think they're overdoing it.'' by CNB