Langley Businesses Urge City to Restore Longer Downtown Restroom Hours

The public restrooms on Anthes Avenue in downtown Langley shut their doors at 2:30 p.m. every weekday and don't open at all on Sundays, and the businesses lining the city's commercial core say the cutback is costing them customers.

Alexa Allamano, chair of the Langley Chamber of Commerce, brought the issue before the Langley City Council Monday, telling the council she represented a dozen business owners who strongly disapprove of the reduced hours at the restrooms next to the chamber office on Anthes Avenue.

The cutback dates to January, when the city cited vandalism problems in the restrooms as the reason for keeping the doors locked during more of the day. The facilities now operate 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and are closed entirely on Sundays. Previously, the restrooms were open every day from 5:30 a.m. until 8:30 p.m.

Allamano framed the issue squarely in economic terms. "We are losing business and you are losing tax revenue because of this," she told the council, adding that the problem will only worsen during the busy tourism season. "You make that harder for us, your tax generators, when you leave our guests without basic amenities," she said, asking the city to keep restrooms open at a minimum from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

Councilmember Chris Carlson echoed the concern later in the meeting, saying the city needs a solution for consistent hours and weekend access. "This weekend my family was downtown on Sunday and we had a bathroom emergency and it was problematic," he said. "So I can only imagine this summer when we're swarmed with visitors that we need a solution."

The chamber has not left the problem entirely to the city. Allamano said the chamber is willing to install a security camera on the visitor center, though she argued the cost of monitoring should fall on the city. Downtown businesses have also floated other fixes, including keypad code entries or a shared key arrangement.

With Langley's summer tourism season approaching, the pressure on the city to find a workable solution before visitor numbers peak is only growing.