We have been surprised that the shared bathrooms are the most commonly voiced concerns about this project. The concerns break into three buckets:

Sanitation: We currently clean the bathrooms twice per week, and our tenants do a great job at maintaining the bathrooms during the off-days. This is the benefit of having long-time tenants on the property: they keep things in line. Our proposal will include an on-site employee that will ensure the bathrooms continue to be properly maintained. This person will let us know if more frequent cleaning is required.

Privacy: The bathrooms are single occupancy that lock from the inside; there is one for each four units. They are no different than what is permitted in Community Residences (e.g. sober homes, abused spouse residences, disabled veterans homes) in almost all municipalities. To ensure these bathrooms are always clean and safe we use the latest security technology for locking and securing the rooms

Security: The facility will have Men’s and Women’s sections, and our security system will limit access to only the residents supposed to be there.

Think about all the situations where people use communal bathrooms now: airline bathrooms, firehouse living, youth hostels, college roommates, and the list can go on. Look in Facebook Marketplace and you will find dozens of ads for roommates and shared rooms for $900+. The current MTHU arrangement has seven units sharing two bathrooms, and four of the seven residents have lived there for over five years. Obviously, they don’t have a problem with sharing bathrooms. We understand this type of living situation isn’t for everyone. In our land of abundance many of us can’t conceive of a situation where we have to share bathrooms with non-family members.