THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 30, 1995 TAG: 9506290223
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY PAM STARR, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 200 lines
THE MAYOR'S COMMITTEE for the Disabled wants to make Virginia Beach the most handicapped-accessible city on the East Coast.
That means every restaurant, hotel, souvenir shop, department store, grocery store, strip mall and business in the resort city would be accessible to those who use wheelchairs, walkers and motorized carts. Aisles would be free of barriers (no annoying displays), bathrooms would have wide stalls and doors, and there would be an abundance of curb cuts and ramps.
While it may sound like a lofty goal, it is achievable, says City Councilman Robert K. Dean, chairman of the committee. He points out that the economic impact on tourism of marketing Virginia Beach as a handicapped-accessible city would be ``tremendous.''
``If we were able to tout that, it would bring an incredible amount of people here,'' says Dean, who represents the Princess Anne Borough. ``We would definitely bring in more money from conventions and conferences. If you want to take a handicapped child on vacation and had a choice between Myrtle Beach and Virginia Beach, you would choose us.''
Marlayne Castelluzo, secretary of the committee, wholeheartedly believes that the goal can be reached. The speech pathologist at Glenwood Elementary School said that when she visited Minneapolis-St. Paul for a conference, she was amazed at the accessibility of the city.
``I was practically tripping over Seeing Eye dogs,'' said Castelluzo. ``The city really accommodates the needs of various types of disabilities. If they can do that with the size of that city, why couldn't we as a tourist city?
``I think the goal can be attained if we can get the hotel and motel association and Chamber of Commerce committed to it.''
Dean is encouraged that the innkeepers group has agreed to have a representative join the committee.
Committee members, however, admit that they have a long way to go. The Mayor's Committee for the Disabled has no budget and is comprised of 18 volunteers from the business and disabled community who meet monthly. The group was formed in the mid-1970s and was restructured a year ago.
The committee is divided into subcommittees such as employment, recreation, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and membership, awards and awareness. It also has a speakers bureau to help spread the message to other groups.
The committee's most urgent need is to convince local businesses that it makes sense - economically and ethically - to accommodate the disabled community. And they're not just talking about physical accessibility. Committee members want employers to train and hire disabled individuals to help them become independent.
They also want the disabled to have better transportation. They want the able-bodied to pass up those desirable handicapped parking spots. And they would like the public to become more aware, more compassionate, of the needs of the disabled.
That last objective may be the hardest goal of all, says Penny Denissen, a longtime committee member who uses a wheelchair after a car accident left her disabled.
``They just don't realize that what is good for the disabled community is good for business,'' said Denissen, after speaking to residents at a retirement home. ``A lot of businesses feel they should be exempt - they say it would cost too much.''
Buildings erected since the passage of the ADA in 1990 must comply with federal requirements for accessibility of the disabled. But older buildings get off the hook with a grandfather clause. (If they are refurbished, though, 20 percent of the cost has to go toward ADA compliance.) Tandom's Pine Tree Inn, which was built in 1922, was one of the restaurants mentioned by Denissen as being particularly difficult for disabled individuals to navigate.
People who use wheelchairs have to enter the restaurant through the kitchen, Denissen says, and the bathrooms are so small they're almost impossible to use. Tandom's owner Tom Gengler says that in order to make the restaurant wheelchair-accessible, he would have to tear out one-third of the building at a cost of $150,000. And that's not economically possible for him.
``It is a little demeaning for them to go through the kitchen,'' concedes Gengler, ``but it's the only feasible way. We do get a lot of wheelchairs in here and we've had very few complain about it.''
Dealing with complaints is one of the committee's functions. Committee members are preparing form letters, which when completed will be sent to businesses that generate complaints. Members will then follow up the letters with calls and recommend what the business can do to comply with ADA guidelines.
That's one of the first steps in meeting the committee's ultimate goal of making the city completely handicapped-accessible, Dean said.
``The only way it's going to be achieved is through volunteer compliance,'' said Dean. ``I would rather not force the ADA regulations down the throats of violators. Every business should come into compliance with the ADA because they care about their fellow man. It's a human rights issue.''
Dean doesn't know what percentage of businesses are fully accessible, but he hopes to find out this year. The committee received a $1,000 grant from a benefactor to be used for printing costs, and Dean wants that money earmarked for a survey.
