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City updates map of public restrooms; three Portland‑style units and other additions planned
Summary
Parks & Rec and partner departments told council there are 91 publicly accessible restrooms citywide and three Portland Loo units plus two modular restrooms are planned; staff said some website listings need correction and maintenance funding will come from departments responsible for each facility.
Director Brent Simon of Parks and Recreation gave the City Council a status report on city‑maintained, publicly accessible restrooms on May 6, saying there are 91 restrooms accessible without paid admission and eight that the administration listed as 24/7 in earlier materials.
Simon said the city launched an online restroom locator tool that displays restroom location, hours and allows residents to submit maintenance requests that create tickets for city crews. He said eight locations were listed as 24/7 in an administrative count but acknowledged discrepancies between the map icons and the table the public uses; Councilor Fiebelkorn pressed staff to reconcile the public listing and the count after noting some sites on the list are seasonally closed or privately restricted.
Simon and Chief Administrative Office staff said the administration is correcting the public site, and that the current authoritative count is 91 freely accessible restrooms; three new Portland Loo units are in design and expected online later this year or in 2026, and two additional vault restrooms are planned for Vista Del Norte Park pending minor permitting. With those additions the total would rise to 95. Simon also noted District 6 participatory budgeting may add up to three more Portland Loo units in that district.
Councilors raised concerns about whether the new 24/7 restrooms come with operating funds. Deputy CAO Soreso said maintenance for the new toilets would be handled by a combination of General Services, Transit, and Solid Waste through existing programs such as shelter maintenance schedules and ambassador programs; Solid Waste and Transit staff will add stops to normal routes. Soreso said the administration expects to return to council about specific funding needs as new units come online.
Council discussion focused on accuracy of online listings and on whether the administration planned the operations costs for additional 24/7 toilets. Councilor Feibelkorn asked the CAO to explain why earlier briefings had cited 126 restrooms; the CAO said that number included restrooms behind pay gates (eg the zoo) or in restricted facilities, which the city elected not to count as publicly accessible without barriers.
Ending: The council asked staff to correct the public restroom map and table so residents can find accessible restrooms and to provide follow‑up details on maintenance funding for the new 24/7 facilities once procurement and operating plans are finalized.
