The sign on the door leading out to a side patio read, " This door to remain unlocked when building is occupied." Big white letters on a dark gray background. Can't miss it.
I'm sure it was put up by the fire marshall. Restaurants by law have to have more than one exit.
But it made me think about how often the "handicapped" door remains locked.
That was my experience at the Butterfly Garden. The place I was at where I saw the sign is a new place, just finished being built. Accessible, yes -- so that's not the issue.
The issue is about enforcement.
It has been my experience that almost every business open to the public -- restaurants certainly -- know very clearly what all the fire code requirements are. And don't dare disobey them. What happens if they do? Do they get a big fine? Do they get shut down?
The fire marshal almost certainly required that sign to be posted -- it's a fire code requirement, I'm pretty sure, that a restaurant have 2 exits. The door boasting the sign was the second exit, after the main front door.
Wouldn't it be great, I thought, if such a sign were required on any non-main door that provides the sole "handicap access?" How many of those doors remain locked! That too, is illegal...
But it seems far fewer business owners are concerned about breaking access laws.
Hmmm....
"This door to remain unlocked..."
Hidden Access 2
Awhile back I wrote of a restaurant that evidently offered wheelchair access in the rear -- but had no sign in front indicating this was the case.
Are people in wheelchairs just supposed to know they're supposed to come in the back???
Palermo Viejo (1359 Bardstown Rd.) is another such place.
For a long time I thought they had no wheelchair access. There's the usual step at the front door. I also didn't know they had parking in back. Maybe these are things foodies are just supposed to know.
I know that years ago MetroSweep urged Palermo Viejo to put a sign on their front door indicating wheelchair access via a back entrance.
Still hasn't been done.
What's this about? I really don't understand it. The signs are not all that expensive. And in point of law it's illegal not to have one.
But nobody seems to care -- neither the owners or, I guess, wheelchair users, who either don't complain or don't complain effectively, as the asked-for signs rarely appear.
I'd love to get somebody else's take on this.
When business owners fail to provide access because they say it will cost "too much" to install a ramp or widen a door, I don't like that attitude either, and I fight it -- but I at least understand where it's coming from.
But a sign? C'mon! I just spent a little time on google and found those blue wheelie signs as cheap as $12.50. Getting some glue on letters from the hardware store is maybe even cheaper.
So it's not cost. What is it?