The following article appeared in the June 13 edition of the Guelph Mercury:
City officials could soon be providing men a new place to ‘go’ downtown.
The emergency services, community services and operations committee will consider Monday evening a staff proposal to introduce an “open-air urinal” this summer in the vicinity of Macdonell and Wyndham streets “to evaluate its effectiveness and to assess public acceptance of this type of public facility.”
The urinal would be installed late Thursday afternoon and removed Sunday morning and would be considered a pilot project during this summer.
Jennifer Mackie, executive director of the Downtown Guelph Business Association, said the city, in conjunction with the Night Life Task Force, will be launching a three-part campaign to address public urination.
This will include an educational poster campaign, increased enforcement of the city’s anti-fouling bylaw — including $240 fines — and, hopefully, the urinals “to see if people would be open to using them.
“It will be a fairly low-cost way for us to see how it’s received,” Mackie said.
City staff estimate the pilot will cost $700 to $1,200 per week, which will be covered by the operations department.
The city has been trying for a number of years to address the problem of public urination, especially on weekend nights after bars close.
Open-air urinals, which are available in several styles, are uncommon in North America but fairly widely used in Europe.
In Manchester, England, officials have noticed an impact since open-air urinals were installed in late 2005.
“I’m not saying it’s eradicated the problem, because it hasn’t, but we do feel it has significantly cut down on the amount of urinating on people’s property,” said Manchester city councillor Marc Ramsbottom. “It was considered a serious anti-social problem.”
The urinals were installed around Manchester’s Piccadilly Gardens entertainment district as a pilot project which has since been extended.
Ramsbottom said they are now permanent fixtures, and residents of other areas of the city have asked to have urinals installed there.
“There’s a feeling they are necessary,” he said.
“I wish they weren’t because I find the whole idea of urinating in public rather disgusting.”
Vicky O’Loughlin, a spokesperson for the City of Bristol, England, said via email that city has been putting out temporary urinals for the past four years.
While the urinals have proven effective, Bristol’s city council is reconsidering their use in light of complaints the units are “ugly” and discriminatory “because they only help men,” O’Loughlin wrote.
Ramsbottom said that issue hasn’t been raised in Manchester.
“I think women tend to behave more appropriately and use the facilities in the licensed establishments, and good for them,” the councillor said.
Locally, not all politicians are eager to throw their arms around the urinal idea.
“It sounds like we’re trying to customize the downtown to the bad behaviour,” said Coun. Bob Bell, whose ward includes the core.
“I think we’re going completely down the wrong path here.”
Bell, who is frequently critical of Guelph’s booming downtown bar scene, suggested bars should be forced to stop serving earlier so their customers have time to use the washrooms before closing time, or to stay open after last call until patrons have done their business.
And he is irked the city will once again pay the cost of cleaning up after the bar rush.
“It’s easy to see who’s calling the shots down there and it’s the bar owners,” Bell said.
“The taxpayers should not be made to pay for this,” he said.