``In the meantime, what we have to do is market the idea (of accessibility) to local businesses,'' he said. ``I have all sorts of volunteers (Sheriff Frank Drew's work force) who are willing to build ramps and curb cuts.''
Ted Clarkson, executive director of the Virginia Beach Foundation, says it would be easier for businesses to comply with regulations if they employed more people with disabilities. That's one of his personal goals as a member of the committee - to educate employers on the benefits of hiring disabled individuals. Fully 30 percent of the disabled could be employed, he said.
``I think there's ignorance and fear on the part of employers,'' said Clarkson. ``They don't know the capabilities of disabled individuals and don't know how to fit them into the workplace.''
Realizing that several thousand residents could be employed but are usually overlooked, Clarkson decided to organize a job fair. On Oct. 12, several Hampton Roads employers will hold court at the Holiday Inn Greenbrier to meet prospective disabled job applicants. Clarkson says that all employers with more than 15 employees are affected by the ADA as of July 26, 1994, and are not allowed to ask about the nature or severity of a disability until after a conditional job offer is made to an applicant.
``An employer will think twice before hiring someone with a disability,'' says Clarkson. ``We have a big job to do. I don't want to see the disabled employed at minimum wage - I want to see them get benefits, too.''
Employment of the disabled is a concern of former committee member Carol Bowen, but she hopes the committee also will work on transportation and accessibility. Bowen, president of the volunteer advocacy group Mobility on Wheels, left the committee last year because of a scheduling conflict.
``What I'm concerned with are all these new apartments going up and they don't all meet ADA guidelines,'' says Bowen, who was born with spina bifida and uses a motorized cart. ``I think contractors should go to the committee for specs. They put in their own version of handicapped parking and curb cuts and many times they're wrong.''
As far as the committee reaching its main goal of making Virginia Beach the most handicapped-accessible city on the East Coast, Bowen says it is a ``viable one.''
``There are a lot of things out there that need to be brought to their attention,'' Bowen says. ``I think the goal is attainable. Virginia Beach is moving really forward and is still growing. The greatest problem in the world is people thinking that if it doesn't affect them, they don't worry about it.'' MEMO: For more information on the Mayor's Committee for the Disabled or the
upcoming Job Fair, call Robert Dean at 427-6606 or Ted Clarkson at
422-5249.
MAYOR'S COMMITTEE
The Mayor's Committee for the Disabled meets 4 p.m. the third
Thursday of every month at the Central Library. Meetings are open to the
public.
Robert K. Dean (chairman)
Amy A. Walton (first vice chair)
Adrienne Malaspina (second vice chair)
Marlayne L. Castelluzo (secretary)
Dennis G. Bohlander
Joseph A. Budy Jr.
Edward ``Ted'' Clarkson
Martha Davenport
Penny B. Denissen
Leo F. Donohue III
Barbara S. Ford
David Grochmal
Honey J. Low
Randy Nimmo
Karen O'Brien
Ronald S. Pearson
Marian P. Sanders
David M. Sullivan
THE DISABLED
Nationwide
1 in 5 American adults has some type of disability.
5 out of 6 disabled persons were not born with their disability.
5 out of 6 individuals will be faced with personal disability or the
disability of a family member.
The most common disability in the U.S. is hearing impairment.
Locally
About 100,000 citizens of Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth and
Virginia Beach can be classified as disabled.
About 60,000 have either a physical or sensory disability; another
40,000 have a mental disability.
Fully 30 percent of these citizens with disabilities could be
employable.
ILLUSTRATION: Color photo on cover by D. Kevin Elliott
Penny Denissen...
Staff photos by CHARLIE MEADS
Cindy Storm, director of Tidewater Center for Technology Access,
shows Ken Jessup, who is blind, a computer that can be used by the
visually challenged. The demonstration occurred during a meeting of
the Mayor's Committee for the Disabled.
The Mayor's Committee for the Disabled, made up of 18 volunteers
from the business and disabled community, meets monthly.
LEFT: Virginia Beach City Councilman Robert Dean, chairman of the
committee, says volunteer compliance is the only realistic route.
ABOVE: Penny Denissen, a committee member who uses a wheelchair,
says, ``What's good for the disabled community is good for
business.'' Denissen also is pictured in the cover photo by D. Kevin
Elliott.
KEYWORDS: DISABLED AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT HANDICAPPED by CNB