Dogs might have the luxury of just using the lawn and having an astute handler willing to pick up after them. 

But those handlers need somewhere to go too. And now that the Lathrop City Council has given its blessing, fans of the Lathrop Dog Park might soon find new restroom facilities – sort of – to expand the recreational offering that has made the facility near Inland Passage Way one of the most popular in the community. 

Councilmembers cut the total cost of the project in half by going not with a standard toilet hooked up to Lathrop’s sewer but instead a “self-contained mini-flush toilet” that will cost less to maintain every year than the standard bathroom would when water and electricity were factored into the equation. 

No timetable has been set for the construction of the bathroom at River Park South, but it is expected to include a sidewalk and will carry a pricetag somewhere in the neighborhood of $55,000.

As a comparison, the City of Manteca paid almost triple 10 years ago for modular bathrooms that were added at Library Park. Locked bathroom doors have it impossible for homeless to sleep and use drugs have rendered them off-limits to the public since the police department began cracking down on loitering in the area. 

That unit, which was hooked up to the city’s sewer system, was chronically plugged – oftentimes intentionally – and served as a major headache for municipal workers.