HomeMy WebLinkAboutCSD-07-082 - 24/7 Public Washroom Accessibility Update
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Community Services
Report To:
Date of Meeting:
Submitted By:
Community Services Committee
September 24, 2007
Prepared By:
Mark Hildebrand, Interim Director, Community Programs &
Services (x2687)
Mark Hildebrand, Interim Director, Community Programs &
Services (x2687)
All
Ward(s) Involved:
Date of Report:
Report No.:
Subject:
September 11 , 2007
CSD-07-082
24/7 Public Washroom Accessibility Update
RECOMMENDATION:
For Information.
BACKGROUND:
On July 4, 2006 staff provided a report (CSD-06-087), for discussion and Council direction,
regarding the implementation of a 24/7 accessible public washroom as a pilot project. A team of
individuals, including City of Kitchener Staff and staff from the Kitchener Downtown Business
Association and the Downtown Community Health Centre, brought forward a number of
alternative locations to test a 24/7 accessible washroom on a pilot basis. Each alternative
location was examined against the following critical elements including:
· Consideration of personal safety and security of individuals using the washroom,
· Risk associated with using the facility as a 24/7 washroom,
· Operationalizing issues of using the facility as a 24/7 washroom,
· Budget impact of implementation,
· Public health concerns, and
· Location of the proposed washroom in the downtown core.
It was suggested in this report that City Hall best met the requirements necessary to provide
safe access to a washroom facility 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Significantly contributing
to this was the fact that the City of Kitchener City Hall already had security staff on duty, 24
hours/day, 7 days/week and could easily monitor such a washroom. The other investigated
locations failed because there was not adequate staffing to assist with monitoring the
washrooms after certain hours of the day and would require the addition of staff to open and
watch the facility. Two options at City Hall were investigated, the first modifying the existing
skate change room at City Hall to accommodate for a safe 24/7 washroom. The second option,
investigated the use of the family washroom on the ground floor of City Hall.
Report No: CSD-07-0
2
On July 4, 2006 Council approved the use and modification of the City Hall Skate Change room
for the 24/7 accessible washroom and one time funding of $23,415 to undertake the installation
of a controlled access system and communication system for the Skate change room. Council
also approved an expenditure of $5,300 to cover the annual operating costs related to cleaning
and heating the City Hall Skate Change Room for the 24/7 accessible washroom.
REPORT:
On October 2006, the necessary modifications were completed to the Skate Change room and
the washrooms were opened up for use by the public throughout the night for the entire week.
At the end of September 2007, it will be a complete year of operations for the pilot, and staff are
reporting back on the number of times the 24/7 accessible washroom was used over the year.
The chart below shows the number of times the 24/7 washroom was accessed during each
month. You will notice through the fall and winter months access to the washroom was minimal.
With just one year of this pilot running, it is hard to determine if trends to accessing the
washroom exist. However one could speculate that low access numbers in the fall and winter
months could be due to:
· A lack of knowledge in the community, at the beginning of the pilot, that the 24/7
accessible washroom existed, and
· The cold winter weather.
In the spring and summer months, presumably as word spread and the warmer weather arrived,
access to the washrooms increased hitting a high of 79 people requesting access in July.
24/7 Washroom Use
Statistics
Number of
times
Month Accessed
Oet -06 0
Nov-06 2
Dee-06 2
Jan-07 9
Feb-07 1
Mar-07 10
Apr-07 10
May-07 16
Jun-07 23
Jul-07 79
Aug-07 68
Sep-07* 58
Total 278
* Note: As of September 11, 2007
Staff is suggesting that the City of Kitchener continue providing a 24/7 accessible washroom at
City Hall. Municipalities are increasingly coming under public scrutiny to provide for this basic
need in public places. Publicly accessible washrooms are not only for the homeless or others
who are out late in the evening. They are also for children, pregnant women and the growing
number of people with health issues that influence their bodily functions such as incontinence
and diabetes to name a few. The City of Kitchener has been able to provide for a 24/7
accessible washroom in the downtown at minimal cost to the tax base. The statistics from the
Report No: CSD-07-0 3
past year show that use has steadily increased. It continues to show support for the
development of a safe and healthy Kitchener.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
None. Operating costs associated with cleaning and maintaining the washroom is currently in
operating.
Mark Hildebrand
Interim Director, Community Programs and Services
AP