Committee on Health and Human Relations
November 17, 2021 City Council Meeting
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, the United Nations recognizes the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights, and calls upon States and international organizations to provide financial resources, capacity-building, and technology transfer to provide sanitation for all (Resolution 64/292, July 2010); and,
WHEREAS, a Chicago Tribune study of publicly available bathrooms identified fewer than 500 structures that contain free public bathrooms with few or no barriers to entry, and many of the bathrooms are operated by agencies that cannot staff 24-hour, 7-days a week access to the bathrooms (October 21, 2021); and,
WHEREAS, cities around the United States of America have introduced pilot programs or legislation to establish publicly available bathrooms, including Orlando, Florida; Austin, Texas; Denver, Colorado; Portland, Oregon; San Diego, California; San Francisco, California; and, Washington, D.C; and,
WHEREAS, publicly available data and reporting for pilot programs in Denver, Orlando, and Austin suggest that a public bathroom pilot program could cost between $330,000 to $1,000,000 annually for one to two facilities; and,
WHEREAS, Washington, D.C, established two public bathrooms for the cost of $270,000, and budgeted $65,000 to staff these locations; and,
WHEREAS, the Portland Loo public bathroom model now has approximately 90 locations across the United States of America and Canada; and,
WHEREAS, in addition to public bathrooms, the City of London operates a Community Toilet Scheme that provides a small subsidy (600 pounds) to businesses that keep their bathroom(s) open to the public; and,
WHEREAS, providing publicly available bathrooms will benefit the human dignity and human rights of every Chicago resident and visitor, while also providing several tangible benefits; and,
WHEREAS, the City of Chicago will benefit from publicly available bathrooms by reducing service requests for the Department of Streets and Sanitation that require the removal of human waste; and,
WHEREAS, providing publicly available bathrooms will benefit area business corridors, by providing safe, clean, and reliable facilities for anyone visiting those corridors; and,
WHEREAS, providing publicly available bathrooms will help to expand services available to residents experiencing homelessness by ensuring safe, clean, and reliable facilities; and,
WHEREAS, the City of Chicago can facilitate these benefits by establishing a pilot program to create publicly available bathrooms, and that the data and facilitation of such a program can
better define future service provisions that respect the human rights of every Chicagoan; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED, by the City Council of the City of Chicago, that the City of Chicago shall establish a pilot program for publicly available bathrooms that may be placed throughout the City; and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, this pilot program shall include provisions for contracting and data collection, in order to better understand the basic needs for sanitation services across the City and its corridors; and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the City Council of the City of Chicago shall encourage a study of potential licensing bonuses or subsidies that could be provided to businesses that keep their bathroom(s) open to the public.
Committee on Health and Human Relations
November 17, 2021 City Council Meeting
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, the United Nations recognizes the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights, and calls upon States and international organizations to provide financial resources, capacity-building, and technology transfer to provide sanitation for all (Resolution 64/292, July 2010); and,
WHEREAS, a Chicago Tribune study of publicly available bathrooms identified fewer than 500 structures that contain free public bathrooms with few or no barriers to entry, and many of the bathrooms are operated by agencies that cannot staff 24-hour, 7-days a week access to the bathrooms (October 21, 2021); and,
WHEREAS, cities around the United States of America have introduced pilot programs or legislation to establish publicly available bathrooms, including Orlando, Florida; Austin, Texas; Denver, Colorado; Portland, Oregon; San Diego, California; San Francisco, California; and, Washington, D.C; and,
WHEREAS, publicly available data and reporting for pilot programs in Denver, Orlando, and Austin suggest that a public bathroom pilot program could cost between $330,000 to $1,000,000 annually for one to two facilities; and,
WHEREAS, Washington, D.C, established two public bathrooms for the cost of $270,000, and budgeted $65,000 to staff these locations; and,
WHEREAS, the Portland Loo public bathroom model now has approximately 90 locations across the United States of America and Canada; and,
WHEREAS, in addition to public bathrooms, the City of London operates a Community Toilet Scheme that provides a small subsidy (600 pounds) to businesses that keep their bathroom(s) open to the public; and,
WHEREAS, providing publicly available bathrooms will benefit the human dignity and human rights of every Chicago resident and visitor, while also providing several tangible benefits; and,
WHEREAS, the City of Chicago will benefit from publicly available bathrooms by reducing service requests for the Department of Streets and Sanitation that require the removal of human waste; and,
WHEREAS, providing publicly available bathrooms will benefit area business corridors, by providing safe, clean, and reliable facilities for anyone visiting those corridors; and,
WHEREAS, providing publicly available bathrooms will help to expand services available to residents experiencing homelessness by ensuring safe, clean, and reliable facilities; and,
WHEREAS, the City of Chicago can facilitate these benefits by establishing a pilot program to create publicly available bathrooms, and that the data and facilitation of such a program can
better define future service provisions that respect the human rights of every Chicagoan; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED, by the City Council of the City of Chicago, that the City of Chicago shall establish a pilot program for publicly available bathrooms that may be placed throughout the City; and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, this pilot program shall include provisions for contracting and data collection, in order to better understand the basic needs for sanitation services across the City and its corridors; and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the City Council of the City of Chicago shall encourage a study of potential licensing bonuses or subsidies that could be provided to businesses that keep their bathroom(s) open to the public.
