The Urban Redevelopment Authority Board of Directors will consider a resolution next week aimed at making small businesses more accessible to physically disabled customers while improving those businesses’ storefronts.

At its next meeting, Thursday Feb. 14, the Board will vote to waive Storefront Renovation Program guidelines to facilitate accessibility improvements consistent with the City of Pittsburgh’s One Step program, the URA said in a statement released Friday.

The proposed initiative would combine the goals of the two city programs by allocating funds for the improvement of local businesses geared toward accommodating customers with physical disabilities.

The One Step program aims to get every customer in the door. The program provides technical and monetary assistance to local businesses, inspired by the idea that just a single step is a barrier to those in wheelchairs and with physical disabilities.

The Storefront Renovation Program allocates 50% matching grants worth up to $5,000 to local business with the goal of renovating storefronts to improve those businesses and the surrounding community.

Tom Link, director of the URA’s Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, suggested the two programs share the common theme of making Pittsburgh neighborhoods more accessible and inviting to all customers and people.

“Access for all is a theme we work toward everyday – access to jobs, access to housing, access to quality of life,” Mr. Link said in the statement. “The One Step program is core to our mission and we look forward to helping small businesses across the city ensure they are accessible to all our neighbors.”

The URA Board of Directors will meet at 2 p.m. next Thursday in the Wherrett Memorial Board Room at 200 Ross Street, Downtown.

First Published: February 8, 2019, 10:44 p.m.