The city councillor for Rideau-Vanier said he intends to bring forward a motion at city hall to waive a hefty encroachment fee handed down to a ByWard Market business owner who built a temporary accessible ramp on the sidewalk.

Property owner Tony Bascelli said the City of Ottawa is charging him a $2,500 fee after he built the wheelchair ramp outside the Shoppers Drug Mart building on Dalhousie Street.

A nearby tenant's construction project created a hazard at the drug store's permanent accessible store entrance at the rear of the building, so Bascelli built a temporary wooden ramp, not thinking it would cause any trouble.

Instead, a by-law officer paid him a visit and issued a temporary encroachment permit.

The owner told CBC News he believes there should be a different set of rules for businesses that are providing temporary access for people with mobility issues.

'I don't see why we wouldn't waive the encroachment fees'

It now appears he has Coun. Mathieu Fleury on his side.

Hours after the CBC News story, the councillor said he will try to reverse the fee through official channels at city hall.

"I don't have the answer today, but certainly I'm open to bringing a motion to council that would waive the fee for this temporary ramp," Fleury told CBC Radio's All in a Day Wednesday.

"We need to applaud the business as part of that and saying that he recognizes the importance of accessibility. It is temporary. It'd be a different discussion if this ramp was permanent. But certainly on a temporary basis, making sure there's an end point where the construction for the other ramp would be completed, I don't see why we wouldn't waive the encroachment fees."

Tony Bascelli installed the wooden outside his property on 298 Dalhousie St., after receiving a request from the pharmacy to provide an accessible ramp for customers. (CBC)

But accessibility advocates say this issue points to a larger problem in the ByWard Market, which boasts a lot of heritage buildings that don't have entrances to accommodate people with mobility issues.

After the drug store's accessible entrance was closed and before the ramp was installed at the side door, longtime ByWard Market resident Bob Brown said he had to ring a doorbell to have his purchases brought to him outside because he uses a wheelchair.

Businesses in the heritage district will have to comply with the city's accessibility requirements by 2018, Fleury noted.

In the meantime, the councillor is floating the idea of introducing "sensitivity training" so city staff no longer work in silos when considering future applications for temporary ramps.

"I've already approached our accessibility team at the City of Ottawa and understanding what is the relationship with the building code services and the right-of-way folks who provide that encroachment permit and I want to know how closely they're involved in the application review process," he said.

"I haven't received the response so far, but that's what I've done."