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# Four public toilets may be removed from downtown
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/four-public-toilets-may-be-removed-from-downtown/
- Published: 2002-04-30T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T00:15:44.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: local, Downtown, #archive-import, Homeless

*By Daily Press staff*

There could be fewer restrooms available downtown if a plan endorsed by a board of downtown businesses is approved by the Santa Monica City Council.

The Bayside District Corporation board of trustees voted unanimously last week to endorse a plan to phase out four of the six public restrooms located in city-owned downtown parking structures.

Many Bayside members believe the restrooms are unsafe and often left in unsanitary conditions by homeless people and transients, who are often the ones using them.

The board was about to launch an ambitious $2 million remodeling of the rest-rooms, but a recent $93 million parking plan adopted by the city will demolish many of those facilities.

Now the board has asked the city council to remove four of the bathrooms so that maintenance and police patrols can be concentrated more effectively and to investigate alternative locations for new public restrooms.

Bayside recommended keeping the restroom in the parking garage at 1440 Fourth Street open since it was recently remodeled.

The other restroom to remain open was left up to the city council, but many board members believe the restroom at 1321 Second Street, could remain open since it is the most accessible to the Third Street Promenade.

The other public restrooms are located at 1234 Fourth Street, 1320 Fourth Street, 1235 Second Street, and 1431 Second Street.

By decreasing the number of public facilities, there will be fewer places for homeless people to go to the restroom, other than in public streets, alleyways and parks or on private property.

Bayside officials believe the decrease in the number of public restrooms won’t affect businesses or act as a deterrent to shoppers coming downtown.

They said public restrooms located in Santa Monica Place and private ones in shops along the Promenade, including many of the larger bookstores and the movie theaters, would remain open.

The Bayside District Corporation is a public-private management company in partnership with the City of Santa Monica, charged with the responsibility of overseeing public safety, security, and maintenance of streets surrounding the Promenade, including the alleys and the six city-owned parking structures.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 30, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/043002.pdf?ref=smdp.com)