's owners had some explaining to do, literally, Monday evening when the Los Gatos Town Council wanted to know just how much space at 101 W. Main St. will be used for retail and restaurant purposes.
Due to the lack of clarity, the Council unanimously voted to "continue" the matter until Sept. 19, allowing its owners, Lisa Rhorer and Pasquale Romano, to return with more detailed information about their plans for their new pizzeria that will be located next to
Property owner Sue Farwell wants the Council to give her a so-called conditional-use permit for the property located at 91, 101, and 109 W. Main St., in downtown Los Gatos.
Pizza Simpatico would have indoor and outdoor seating, serve beer and wine and have modified hours of operation in a space currently occupied by, a delicatessen, wine bar and retail shop.
Rhorer and Don Durante own Cin-Cin wine bar on Village Lane.
“There's a lot of language and structure that needs to be worked out before moving in that direction [giving Pizza Simpatico its CUP],” said Los Gatos Council member Diane McNutt.
The Council has been hesitant to convert what was previously retail space into restaurant space, with a few exceptions such as
The retail space was small while occupied by , with office space and storage taking more than half of the lot behind the retail space.
The current plan has that space made up of seats and what is labeled a “chef's circle,” which includes a circular table with work space for employees in the middle. Inside the chef's circle would be a pizza oven and a grill, according to restaurant owners.
The dimensions of Los Gatos Gourmet, including the deli counter, would remain unchanged, as well as many of the foods that were served there, they said.
Many town residents, among them chiropractor Darla Booth, agree that Pizza Simpatico's proposed offering of wine and small plates will be a welcomed addition.
The Council also said it didn't think the restaurant's "community benefit," or agreement the owners would commit to provide to the town in exchange for support, was enough.
In this case, the benefit would be discounts to Los Gatos High School students.
In other news, the Council gave final approval to its ban on medical marijuana dispensaries and an ordinance rezoning property located at 90-160 Albright Way and 14600 Winchester Blvd., where the Los Gatos Business Park is located.
The new land's designation will allow developer John R. Shenk to proceed with plans to tear down the existing buildings located on the 21-acre property in stages to eventually build one five-story building about 85 feet tall for a four-story building, a three-story garage, "Class A" offices and 168 senior housing units.
A small number of residents asked for the project to be removed from the Council's consent agenda to reconsider an Aug. 1 vote by the body approving its rezoning. A consent agenda is a bundle of items voted on, without discussion, as a package.
One of the issues brought up again by the residents was lack of story poles, or a wooden structure erected to show the public the height of future buildings.
Attorney John Shepardson, as jokingly advised by Council member Steve Leonardis on Aug. 1, bought a $10 balloon from Affordable Treasures and raised it up 85 feet to see how high the proposed buildings would be. “The balloon well exceeded the trees. We are going in blind how these buildings are going to look,” Shepardson said.
In the end, the vote remained the same as it did 15 days ago: 3-2 with Council members Leonardis and Barbara Spector opposing and Los Gatos Mayor Joe Pirzynski, Vice Mayor Steve Rice and McNutt in favor.
Correction: This story has been revised. An earlier version stated incorrectly one of the owners of Cin Cin wine bar. The owners are Lisa Rhorer and Don Durante. Everybody makes mistakes ... even us! If there's something in this article that you think should be corrected, or if something else is amiss, give Local Editor Sheila Sanchez a ring at 408-391-8725 or shoot her an e-mail at sheila.sanchez@patch.com.
