Restrooms for San Diego Street Fairs and Parades

Why do street fairs and parades need rented toilets?

Because the streets they close were built for shops, homes and traffic, not for tens of thousands of visitors. Few commercial blocks have public restrooms, and neighboring businesses cannot be expected to serve a crowd. Organizers rent portable toilets and place them along the route so guests are not left with long walks or no options.

A corridor event has a particular shape. The crowd is spread along a line, thick at stages and food areas and thin elsewhere, and it moves. A single bank of cabins at one end serves a few blocks well and the rest poorly.

The result of a poor layout is predictable: long queues, guests who leave the event to find a restroom, and complaints from shops and residents. A layout with several banks, each with an accessible unit and a handwash station, prevents most of it.

What do San Diego's best-known fairs and parades look like?

They differ in length, crowd and setting. Pride runs a 1.5-mile parade through Hillcrest to Balboa Park, Adams Avenue puts seven stages along a Normal Heights corridor, North Park's festival closes University Avenue, Ocean Beach fills Newport Avenue, and Coronado's parade runs two hours down Orange Avenue. The table sets out what each tells a toilet planner.

Figures in the table come from organizers and news reports of particular editions, and published numbers for the same event often differ. Dates and crowds change from year to year, so confirm the details with the organizers before you plan around any of them.

How should toilets be laid out along a route?

Spread them in several banks along the route, each with an accessible unit on level ground and a handwash stand, and place them on side streets, corners or lots where a queue can form without blocking the street. Keep a lane for the service truck, and add units at staging and finish areas for participants and for the crowd that gathers there.

Think of the route as a set of zones. Staging holds marchers, bands and floats for an hour or more before the start. The route holds spectators in waves. The finish holds the largest settled crowd. Each needs its own banks, and each has its own timing.

Neighbors deserve notice. A bank beside a restaurant or an apartment building should be agreed with its owner, and a bank at a corner with a clear lane can keep the street usable. The street festival toilets and parade toilets pages describe the layout in more detail.

• Several banks spaced along the route, not one block
• An accessible unit in every bank, on level ground
• Handwash at each bank exit and in food and beer areas
• Staging units for marchers, bands and volunteers
• A lane for the service truck, and a named person who moves barricades

What do the City and county ask for, and how do you plan around uncertain crowd numbers?

For events on City of San Diego property or streets, the Office of Special Events guideline is one toilet per 250 people at estimated peak attendance, with 10 percent accessible and at least one accessible unit at each restroom location. County rules for temporary food events ask for approved handwashing and one toilet per 15 food employees within 200 feet of a booth.

Coronado is a separate city with its own permits, so its parade follows its own rules, not the City of San Diego's. Ask the city before you plan.

The guidelines also describe set-up: standard units sit on a liner so spills do not reach storm drains, and accessible units may use sandbags. On a street, mark the storm drains on your map before delivery.

Ocean Beach's fair is described by a city listing as drawing thousands and by a tourism site as drawing more than 50,000. Chicano Park Day forecasts have ranged from hundreds to 40,000 depending on the year reported. If the sources cannot agree, your plan should cover the high end of what your own records support.

Keep notes from each edition: the busiest hour, the longest queue, the bank that filled first. The next committee will thank you.

What changes when there is a beer garden or a food row?

Drinking raises the number of trips and the time each takes, and food booths bring the county's handwashing rules. Put banks and handwash stands within sight of both, tell the provider when the beer garden opens and closes, and expect servicing to matter more in the evening. A food row also sets its own toilet count near the booths.

North Park's festival has a paid craft beer block, Adams Avenue's fair has beer gardens among its stages, and Ocean Beach has a beach beer garden. In each, the nearest bank carries more than its share, so cabins meant for a quiet end of the street end up serving the busiest.

County guidance for temporary food events asks for approved handwashing and one toilet per 15 food employees within 200 feet of the booth. On a street with a long food row, that can matter as much as the crowd count. Mark the booths on your map first and then place the banks.

How do accessible units fit a crowded street?

City guidance asks for level ground, a 2 percent maximum cross-slope and an accessible route for each accessible unit. On a crowned street or a sidewalk with curbs, plan the spot before the closure is drawn. Place accessible cabins at the front of each bank and keep the approach clear of vendors, barricades and queues.

A closed street can look flat and still tilt toward the gutter. A parking lot or a plaza at the edge of the closure is often the better pad, and a mat can help where a curb ramp is not available.

Think about the route to the cabin as well as the cabin itself. A wheelchair user who has to cross a crowded intersection or a cable run will not use it. Ask the provider to describe its accessible cabin so you can match it to the spot. The accessible units page explains what to ask.

What about timing, closures, access and booking ahead?

Delivery must happen before the street closes, servicing works around a crowd, and pickup waits for the route to clear. Book as soon as the date and route are approved, since several events share weekends and the line cannot promise a delivery window. Ask the provider to confirm times in writing.

Pride's parade steps off at 10 a.m. on a Saturday, and the Friday night block party in Hillcrest comes before it. Adams Avenue's Saturday program runs 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Ocean Beach runs 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The working day for a provider starts hours earlier.

Closed streets may let a truck in only at certain points. Walk the route with the provider's contact if possible, or send a map with entries marked. If the closure changes, tell the provider at once.

Annual events have an advantage: last year's plan, quote and map are a starting point. First-time organizers can reach the same place by sharing a clear map and a crowd range on the first call.

What should an organizer do on the day?

Walk every bank an hour before the event starts, keep the provider's phone number with a named volunteer, and check again at the busiest hour. Report full, damaged or moved units with a location. Keep the service lane clear and do not let anyone move a cabin. After the event, note what worked for next year's committee.

A short list pinned in the volunteer tent works better than a long plan nobody reads. Include the number of banks, where they stand, who has keys to gates and who to call at the provider.

Treat the walk-throughs as part of the event schedule. A volunteer who checks the banks at noon and at the peak will spot a full cabin before the queue does. Avoid giving untrained helpers any task that involves opening a cabin or touching the tank.