Posted on: Tuesday, April 15, 2003

EDITORIAL
Ban public urination, but build facilities first

We sympathize with Honolulu business owners and residents who want a city law specifically banning public urination. Nobody relishes the resulting stench.

Barring disabilities, it's lazy and disrespectful to relieve oneself in public if there's a perfectly good restroom close by.

To that extent, we have no problem with a law making public urination a petty misdemeanor punishable by a maximum $1,000 fine and up to 30 days in jail.

But the law would be grossly unfair if people, particularly the homeless, had few if any options because of a lack of public restrooms.

It's hardly surprising that in the absence of proper toilet facilities, people relieve themselves where they can.

Decent public toilets and even showers can be found in most of O'ahu's parks and beaches. But once you get into downtown or Chinatown, the options are limited.

Restrooms serving office complexes, stores and restaurants are frequently locked and off limits to non-customers, and shabby-looking folks have a hard time getting the key.

Other cities with large homeless and tourist populations such as San Francisco and Seattle have invested in high-tech, self-cleaning commodes.

San Francisco's are largely funded by the advertisements on their walls. However, the city has had some trouble with people exploiting them for sex, drug use and sleeping. That's a risk with any public facility that lacks round-the-clock security.

Honolulu Police Maj. William Chur's proposal for an ordinance that would outlaw public urination is expected to come before the City Council in the next month or so.

Before we pass a law, let's gauge whether Honolulu has enough public restrooms and whether they've been fairly distributed. If the city is going to criminalize public urination, the very least it can do is install and maintain porta-potties in areas where transients gather.