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Campo di Bocce prevails in bid for additional seats
By Jeff Kearns
More than two years after the original application was filed, Campo di Bocce got a variance from the town last week that makes legal the seating arrangement it has had since just after it opened.
Although councilmembers had some harsh words for the management, they voted 4-1 to give Campo di Bocce a variance for increased seating and to lease two off-site parking lots for customers. The council did turn down a request to expand the restaurant's hours for liquor service.
The decision overturns a previous decision of the Planning Commission, which denied the application in March. Commissioners first heard the application in October and January, but put the issue on hold to let the owner submit information on traffic generation and leasing nearby parking lots.
Councilmembers praised the restaurant's contribution to the town as a unique, family-oriented business, but some had reservations about the way Campo di Bocce went about expanding its business.
Randy Attaway said his conscience told him to make an example out of the restaurant, but also said it was impossible to ignore how much the restaurant adds to the town.
"I feel as if as a councilmember I've been taken advantage of because I was here when the application came in, [and] it was clearly stated on the drawings that it was a snack bar," he said. "I think Los Gatos is getting a reputation that, as long as you get past the council, you can do whatever you want and then go back and ask for forgiveness.
"On the first day of its grand opening, it was clear that it was never intended to be a snack bar."
Owner Tom Albanese, who originally won permission to operate a snack bar and a bocce ball facility from the council in March 1996, said that there was no deceit involved.
"You folks approved a restaurant with indoor and outdoor use in November of 1997," he said. "It's no secret."
Albanese said that as soon as the restaurant opened, he realized that the original 70 seats wouldn't be enough.
"In addition to the tables and chairs, we also had benches that lined the courts, and we found people trying to eat dinner and pizzas just sitting on these benches. It didn't work too well, so I rush-ordered another shipment of tables." At the same time, Albanese said, he applied for the variance and contacted adjacent property owners to ask about leasing nearby parking, which he said is now costing him $10,000 per year.
Albanese added that he couldn't operate the business if it had less than 120 seats.
But Joe Pirzynski, the lone vote against granting the variance, disagreed with that.
Pirzynski said it would be contradictory to say that the original intent was to have 70 seats at the facility and then to say the business would have to close if it was limited to less than 120 seats.
"For us to make a decision that would eliminate the business does not make sense to me because I see so much community benefit. But how do we resolve these issues and maintain the rule of law?"
There was some tension at the meeting.
Albanese and architect Ken Rodrigues, said they applied for the variance two weeks after Campo di Bocce opened, in February 1997, and worked diligently with town staff for the next year or so on the project.
But planning director Lee Bowman, after retrieving Campo di Bocce's planning file, said that the variance application wasn't received until April 15, 1997, and that the planning department sent a letter to the business in December of that year threatening to drop the application because no progress had been made after the original application was filed.
Carla Heinz, CEO of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Club, and Kim Bidermann, chairwoman of Community Against Substance Abuse, both praised the bocce club for donating its food and facilities for fundraisers for their organizations.
Chris Benson, who went through his own battle with the town over an expanded seating permit for his restaurant, C.B. Hannegan's, also urged the council to approve Campo di Bocce's expansion.
Sheri Lewis, executive director of the Town Chamber of Commerce, pushed for approval, citing the club's contribution to the downtown business mix.
At past hearings, the application aroused the tempers of some neighbors, but this time around, even the opponents had relatively lukewarm comments.
Although they were still concerned about parking and noise, the club seems to have grown on neighbors.
"Our concern is that we not drive these folks out of business, but I still do have concerns about parking and traffic," said Peter Gillchrist, who blasted Campo di Bocce for excessive noise in letters to the town over the last few months.
The variance gives the restaurant permission to have as many as 120 seats, and the conditional-use permit allows those 120 seats as long as the parking lot leases remain in effect. If the leases--which each provide 15 additional parking spaces--are lost, then the owners must go back to the original 70 seats and appear before the Town Council.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
