Porta Potty Rental for Community Events and Block Parties

What counts as a community event?

• Block parties on a closed residential street or cul-de-sac.
• HOA events: summer socials, pool openings, holiday events and annual meetings in a community park or clubhouse lot.
• National Night Out, usually held on the first Tuesday in August, as a city event or a street gathering.
• Parades, with staging areas at the start and crowds along the route.
• Movies and concerts in the park, where a few hundred people arrive at dusk and stay for two or three hours.
• City-run and non-profit events: tree lightings, egg hunts, clean-up days, memorial events and ribbon cuttings.

Bigger, ticketed or alcohol-centred events are covered under festivals and concerts. Events with rides belong under fairs and carnivals. The event rental hub lists every event type.

Do I need a permit to close a street for a block party?

Yes. Closing a public street takes city approval everywhere we deliver, and each city handles it differently.

Sources: Temecula Block Party Application and Requirements (form dated 10/5/2021); Murrieta Application for Block Party (rev. 6/21/2018); Menifee Engineering Fee Schedule; Riverside County Transportation. Both city forms are several years old, so ask for the current version.

Two details matter for restrooms:

• Temecula's cul-de-sac rule. A block party there happens at the closed end of a cul-de-sac. That is a good place for a unit, as long as the truck can get in before the cones go up and out after they come down.
• Murrieta's site plan. The plan must show where every activity sits. Put the porta potty on the plan with the bounce house and the barbecue. Murrieta police check the petition addresses against the map before approval.

Neither form mentions restrooms. Nobody requires a portable toilet at a block party. People rent one so that guests are not walking through somebody's house all evening.

Can a portable toilet sit in the street?

Start with private property. A unit on a driveway, or on an HOA-owned lot with the association's permission, raises no street question at all.

If the only workable spot is the street, the unit sits in the public right-of-way. Murrieta's code requires an encroachment permit before an obstruction is placed in a public place (Murrieta Municipal Code §15.54.040). In Temecula, Menifee or another city, check with public works. We found no code section in any local city that names portable toilets. Ask the office handling your block party permit whether the closure approval covers a unit standing inside the closed area, and get the answer in writing.

Wherever it goes, keep it off the sidewalk, away from storm drain inlets and on level ground. Driveways with a steep apron are a poor choice. See the permit guide for more on right-of-way rules.

How many units does a small event need?

The PSAI planning chart starts at 500 people, which is larger than most neighbourhood events (PSAI). For smaller crowds we suggest these starting points:

Rows under 500 are our own rule of thumb, not a published standard.

Adjust for what is nearby. If park restrooms will be open for the whole event, order fewer. If homes are open to guests at a block party, one unit near the food is usually enough. For a count based on your own numbers, use the unit calculator.

Accessible units. At an event open to the public, every group of units needs at least one accessible unit under the California Building Code (CBC §11B-213.2). Murrieta's event packet says a single unit placed alone must be accessible (Murrieta Special Event Permit Application). For a one-unit order at a public event, order the ADA-accessible unit.

What about parades and movies in the park?

Parades need units in two places. The staging area fills hours before the start with floats, bands, horses and youth groups who cannot leave their spot. The route needs small groups of units spaced along it, set back from the kerb, so nobody has to walk the whole route. Temecula's 4th of July parade runs along Old Town Front Street (City of Temecula), and Menifee's Independence Day celebration has traditionally included a parade, with fireworks at Wheatfield Park (Menifee 24/7). Units on a parade route sit in the right-of-way, so they belong on the event's traffic and site plan.

Movies and concerts in the park are short. Families arrive around sunset, and most use the restroom on arrival and again when the film ends. Valley-Wide Recreation, for example, has listed free summer movies at Rancho Bella Vista Park that begin at dusk (Valley-Wide Recreation). Two points for night events:

• Place units under existing park lighting. People will not use a dark unit and children will not go alone.
• Keep them at the edge of the lawn, not behind the screen or stage where cables run.

Who pays, and who signs the rental?

This is the question that holds up most community orders.

Tell us who the on-site contact is on the day. That is often a different person from whoever signed.

The person who signs a city application is taking on more than the toilet rental. Murrieta's block party packet has the applicant accept financial responsibility for the event and indemnify the city. Temecula's has the applicant agree to pay for any damage to public property and to restore the site. Read those pages before volunteering.

How does delivery work on a residential street?

1. Send us the address and a photo or sketch of where the unit goes.
2. We deliver the day before or the morning of your event, before the closure starts.
3. Keep the unit reachable from the street. Our truck does not need to drive onto a lawn.
4. We pick up after the street reopens, that day or the next, depending on the schedule.

What does it cost?

Event rentals start at $189 per unit. A small community order is one or two units for a day or a weekend, plus a delivery and pickup fee. We add no fuel or environmental surcharges. See pricing.

Community event FAQ

Does our HOA allow a porta potty? That depends on your CC&Rs and park rules, which are private documents. No city rule we reviewed covers it. Ask the management company before you order.

Can we serve beer at a block party? Temecula's form does not allow alcohol in the public right-of-way. Check your own city's conditions. If drinking is planned on private property, add a unit.

Do we need a hand-wash station for a potluck? It is worth having one whenever people are eating with their hands. A hand-wash station beside the unit is enough for most block parties.

How much notice do you need? Book a week or more ahead when you can. Spring and fall weekends fill first. We take short-notice orders whenever units are available. Summer evenings and the week of July 4 book early too.

Where do you deliver? Across the Temecula Valley and western Riverside County, including Temecula, Murrieta, Menifee, Wildomar, French Valley, Canyon Lake and Lake Elsinore. See all service areas.

Get a quote for your community event

Call (951) 517-3600 or send the form with your date, street or park, head count and hours. Tell us whether the street will be closed and we will plan delivery around it.