Business partners Simona Todoran and Carol Hennessy approached planning with a request to serve alcohol at their six patio seats already approved for the previous tenant, Lisa's Tea Treasures. The commission did not just deny the request, though, it also took away the patio tables previously allowed under the conditional-use permit for the building.

But the council reversed that decision last week, plus two. Not only will Transilvania get its six outdoor seats, but the council threw in two more for good measure.

The planning commission's decision was not all together unreasonable. The commission is trying to limit the number of locations where alcohol is served in town, and that's certainly in the best interest of Los Gatos. The community does not want the reputation of party central, and it's the planning commission's job to keep the number of establishments serving alcohol in check.

But the council's decision to allow only beer and wine to be served to patrons in the eight outdoor seats at Transilvania—and then only to those customers ordering meals—was a wise one, given the nature of the current retail economy.

With the threat to the local business community coming from areas like Santana Row in San Jose, now is not the time to quibble over a few patio seats.

Santana Row is effectively courting such businesses with a complex that encourages streetside seating for its restaurants, offering a very European feel to the complex. Lisa's Tea Treasures, in fact, is making such a move to Santana Row, though not necessarily because of any bad blood with the town.

In a story in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times in July, Lisa's manager Sheri Nelson explained that the reason for the Tea Treasures move was because business had slowed down in town.

"We need to go where the business is," she said, and for Lisa's Tea Treasures that meant Santana Row. Her only concern with Los Gatos was that she felt that officials did not adequately address the parking issue in town.

Los Gatos is working through its troubles with parking and street construction, and the town does not need to throw any additional hurdles at merchants. The fact that other retail areas are encouraging special accommodations like patio seating for restaurants and offering other amenities and rent breaks makes it an issue that town leaders must consider and take seriously.

The Los Gatos Town Council has made a good decision in allowing Transilvania its eight outdoor seats. The Romanian restaurant should be an interesting addition to the downtown, and should indeed give Los Gatos the European feel that Santana Row has so successfully implemented.