The U.S. Department of Justice has declined to investigate almost all of eight complaints filed last fall against the owners of downtown Roanoke businesses and buildings because of their inaccessibility to the disabled.

But since the eight complaints were sent to the Justice Department in October, most of the businesses named in the complaints have installed a buzzer and a sign out front for disabled people to let employees inside know they need service.

"At least we've gotten some positive response that we didn't get earlier from these folks," Roanoke attorney David Beidler said this week.

He represents Robert Eggers, a 47-year-old Roanoke man who uses a wheelchair and initiated the complaints. Eggers claimed that the businesses and building owners were discriminating against him under the federal Americans With Disabilities Act by not making their buildings accessible.

He argued that the ledges at the buildings' front entrances -- some of which are at least 5 inches off the ground -- created an entry barrier for people with disabilities, in violation of federal law. He sent the complaints after business and building owners didn't respond to letters informing them they were not in compliance with the law.

Beidler said earlier this week that he had since received letters from the Department of Justice saying its officials decided not to investigate the complaints -- without considering their merits.

The letters also outlined other alternatives, including pursuing the complaints with the state or with disabilities rights groups, or filing a federal lawsuit, Beidler said. He has spoken to Eggers about his options and he has yet to make a decision, Beidler said.

The ADA says that entities that are open to the public that were built before the law was enacted in 1992 must remove barriers to people with disabilities to the extent that it is "readily achievable."

The Department of Justice defines "readily achievable" as modifications that are "easily accomplishable and able to be carried out without much difficulty or expense."

The businesses and building owners named in the complaints were: Nova Cuisine, which is doing business as Italiano Restaurant; the Roanoke Weiner Stand; Johnson & Elrich Roasters Ltd., owners of Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea; NTelos; Gallery 108; the Thai Restaurant; Sunshine One Hour Cleaners; and the eatery Ernie's.

The complaints also named the owners of the buildings where the businesses are housed.

Beidler said he had not gotten a response from the Department of Justice about Sunshine One Hour Cleaners. He did not know whether it was an oversight or whether the department is investigating that complaint, he said.

The businesses named in the complaints -- with the exceptions of the Roanoke Weiner Stand and Italiano Restaurant -- have since installed buzzers and signs for disabled people.

Johnny Baublitz, a 28-year-old Northwest Roanoke resident who uses a wheelchair, said of the buzzers: "It's a slight improvement, but they could do a lot better, I think."

Several of the people named in the complaints have said they could not make extensive accessibility changes to building exteriors because doing so could compromise the building's historic nature.

Bill Kopcial, owner of Ernie's, said Eggers had not yet tried to come and eat at the restaurant since a buzzer and handicapped sign were installed. That was done after Eggers' complaints were sent to the Justice Department.

"You can't rebuild downtown Roanoke because of him," Kopcial said.

Richard Wells, an owner of Marketplace Center, where Mill Mountain, NTelos, and Gallery 108 rent space, said, "We've tried to take care of it as best we could."

Wells added that businesses all over the City Market have similar issues and that he doesn't have the right to build ramps onto city sidewalks.

"For now, until we can do something else, it's a happy medium between the two," Jeff Farmer, manager of Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea, said of the buzzer and sign outside the shop. He said "a handful" of people had used the buzzer since it was installed.

Roanoke County attorney Michael Ferguson, who is representing the Roanoke Weiner Stand, pointed out that customers can just come up to the window for service.

"It's probably quicker than a buzzer," he said.

Ferguson also said that "I'm glad to see that common sense prevailed."

Frank Roupas, who manages the building where Sunshine One Hour Cleaners is housed, said it cost him $10 to have the handicapped sign made, $30 for the buzzer and $20 for the carpenter to install it.

But the discussion over downtown accessibility isn't over, Beidler said. "This is the beginning, not the end, of this matter," Beidler said.

He said that after businesses become accessible through the doorway, the next question is: How accessible are they inside?

"There are a lot of people like me who are disabled who love to be independent," Baublitz said. "But there are a lot of people who don't get the chance because the situation doesn't allow it."