A Courtenay councillor concerned about a rise in public defecation and urination wants the city to urge Island Health to pay for 24-hour toilet facilities downtown.
The need is urgent as the number of the unhoused in the city has climbed dramatically, Coun. Wendy Morin said in her notice of motion, which could be considered at a council meeting in June.
Courtenay’s homeless population was estimated at 272 in a survey last year, more than double the number in 2020. Of those, 27 per cent are seniors.
Public defecation and urination poses potential health risks to humans and animals and could affect the environment, Morin said.
In late 2021, Courtenay opened its “Urbaloo” 24/7 public toilet at Sixth Street and England Avenue as a pilot project with security patrols four times a night.
The facility, which Mayor Bob Wells said cost $200,000, was attacked by vandals.
The Urbaloo remains but is now locked at night and is only open between dawn and dusk.
Wells said the Urbaloo is similar to facilities installed in Portland, Oregon and was designed to be “fairly indestructible” in order to be used around the clock. “What we found pretty early on, unfortunately, [was] some vandalism was going on and we also couldn’t ensure the safety of those that would be inside.”
No access to a toilet overnight means “people are relieving themselves, kind of wherever they can get shelter on a rainy day,” Wells said. Some businesses and residents are forced to deal with the results.
Island Health said in a statement that it’s not within the mandate of health authorities to fund, provide or staff public washrooms, but it looks forward to conversations if council supports Morin’s motion.
Similar problems with feces turning up in the entrances to businesses, churches and condo buildings prompted Victoria Coun. Dave Thompson to call on the province last fall to support a temporary staffed public washroom that’s open 24/7 for people camping out on Pandora Avenue.
Thompson said the issue was about human dignity and public health.
Bathrooms at Our Place Society are open between 7:30 a.m. and 9 p.m. and facilities are available for people using a safe inhalation site on the block that is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., but there is no public toilet open overnight on Pandora Avenue.
Portland has installed several Portland Loos, with five downtown that are typically open all the time. The city sells them to other communities, with a portion of the revenue going to support the city’s public toilets.
Portland has a close working relationship with Phlush, a non-profit Portland-based organization that works to ensure equitable access to sanitation services.
The organization says public toilets “are as essential to community well-being as roads and traffic signals.”
>>> To comment on this article, write a letter to the editor: [email protected]
