By Clarence Cromwell
Signaling its position on restaurants downtown, the Planning Commission on Aug. 28 gave a unanimous thumbs-down to expanding a restaurant into a retail space.
The business group known as the La Cañada Families, wanted to bring a 42-seat, sit-down restaurant called Mondéo into a shop that used to house a 13-seat muffin shop. They asked for permission to expand the restaurant into a retail area next door and to serve beer and wine. Mondéo would have served "wraps"--grilled meats, fish and vegetables served in big tortillas.
Although planning commissioners turned down an ordinance May 18 that would have put a halt to conversion of retail space to restaurants, they didn't hesitate to bar the proposed restaurant from doing so. The ordinance that failed to pass also would have let them review all applications pertaining to restaurants and would have regulated eateries' size and location.
Instead, the Planning Commission proposed to the Town Council to only move the restaurant decisions up to the Planning Commission level. Commissioners said they'd rather decide restaurant applications on a case-by-case basis.
Last week's decision finally came down to what planners considered appropriate for that space--as they proposed to the Town Council--and commissioners said they don't think more restaurants are appropriate.
Sandy Decker said she doesn't like to displace retail space, to concentrate restaurants downtown, or to bring more traffic and parking problems that would come with a restaurant.
She liked the idea of another liquor license even less. "It's just more people in the streets of Los Gatos under the influence," Decker said.
Mike Abkin agreed that restaurants aren't the best type of business for downtown.
"If we allow it to go restaurant-to-restaurant, it'll be a tourist place," Abkin said. He suggested that the restaurateurs take their plan out to Los Gatos Boulevard, like Starbucks did.
The decision can be appealed to the Town Council.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, September 4, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved