Pittsburgh building owners wants portable toilet removed amid safety concerns

The owner of the Fort Pitt Commons building in downtown Pittsburgh is raising concerns over a "Mr. John" portable toilet, placed near the building.

The owner of the Fort Pitt Commons building in downtown Pittsburgh is raising concerns over a "Mr. John" portable toilet, placed near the building.

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The owner of the Fort Pitt Commons building in downtown Pittsburgh is raising concerns over a "Mr. John" portable toilet, placed near the building.

The owner of the Fort Pitt Commons building in downtown Pittsburgh is raising concerns over a "Mr. John" portable toilet placed near the building.

The owner wants the city to remove the portable toilet that sits outside their building's back door due to alleged drug use and other activity concerning building tenants.

“Some tenants are just afraid at night to walk out of this building. So it's affected not only the people visiting, but the people that work here,” Attorney Ron Del Duca said.

Del Duca spoke to Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 Monday evening on behalf of the building owner. He said the "Mr. John" portable toilet appeared within the past month near the building’s back entrance, but he’s unsure who arranged for it to be placed there.

“We've actually seen occurrences where people were doing drug deals outside the port-a-potty. We've called the city several times to see how the permit was granted or if there was a permit granted. We haven't had a response,” Del Duca said.

The office building sits at the corner of Fort Pitt Boulevard and Grant Street near an encampment. When Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 reached out to the mayor’s office with questions regarding permitting for the "Mr. John," the mayor’s press secretary shared this response.

“Due to some law enforcement issues, the encampment is being decommissioned. Signs have been posted,” Mayor Ed Gainey's press secretary Olga Geroge said.

City council member Theresa Kail-Smith was asked about concerns in this specific area.

“If there's an issue around it, this is why people are… I think it's our lack of enforcement, our lack of, you know, of guidance and management of, or expectations of management that is causing some of this angst in the whole community,” Kail-Smith said.

Del Duca said the back entrance of the Fort Pitt Commons building is now closed, and people are asked to walk to the opposite side of the block to enter.

“They park across the river. Well, we've posted signage in there now that says you can't come out this exit. We recommend you don't come out this exit. A lot of them also have visitors that come in, and they also can't come into this exit,” Del Duca said.

Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 reached out to Pittsburgh Public Safety with questions regarding the alleged plans for the encampment to be decommissioned, as mentioned in the mayor’s office response.

Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 also reached out to a nonprofit organization, which some tenants believe to have arranged for the "Mr John" to be placed there, but we have not yet heard back.