The Edmonds City Council at its Tuesday night work session got a first look at two proposed designs for the long-awaited downtown restroom on 5th Avenue North next to City Hall. While councilmembers generally liked what they saw in the design to locate the restroom building in the parking lot between City Hall and the Rusty Pelican restaurant, they requested that two more design concepts be created.

The decision to ask for additional designs followed an inquiry by Councilmember Adrienne Fraley-Monillas into whether a family restroom could be incorporated into the currently proposed configuration of a restroom with men’s and women’s entrances, with two stalls on each side. Such a restroom would accommodate not only families, but also people with disabilities who are accompanied by attendants or anyone who needs extra privacy, Fraley-Monillas noted.

City Economic Development and Community Services Director Patrick Doherty replied that such an addition would be possible, but noted it would increase both the cost and the footprint of the building.

The discussion about the family restroom addition came after Doherty and consultant John Barker had presented two concepts for the council’s review and the council favored the one that Doherty had recommended. It is a portable building with two men’s and two women’s stalls, designed by Spokane-based company CXT, placed on the south side of the parking lot next to the Rusty Pelican. The area opposite it (on the north side, adjacent to City Hall) would be developed with a landscaped plaza. This design would provide seating/waiting areas near the restroom, out of the swing of backing cars, and on the sunny side of the property.To compensate for displaced parking, this option would involve re-striping and re-landscaping the parking lot, with a net loss of one parking space. The current cost estimate for this concept is approximately $352,000.

When the conversation turned to Fraley-Monillas’ suggestion for adding a family restroom, which was supported by other councilmembers, Doherty agreed to come back with two additional options for the building: the first with the current configuration of two men’s and two women’s stalls, plus a family restroom, and the second with just one stall each for men and women in addition to the family restroom.

The council had already agreed Tuesday night they were willing to spend more than was originally budgeted for the restroom. Doherty noted that he had attempted to funding from other sources to supplement the council-approved preliminary restroom budget allocation of $260,000. While the Edmonds Downtown Alliance has committed an additional $10,000, and the Noon Rotary Club has committed $5,000 (with a prospective match by the Rotary District office of $5,000), efforts to obtain grant money from Snohomish County were unsuccessful.

Now that conceptual site planning and design development have been completed, Doherty noted that an updated cost estimate for the recommended restroom design is $352,000, leaving the city at least $77,000 short. (The cost is expected to go up after adding the family restroom.)

“I’d say do it right or don’t do it at all,” said Councilmember Diane Buckshnis, expressing a sentiment that was shared by other councilmembers.

Fraley-Monillas noted that adding a downtown public restroom was named a top priority by citizens who participated in the development of the city’s strategic plan.

“With young people coming with their children, that’s (a family restroom) is a nice feature,” said Councilmember Mike Nelson, himself the father of two young boys. “If we are going to be shelling out hundreds of thousands of dollars for this restroom, you know, the additional bells and whistles may be worth it.”

Additional details from Tuesday’s City Council meeting — including the annual report from Snohomish County Fire District 1 — will be posted soon.

— By Teresa Wippel