The Willow Glen Resident

Council Watch

Restaurant can use parking lot evenings, weekends

Aqui owner will experiment and share space with other businesses

By Cecily Barnes

At their July 8 meeting, the Planning Commission approved a conditional use permit which will allow Aqui Cal-Mex Grille customers use of the parking lot behind MBA Architects on Lincoln Avenue after 5 p.m. on weekdays, and all day Saturday and Sunday. And so long as it doesn't get out of hand, the parking can be used by all Willow Glen shoppers, said Aqui owner Dave O'Mara.

"If all business owners are making their best efforts to make space," O'Mara said, "we'll treat this as part of the general parking for downtown Willow Glen."

O'Mara issued a request for additional parking after the city of San Jose notified him that Aqui was not meeting its parking requirements. Restaurants are required to provide parking spaces in ratio with how many people they can seat. Before securing the additional lot, Aqui had 195 seats and only enough parking for 185. Now they have enough parking for significantly more than 195 seats.

"To remedy the additional 10 seats we had to secure four parking spaces," O'Mara said. "I figured, since I'm going to be responsible for that lot I might as well have complete control over it."

Now instead of four additional spots, O'Mara has 14.

"If [sharing the lot] interferes with our good will policy we will move to protect our rights to that parking," O'Mara said.

Parking has long been an issue in Willow Glen, becoming of increased concern when the electrical appliance building transformed into eight retail uses.

"So far that lot has worked fine, but we'll see what happens when Mio Vicino opens, a restaurant is a lot different," said Demetri Rizos, manager of the Willow Glen Business and Professional Association. "And we'll see what happens when Blockbuster opens."

Because of the potential for parking to become even worse, Rizos commended O'Mara's take-charge attitude toward correcting his small parking insufficiency.

"We were happy to see them provide a solution right away," Rizos said. "He obviously went forward with an equitable solution. I thought that was really good of him."

[ Back to Contents Page | Willow Glen Resident Home Page | Archives ]