Camp site next to portas?

[asr9754]

So, looking at our placement and the City map, we may be right next to the porta bank on a busy street. (No complaints here, happy to be placed at all), but looking for any tips on how people have dealt with the funk, crowds and noise from the porta and trucks.
Thanks!

[Chowski]

I'm interested too. We got placed there for the first time this year. Anybody?

[Ratty]

Your biggest problem may end up being that it becomes a parking lot. The trucks need 20 feet in front of the units. The rest of the space will fill up with cars, (Unless you use it). You'll get used to the door slamming and make plenty of new friends. Please become a 'friend of the potties' by stocking them with tp when you go. I don't know who is running the potty project this year. They may approach you and bring big bags of toilet paper to your camp. Several camps make a game of it by speaking to people inside with a bullhorn, educating the crowd about moop and potty etiquette or supplying a table with hand sanitizers, wipes, lotions, feminine hygiene products etc.. Embrace the potties. Make them your own. Put up funny signs. (Please take them down later.) Bring a sharpie and graffiti them. Just don't decorate with anything that can end up down the hole.

[asr9754]

We've gotten so good at carpooling that we won't have many vehicles to form a boundary between our camp and the porta row.
Would you think if we deliberately left a strip of space open along the side of our camp, then other burners would end up parking there? We'd be fine with sharing that space, we could even tell the neighbors that we have a strip of overflow parking to offer. I like the tip about getting involved in porta community outreach, thx!

[Ratty]

Last year most of the portos were parking lots. Be sure and stake out your space. Those cars don't get moved all week. Some of them have info on the dash saying where to find the owner but most of them don't.

[AntiM]

Hushville was near a porto bank one year. The only smell was during pumping, and it was not bad. The constant slamming of the doors was the most annoying aspect. Wham wham wham.

The only thing I can think of about the parked cars is that is they are on your placed area, and they leak fluids, then that becomes your camp's red or yellow MOOP spot, not theirs.

[Jovankat]

I don't know who is running the potty project this year.

Is Robbi just taking a year off?

[Sham]

Last year we were directly across from the toilets. I gave our address as "5:30 and toilets".
There was never really any issue with smell or noise. It was awesomely convenient to have the portos so close to camp. A round trip visit was just a 2 minute ordeal.

Like everything in BRC, just relax and everything will work out for the best---and congrats on the great placement.

[fireheadwhale]

supplying a table with hand sanitizers, wipes, lotions, feminine hygiene products etc...

Only my second Burn this year but I was overjoyed to see the Butler Guy, Merlin, at the portos the second morning with Listerine, toothbrushes, cigarettes, lighters, combs etc. and even Red Noses just like last year. Last year I thought maybe he'd be there everyday but he moves to different portos. So cool to see the young ones wonder at the sight of him. One of the best gifts to the playa.

[asr9754]

FWIW, being next to the portas was not bad at all. As predicted, O Ye Wise eplayans, there was 2 rows of random vehicles that parked along the strip next to the portas, so our camp site had a bit of a buffer, and the smell and noise from slamming doors was about 1% as bad as we thought it might be, I didn't hear much slamming at all. When the pump trucks came it smelled bad but that's everywhere. It was very convenient to be so close to them, actually. So for future reference it's not so bad, just leave a strip of vacant area in your layout to allow the rando vehicles to fill in and form your buffer and you'll be fine!

[Savannah]

Glad to hear it! Thank you for letting us know how it went, as I think I would be apprehensive at first, if I were in the same position.