PERRYSBURG — Showing the largest municipal compliance plans in the region for the Americans with Disabilities Act, the city administration held a meeting last week with local downtown business owners asking for feedback.

It included downtown business and building owners, the Ability Center, Perrysburg administration and a consulting firm.

City Administrator Bridgette Kabat presented plans, which she said were dusted off from late in 2019 after delays from the COVID-19 pandemic and given to the Fishbeck architectural and engineering firm.

She handed out copies of the document to each business owner, specific to their address, with the right-of-way change plan options.

There were two options presented for the city to become ADA compliant. Kabat described the first as one that “gets the job done,” and the second “gets the job done, but does it in a manner that is perhaps more aesthetically pleasing to the whole street.”

The second option would have fewer ramps, which would also mean fewer railings. The curbs would be brought up and parking would be more flat.

Brian Thomas, city engineer, also acknowledged that in some cases it would require the tree islands to be moved. Some restaurants would also have outdoor seating impacted. Stella’s was the example used.

The next step, after input from businesses, is to have designs drawn by the engineering firm.

“The goal is to not get sued,” Kathryn Sandretto, city law director, said. “We’re going to find a way to make this work as the absolutely best way we can.”

“I don’t see anything, construction-wise, before 2024,” Thomas said.

Kabat reaffirmed, from previous meetings in 2019, that the city is covering these costs.

Businesses owners voiced concerns about how long their store frontage may be blocked by construction, once it starts.

“We have the option, as a city, to help craft out how a contractor does it,” Kabat said. “We are able to dictate to them that we will do this half of the street, then this half, so that not everything is ripped up all at the same time.”

Ray Corrigan, a downtown property owner, was supportive of the city’s second option, which seemed to be the consensus around the room.

“The train is headed our way. It’s got to be done. I think it’s great. We’ve got time (for compliance),” Corrigan said to the administration. “It’s coming, and you guys are paying for it.”

Several business owners also voiced concerns about what might happen to them after the city finishes their project and their entrances are compliant, especially as related to historical or older buildings that might have bathrooms smaller than the ADA rules allow.

Several business owners declined to give their names.

Some suggested temporary options that might be less expensive, such as adding accessible doorbells and temporary ramps that might be brought out for individuals that need them.

Katie Hunt Thomas, a lawyer from the Ability Center, said it was not a solution allowed by the federal ADA law, citing a need for independence for individuals with a disability.

Grandfathering in a building is also not an option. Hunt Thomas gave the example of the Lincoln Memorial, in Washington, D.C., with the many steps leading up to the seated statue of Lincoln. She said that there is now a ramp permanently incorporated into the structure.

Hunt Thomas also added that the size of a business is taken into account by judges if there is a lawsuit against a business, because of a need to comply to the “maximum extent feasible.”

Hunt Thomas said that the Perrysburg compliance project is the biggest they have worked with over the seven counties they cover. However, they have been working with locations in other cities, like Maumee, piecemeal.

One woman, who said she owns a small business, was scared, and after the stresses related to the pandemic, called the downtown economy fragile.

“As a group, I don’t think any of us want to be cited that we are not inclusive, passionate people, but there is fear that is coming with all these changes, because change is scary,” the woman said. “Local small businesses just have to bust it to survive.”

Corrigan reiterated a longer range perspective.

“What if the city doesn’t want to pay for it 10 years from now?” Corrigan asked the room.