Some businesses with small bathrooms already skirt a Denver building code rule requiring distinct men’s and women’s restrooms, seeing the separation as needless and unfair to customers.

Soon the city could adopt their stance. City officials are considering a new building code amendment that would require that all single-stall restrooms have gender-neutral signs on the doors.

The proposal is as much about making sure men and women don’t face differing waits in some restaurants and bars, supporters say, as it is about allowing transgender patrons to use the restroom of their choice, an issue that has flared nationally. Multiple-stall restrooms still would need to be gender-specific.

City Councilman Jolon Clark, who says he’s run into the issue while accompanying his daughter to the restroom, sees the South Broadway and South Pearl Street areas in his district as places where it makes sense. Some businesses there occupy converted homes.

“You have people standing in these old houses, basically, and there’s a line for the ladies room when across the hall it’s the exact same, with a door and a lock, and it’s empty,” he said.

The proposal is part of a package of amendments to the Denver building and fire codes, which the council updated earlier this year.

The new bathroom rule would apply to both new and existing single-stall restrooms, with signage changes required by May 1, 2018. Restrooms designated for family or assisted use also would need signs making clear they are gender-neutral.

Controversy over restrooms has erupted in some states this year.

In North Carolina, lawmakers pushed back against the idea by passing a law requiring that people use public restrooms that match the gender on their birth certificates. Meanwhile, the federal government has adopted the position that schools must allow transgender children access to the restroom that matches their gender identity.

Denver officials are hoping to side-step such issues, since the proposed building code rule would apply only to single-stall restrooms. Nobody would be forced to use a restroom at the same time someone of a different gender.

The rule doesn’t address wider policy about who may use remaining gender-specific restrooms.

“I think what this is really about is that it’s a common-sense issue,” Clark said about the proposal.

He and Councilwoman Robin Kniech gave input to the Department of Community Planning and Development as it developed the proposed rule. Other contributors included the city’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Commission and Mayor Michael Hancock’s office, according to a fact sheet on the proposal.

The mayor’s office credited the LGBTQ Commission and the council members for pressing the issue. “By increasing and improving equitable access to restrooms, Denver is not only supporting our transgender community but these facilities will also better serve our families and caregivers,” said a statement issued by spokeswoman Amber Miller.

The city has set an “open house” Tuesday to answer questions about the proposed code amendments. The meeting is on the first floor of the city’s Wellington E. Webb Municipal Office Building, 201 W. Colfax Ave., from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The City Council could consider the building and fire code amendments by the end of November.