Portland loo location causing quite a stink
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PORTLAND, Ore. – It's not the sounds of construction that have residents in the South Park Blocks irritated, it's what the workers are building.
"This is literally our front yard," said Felicia Williams, the head of the Downtown Neighborhood Association. "They're putting a toilet literally in our front yard."
The latest Portland loo is set to have its first flush in mid-July. The toilet is being placed next to Southwest Columbia but neighbors thought it was going to be 50 feet to the west on the corner. They say they should have been told about it before construction started. But that construction is almost finished, leaving those neighbors with few options.
Williams said she thought there was an agreement with the city.
"(As a) consensus decision, we decided on a location across the street adjacent to the park but not actually in it," Williams said.
But that's where it's going – a direct conflict, opponents say, with the area's historic prominence.
There are several memorials in the park blocks, including statues of Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt; the Peace Plaza, and the Peace Chant sculpture. And soon to be, just a few feet away, a Portland loo toilet.
"Not appropriate – it's not an appropriate location under any circumstance," Williams said.
City Commissioner Randy Leonard said the first location had too many logistical issues like easy access to water and sewer lines and that a move of just 50 feet wasn't seen as a big deal.
"What can't be lost here is they're getting the restroom that they want," he said. "It's just not in the exact location that they wanted."
Neighbors also bring up legal issues, saying city code required them to be notified of any changes.
"A minimum of 30 days advance notice of any final decision that they make on a livability issue within our neighborhood. They did not do so," Williams said.
Leonard said he really disagrees with two things: That the loo will somehow distract from the historic nature of the park blocks, and that a location change of just 50 feet required the city to go through the approval process again with neighbors.
Neighbors are considering legal action.
Randy's legacy...Â
livefyre sucks about as much as having a toilet in ones front yard..........
hey neighbors of the loo. you will shut up and not go against the machine. the new world order has taken over and it is not ours to question or be a rabble rouser. we will conform and obey. its slavery all over again. the 1% ers vs the 99% ersand not only are they winning.  they have won. its over.  thoughts/prayers
I think it's interesting that the City can arbitrarily relocate this loo, apparently without having to get revised permits, etc... Certainly a private citizen wouldn't be allowed to do that (well, not unless he/she had a lot of $$ with which to grease the right political palms)...Â
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I'm a little surprised that Randy Leonard is even still around... Seems to me I heard/read some time ago that he was quitting or retiring or something... What happened to that???
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@margay1
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The Loo master is serving out hs term and will be gone in January. In the mean time we get lame duck crappers...
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Same with sammy.
What is it witht our elected officials constantly cramming stuff down our throats...enough is enough.......gees.....
Does seem like quite a few of them - at all gov't levels and all across the country - seem to be sliding into "dictator mentality" lately, doesn't it...?
There used to be these businesses called "gas stations". Yeah I know I'm talking about the "old days", but before Portland became so liberal and car unfriendly, you could always depend on a bathroom at the gas station to use. How about making every public building open to bathroom use? They are our buildings, we pay for their upkeep, we should have access to at least the bathrooms. Â
All you people bitching?  Get off the NIMBY.  Gotta go somewhere.  Go find something really important in life to complain about.  You elected them, you got what you wanted.
Those neighbors complaining should consider who they have voted for in the last 10 years or so. This is what you get when you allow the liberal ideology to run wild with your tax dollars. You get sh** on.
First off, it's not "literally" in your front yard unless it's on your property. Secondly, isn't having a "loo" better than people just using the bushes or sidewalk?
 @sgip2000 Don't cloud it up with facts, bring on more rhetoric!
I say we locate it in randy Leonard's front yard. He's been crapping on the citizens of Portland for years..............now they could return the insult.
Just read these comments for a pungent whiff of Nice White People's real values -- sucking up and kicking down.
And you know people posting on here are white, because....? They can spell? Articulate? Have correct grammar?
You're an idiot....or a troll....or both.
The Loo will go where it is because that is where Randy Leonard has said it will go. If you have a problem with that, then simply step off, George. Got it? Step off!
@Art Vandelay .........got it...........and you wanna be my latex salesman.
Randy Leonard would have been a evil dictator had he been able to gain control of a country. He would have modeled himself after someone like Hitler or Stalin.
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He is just a rotten person and when he dies the world will be a better place. Normally if someone were to get a life threatening illness I would feel bad for them but with Randy Leonard I would be smiling.
@RalphCramden ...........most people Ralph will go to his funeral just to make sure the sob is dead.
Just out of curiosity, what happens if I get a set of building plans approved, and then just move the building 50 feet because "logistical issues like easy access to water and sewer lines"?
They would fry you with fines and fee's and make you tear it down and redue it all over. I like how the Gov. can break the rules but we can NOT!!!!!!!!!
No better way to memorialize Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Rosevelt by building a public toilet next to their statues for the street warriors to shoot up their drugs and cause a big mess out of the park.
eminent loomain
"Neighbors are considering legal action."
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Yeah but they keep electing one idiot after another.
What is this city's (or the city council's) obsession with toilets and bike lanes. So sick of it.
Hahahaha, like the City of Portland would really care about what it's financiers (you the taxpayer) would have to say.  Hey, you may not like the look, the not agreed-upon location, but hey, you got a toilet so shut up.  <----  What Leonard basically said.
Vote 'em all out and start all over again.
 @dblshot This has basically been the ideal of Portland city government for some time now. They have an attitude of "shut up and accept what we do, it's for your own good". They have a narcissistic and somewhat messianic attitude toward the residents not just of Portland, but of the entire metropolitan area.
 @dblshot Leonard has already said he is leaving, just not soon enough.
Crap.