BC Transit's plans to install a new washroom in Oak Bay have been shot down.
At a meeting on July 21, council voted unanimously to deny the transit operator's request to raise a self-contained lavatory next to a bus stop at the corner of Musgrave Street and Thompson Avenue.
The new loo would have replaced a five-year-old porta potty used exclusively by bus drivers.
“The option that’s first come forward from BC Transit is actually not sufficient enough because it privatizes a resource that should actually be ... public," said Coun. Lesley Watson. "I don't think that the option that was given to us is the right one, so I just think that we need to explore some other ones."
Placed there in 2020 to comply with COVID-19 restrictions, the porta potty allowed drivers to avoid the use of washrooms in Estevan Avenue businesses.
“Those protocols are no longer in place, but BC Transit’s preference is they would like to continue having an operator washroom in that location – the reason being that it would allow their drivers to access a clean washroom at any time during the day,” said Steve Rennick, the district’s director of engineering and public works.
The replacement would have been locked with a code and maintained by BC Transit, with power drawn from an adjacent streetlight pole.
Coun. Hazel Braithwaite supported the idea.
“I drive by that bus stop almost every day, and that little blue porta potty is an eyesore, so I’m really happy to see this come forward,” she said.
Mayor Kevin Murdoch later asked why, now that COVID-19 restrictions have lifted, drivers couldn’t use businesses’ washrooms again.
“BC transit ... indicated that it’s not their preference to have their operators rely on the business because ... if they’re relying on a public bathroom in the coffee shop and there’s a lineup, for example, it can impact their route timing,” said Rennick, adding that busses also pass through the area before shops open.
Murdoch also asked why BC Transit wanted to install a replacement washroom on Musgrave Street.
“This is the desired location because it is a layover,” said Rennick. “This is where the routes turn around, and I think that that’s the preference from the transit operator is to keep it close by the layover, so that drivers taking bathroom breaks don’t have as much of an impact on schedule.”
Oak Bay resident Phillip Cameron, whose home sits next to the bus stop, opposed the idea.
“I’d like council to consider other options before allowing this thing to go on," he said, adding that a smell emanates from the porta potty. "When people come to my house to visit for parties ... it’s become a butt of a joke that yours is the house with the toilet in front of it."
District staff will contact BC Transit to find an alternative solution for the replacement washroom.
