Minneapolis City Council looks to solve No. 1 problem downtown: Where to go No. 2

There are certain hotspots in downtown Minneapolis where people frequently relieve themselves outside where there is no bathroom. The light rail stop at S. 5th Street and Hennepin Avenue, for instance. And a few intersections in Downtown West, closer to Loring Park.

The Minneapolis Downtown Council has a public urination map tracking every instance when a member business calls and crews are deployed to wash — or scoop — it up. Because we’re talking about defecation as well, said Downtown Council President Adam Duininck.

They try to work with building owners to change landscaping, broadcast music, or hire street outreach teams — anything to boost the perception that people are watching the street.

But what downtown really needs is more bathrooms, according to the Downtown Council. Its 2035 Plan calls for 20% more access by next year, and alludes to an infamous episode from 2023, when the Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea shared the tale of his desperate dash for a bathroom in downtown Minneapolis.

“The biggest challenge is this open secret that if we have porta-potties or other [temporary] resource like that, they end up getting used for nefarious reasons, doing drugs or prostitution,” Duininck said. “But there are emerging technologies that we hope could potentially be both safe and accessible.”

City Council Member Aurin Chowdhury said the city implemented a 311 code for public defecation about two years ago, after she pushed the city to track the problem around another light rail hotspot in her ward, at E. 46th Street and Hiawatha Avenue. It’s unclear how that’s worked out. The city didn’t have data available this week.

Council Member Katie Cashman, who represents parts of downtown, has proposed amending Mayor Jacob Frey’s proposed 2026 budget to include $700,000 for five to eight standalone restrooms on Nicollet Mall maintained by a private vendor.

“Public bathroom access is a human need that we all have, and Nicollet Mall is the most active transit corridor in the entire state,” Cashman said Monday during a meeting of the council’s budget committee.

The council is expected to finish debating the proposal on Tuesday. Adopted changes will then be sent to the mayor for approval.

Cashman wants to pay for the bathrooms using the Value Capture District, which was created in 2013 to collect property taxes for a streetcar on Nicollet and Central avenues. When plans for the streetcar fell through, the state Legislature allowed the city to expand the purpose of the fund.

The Value Capture funds are expected to be about $7.2 million by year’s end, according to Cashman’s office. Other city projects drawing on the Value Capture District include the mayor’s plan to remove buses from Nicollet Mall, reopening Nicollet Avenue where the old Kmart once stood and repairing the Nicollet Avenue bridge over Minnehaha Creek.

What sort of bathrooms Minneapolis would rent remains to be seen. But a November staff presentation explored some high-tech models being used by other northern cities, such as New York City’s Portland Loo and Ann Arbor’s Throne Labs, which feature graffiti-resistant wall panels, time limits and sensors for air quality and cleanliness.

Matt Tebo, the Instagram user behind “Places I’d Poop Madison,” documents his favorite public restrooms around Wisconsin’s capital city to promote the local food scene.

“It’s a pretty welcoming place,” Tebo said of Madison’s bathroom culture. “You can pretty much go into any space that’s a restaurant or bar or whatever, and there’s just not a lot of strict rules about having to be a paid customer.”

The Minneapolis experience is quite different, especially for people experiencing homelessness, members of Street Voices of Change told the Minnesota Star Tribune. The group, which meets regularly at the Basilica of St. Mary’s downtown, has been asking for more bathrooms for years. Earlier this summer, they lobbied Cashman and other council members for more public options because private ones aren’t reliable.

The downtown Target makes a single stall on the ground floor available to the public. There’s often a long line outside and a mess inside, said Stephan LeSure, a Street Voices of Change facilitator. He believes Target sets the tone for other private businesses along the Mall.

LeSure described the reality of what businesses encounter: “You see this guy coming up with 12 bags, hands dirty, are you going to open the door? ... No you’re not,” LeSure said. “There has to be public bathrooms. And all the rest of the things that go with that? It has to be worked out.”

Payten Star, another facilitator with the group, agreed that policymakers need to take an unflinching look at the challenges with public restrooms if they’re going to come up with a solution that will last. Homeless people don’t want to relieve themselves outside, where getting caught can lead to a sex offense, she said.