Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Restroom Design topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board weighs privacy, safety and design options for multi‑user restrooms
Summary
Members discussed multiple design options for multi‑user/unisex restrooms — from full‑height partitions to occupancy limits and separate urinal areas — and agreed to circulate staff’s options document for individual feedback before drafting code language.
The Lawrence board spent a portion of its meeting examining possible local code approaches to multi‑user (sometimes called unisex) restrooms.
Staff summarized national design patterns and concerns — privacy, ventilation, hygiene and the potential for hidden‑camera risks in some school applications — and offered a menu of options: require full‑height partitions, enlarge stall dimensions from a 30‑inch minimum to larger widths, place occupant information on doors, and limit multi‑user designs by occupant load or use (for example, allowing them for larger assembly or airport‑type spaces but not smaller bars or schools). Adrian Jones urged caution and recommended members review the options and send individual priorities to staff to avoid open‑records issues.
Board members agreed they lacked specific code text to act on today and directed staff to circulate the document and collect individual feedback off‑line so staff could prepare draft language for a future meeting. The board discussed special‑needs and school safety concerns and flagged that some uses — particularly schools — might require a different approach than commercial venues.
