I guess hhbh arguement is for the privately owned business. But I heard a plenty of stories from elderly people who tripped on those handicapp accessible rampy corners then fall and get hurt. I don't know where you live at Face, but I live in a city where it can get icy in the winter time, and those ramps pose a slippery threat to the elderly. Maybe they are not taking anything away from him now, but who knows fifty years from now he might have a dagerous encounter with one of those handicap ramps.

Well, I've got something to look for on Youtube now.

I have to say that every business should have places for crippled people too. I know that is not a popular opinion but come on, I mean it is not as they were chosen to be disabled. Some children wer eborn this way and we need to do what we can to help them too not just those who are 'NORMAL'. I think we should absolutely find ways to make sure that crippled people get some respect.

Just to let people know, it's "Handicapped". Handicapped. I have a friend who lost his leg, and if you were to ever call him a "Cripple'... well lets just say you'd be beat to death by a one legged man.

As far as Handicap access in public areas, most builders have to follow strict codes for that depending on the zoning. It varies from state to state (here in the US), but it's pretty much the same guidelines as this:

http://www.statelibrary.sc.gov/docs/...quirements.pdf

So you're just assuming every business is highly profitable and their overhead just allows them the ability to liquidize their assets to buy something that isn't essential in running a business.

None of that would be required if they weren't building the ramp in the first place, so that has nothing to do with the posed question.

I live in a city where it can get icy in the winter.

Here's a list of where I have, or have witnessed someone slipping.
Stairs
Ramps
Hills
Pavements

And if you want to use the stairs, use them! Magic. Or if he's in a mobility scooter, there'll be a ramp! Bet he won't be bitching about them then.

Disability acess are part of the overheads for a business now. Deal with it. Along with smoke alarms, fire safety drills, minimum wages, taxes, health standards etc. If putting in a ramp puts the business over the edge, well then they were going to fail anyway.

It scales with size (one small shop needs one tiny ramp), is a tiny fraction of the business expenditure and is largely a one time payment, are mutli-use they can be used for trolleys/trams/walking/bikes and aren't (usually) enforced where it would be highly impractical.

Find something worth bitching about.

Property rights are important, & the Government trampling them is worth bitching about.

Thats my only issue with it is forcing a business owner to do something that should be his choice.

I've been thinking about this for a couple days and I wanted to give my two cents on it again. I've come to a point where I feel that if a private business doesn't have handicap accessible ramps, it should be their choice whether they want to put them in or not. I'm only basing this off the notion that their private business is located on their own private property. I looked at it from a POV of someone who used to work for a company that was home office based. If somebody came to the house and demanded it to be handicap accessible, I would definitely see the issue that would arise with the owner of the property.

However, with public businesses such as a restaurant and a grocery store, they should be made to become handicap accessible if the issue were to rise. I don't think it's appropriate for somebody to complain about it for no reason. I would say under certain circumstances i.e. an employee is handicapped and needs an easier form of getting into the workplace, than yes, I do think that there should be a ramp installed, even if it's a metal ramp that could be taken down if need be.

I see installing ramps, etc, as a common courtesy and the government shouldn't really be telling anybody to become 100% accessible.