Tuan Reynolds would like to pay his cellphone bill when he goes to downtown Roanoke.

He'd also like to get a cup of coffee. Or eat an Italian meal.

But the 31-year-old Roanoker says he is unable to at some downtown businesses -- because he uses a wheelchair.

The accessibility of businesses in downtown Roanoke has become an issue for some people with disabilities, particularly at the city-owned Market Building and many privately owned downtown businesses. Questions have arisen about the accessibility of downtown sidewalks because of outdoor dining, the height of counters in the Market Building that some disabled people say are too high for people in wheelchairs, and ledges or steps that make entry ways to some private businesses downtown inaccessible to people in wheelchairs.

Federal law says entities that are open to the public should be accessible to people with disabilities.

Now, the issue has moved beyond the concerns of Reynolds. He runs a grass-roots organization at the Blue Ridge Independent Living Center -- an organization that helps people with disabilities live in the community -- that has decided to bring to the forefront the issue of accessibility of downtown businesses to the disabled.

Legal questions

David Beidler, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society of the Roanoke Valley, said last month that he is considering legal action on the issue.

In June, Beidler said he contacted about a dozen downtown businesses and building owners on behalf of a disabled client who complained about the lack of accessibility. He declined to name the businesses -- or the disabled client.

Beidler said he got positive responses from most businesses and building owners he contacted. But he said his recent survey of downtown showed that no changes had been made.

At this point, he said he's considering all legal avenues for his client, including lawsuits and complaints to the U.S. Department of Justice.

"My experience in doing this sort of work has been that businesses faced with compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act don't want to spend money until they're forced to," Beidler said.

Advocates for people with disabilities see accessibility as a civil rights issue and as making good business sense.

"People with disabilities want to come downtown and spend their money," said Karen Michalski-Karney, executive director of the Blue Ridge Independent Living Center.

City officials say they have been working on the accessibility issue. Roanoke's building commissioner, Karl Cooler, acknowledged that accessibility is a problem in downtown Roanoke, but pointed out that the city has limited power when it comes to private businesses.

Officials point out that there are challenges because downtown Roanoke is a historic district with many buildings that were constructed long before the ADA became law and that there are restrictions on the modification of the building exteriors because of their historic status.

The district that includes the Market area is called the H-1 historic district. The main area of the district runs roughly to the train tracks beyond Norfolk Avenue to the north; Church Avenue to the south; Williamson Road to the east; and to some buildings on Jefferson Street.

Meanwhile, the managers of several downtown businesses that Reynolds raised concerns about say they already serve people with disabilities and want to do what they can to be accessible.

"We're trying to make a concerted effort to get some things changed," said Jeff Farmer, manager of Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea in downtown Roanoke. "It's a long, slow process."

Burden or benefit?

The Americans With Disabilities Act stipulates that entities that serve the public should be made accessible to people with disabilities, as long as it doesn't cause what is called "undue burden." That means the cost shouldn't be excessive or unwarranted. Virginia has a similar statute in the state code.

Michalski-Karney said she sometimes hears from people who say they think it's ludicrous that a business should have to spend money to make a place accessible. And it's an issue that extends beyond just accessible entry ways to bathrooms and multi-story buildings that don't have elevators.

"Perhaps that's what businesses fear the most -- once we let them in, what's that going to cost us?" David Beidler said.

The lack of accessibility Beidler said he most often sees in downtown Roanoke is a step 3 to 8 inches off the sidewalk that keeps people in wheelchairs from getting into certain businesses.

And the lack of accessibility at certain businesses could be costing business owners what Michalski-Karney described as an untapped and growing market of potential customers.

A report released in June from the Roanoke Valley Area Metropolitan Planning Organization says demographic trends indicate that the proportion of physically disabled people in the region may increase as the general population increases.

The region the report examined included Roanoke, Salem and Roanoke and Botetourt counties.

More than 34,000 people with either sensory disabilities such as blindness or physical disabilities that might require the use of a wheelchair, lived in the region in 2000, according to the most recent U.S. Census figures provided by the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission.

But when some business owners are asked where their handicap-accessible entrances are, they will respond that they don't have customers with disabilities, Michalski-Karney said.

Tuan Reynolds believes it's the lack of accessibility at some businesses that keeps some people with disabilities from heading downtown.

Patrick Shaffner, interim executive director of Downtown Roanoke Inc., said the accessibility issue is important, but he isn't sure how many businesses would be able to afford the cost of making a business accessible.

However, if a business is making renovations, accessibility should be part of the plan, he said.

Accessibility is a central part of new designs being planned for the Market area as part of a city-sponsored comprehensive study of the downtown area, said Timm Jamieson, a vice president for the Roanoke firm SFCS.

"It's inseparable now," Jamieson said of accessibility. "It's a central part of what we do."

A city concern

Karl Cooler, Roanoke's building commissioner, acknowledged that accessibility is a problem in downtown Roanoke. He also pointed out that city officials cannot require private businesses to become accessible.

However, people are required to address the accessibility issue when they seek a building permit for new construction or renovation to a building that is open to the public, Cooler said.

The state's building code also states that the most the city can require for modifications for accessibility is limited to 20 percent of the cost of the project. And if the modifications will jeopardize a building's listing as historic in the national or state registry, the accessibility requirements are not mandatory, Cooler said.

That also means that any proposed construction changes to the exterior of a historic building also have to be approved by the city's Architectural Review Board, Cooler said.

But city planner Anne Beckett said that no one has come to the ARB with any requests to change anything to address accessibility concerns in the downtown market area.

Brian Townsend, Roanoke's director of planning, building and economic development, said that the city tries to balance architectural integrity with accessibility. In some cases, for example, a ramp might compromise a historic building's exterior, so the city might suggest an automated chairlift for accessibility, he said.

Townsend also pointed out that there are often smaller construction projects within buildings, and said that building officials can use those opportunities to improve the accessibility of a building incrementally.

And of course all newly constructed buildings that are to be open to the public must be accessible, Townsend said.

The city is looking into the question about the heights of the counters at restaurants in the Market Building and considering either making some changes or exploring ways people with disabilities can be accommodated.

Bob Bengston, director of public works for Roanoke, oversees the outdoor dining in downtown Roanoke. He said that compliance with the ADA is built into the permit requirements for the program.

That compliance requires that permit holders leave 42 inches of width on the sidewalk to allow for the accessibility of wheelchairs.

Bengston said some restaurants were not in compliance, but have since remedied the problem.

The city has also agreed to distribute information to new businesses about tax incentives for businesses that comply with the ADA.

Not opposed to change

Robert Jewell, the dining room manager of Italiano's Restaurant on Campbell Avenue in downtown Roanoke acknowledged that the restaurant has limited accessibility.

He said there is a slight ledge at the restaurant's entrance. But he added that people who use wheelchairs are still able to get into the restaurant and that the restaurant has lots of customers who are physically disabled.

The restaurant is not opposed to changes, Jewell said.

"If there's ways we can make improvements, I'd love to go along with that," he said.

Linsey Ware, manager of NTelos on Campbell Avenue, said the business had tried several times to get the landlord to make the store's entrance accessible to the disabled, but that she was told they could not make changes to the entrance of the building because of its historic designation.

As things stand right now, "we just go out and help them," Ware said.