DeKalb County began enforcing an ordinance this month requiring functional and available restrooms in businesses, stores, offices, county buildings and county parks. If a public restroom is in bad repair or unusable it can be reported to the DeKalb code enforcement offices.
The ordinance was initially passed in November and is part of a 22-years long crusade by Dr. Tom Keating, service coordinator for Project CLEAN, and a former member (early 1990s) of the Decatur school board.
“Every community has to deal with quality of life issues,” Keating said recently. “Public sanitation is one of those things we don’t want to talk about in polite company. But for me it’s one of the three big ‘T’s—taxes, transportation and public toilets.”
The ordinance only covers unincorporated DeKalb. Keating said he wants to see each of the county’s 11 cities (not counting a small portion Atlanta) pass similar ordinances.
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