PORTLAND, Ore. -- Toilet issues in the Pearl District are pitting neighbor against neighbor. Some want a public restroom at Jamison Square Park, others are very much against the idea.
Anyone who has spent time at the park during the summer knows the demand for a public bathroom is tremendous. But many of the people who work and live close to the park want the city to reconsider putting a Portland Loo there.
Four stories up in a condo, right above a park, the last thing Sheila McMahon wants to see in her view is someone urinating.
"You're going to be able to see inside that Loo and they -in turn- will see outside that Loo," she said.
She says the design of the new Loo -a metal, solar-powered bathroom with slats- is not welcome at Jamison Square Park.
"When it's going to be open 24/7, I get concerned about my safety coming home on the streetcar."
Sandy Ammerman thinks a Loo installed on the corner of NW Johnson and NW 11th would create a blind spot for cars and kids in the park.
And that's just her first reason for opposing the idea.
"Noise smells, potential for criminal activity and a door slamming all night long," she added.
But there are those who do clamor for a public restroom at one of the most popular summer splash pools in the city.
"Especially the mothers with the kids," said retailer Meghan O'Connell. "I don't know where they go."
Her store, Visage Eyewear, gets requests for use of their bathroom almost daily during the summer. She has mixed feelings about the installation of a metal toilet outside the window.
City commissioner Randy Leonard didn't expect such a heated debate.
"We don't intend to install these to create controversy but rather to address specific needs which, ironically, came from the neighborhood," he said.
Leonard says any concerns raised about homeless people using the bathroom are ill-founded and any suggestion to reduce hours of operation is not open to discussion. So, there will be a public bathroom at the park.
The question now: where will it go?
Leonard will delayed the bathroom installation, awaiting neighborhood consensus on where to put it.
In the meantime, Pioneer Courthouse Square will become the next priority for installing one of the outdoor public bathrooms.
