There will not be public restrooms open at 303 Welch Ave. due to complaints from area businesses and tenants, according to the City Council minutes from the Oct. 23 meeting.

On Aug. 28, the city voted to have public restrooms available in Campustown at 303 Welch Ave. and 200 Stanton Ave. The city agreed to pay Campustown Property Management $333 per month for upkeep of the facilities.

In a letter written to the mayor, the city manager and the City Council on Oct. 1, Michael Yeagle, Campustown Property Management director of operations,asked to reconsider the agreement. “The specific complaints were with 303 Welch – business owners there had concerns about vandalism,” Yeagle said. “There were some instances in the past of homeless people sleeping in the bathrooms. Those were essentially things we were unaware of.”

Yeagle said Stomping Grounds, 303 Welch Ave. #101, had spent money to improve the restrooms by painting and adding pieces of art, which legitimized the complaints.

He also said there were tenants who have to go to work early in the morning who complained.

In their Oct. 18 meeting, the Student Affairs Commission voted to support Yeagle’s proposal to cancel the formal agreement and report it to the City Council. At the Oct. 23 council meeting, the City Council voted 6-0 to void the contract with Campustown Property Management for public restrooms.

Yeagle said he didn’t have a choice on the issue.

“I’ve got to weigh the interest of the tenants over anything else that may be on the table. It was basically what I had to do,” Yeagle said.

However, Yeagle has agreed to open 200 Stanton Ave., free of charge, on a trial basis.

They will be open to the public after the city puts up the appropriate signage directing people to the restrooms.

“If we have a costly incident, or it is too much of a nuisance, then we will contact the Student Affairs Commission and the city,” Yeagle said.

Maggie Luttrell, Government of the Student Body ex-officio City Council liaison and junior in history, said one of the reasons the commission wanted public restrooms was because there are some businesses in Campustown that lock their bathrooms at night, even from paying customers.

“The initial concern was, if there aren’t any restrooms available to students in Campustown, we need to do something about it,” Luttrell said.

Eventually, the Student Affairs Commission would like to put up permanent restrooms in Campustown, but right now it is going to be too expensive and there isn’t a lot of room for more buildings, said Andrew Dibble, off-campus student representative for the Student Affairs Commission and senior in industrial technology.

He said they have considered relocating the public restrooms.

“Especially with all the bars and people getting public urination [citations],” Dibble said. “So they can use a public restroom rather than nature.”

John Crawford, member of the Student Affairs Commission and owner of Alpha Copies and Print Center, 2310 Lincoln Way, said he understands why Yeagle wanted to make sure he has an out if the restrooms get messy or vandalized.

“We have bathrooms in our business here, but it’s not on Welch, so we don’t get the bar crowd,” Crawford said. “If I had a business there that would be impacted by public restrooms, I would say, as a business person, you have to weigh out everything. You have customers you have to worry about.”