"I think it's fine," one customer said of the fast-food chain's decor. "It's a nondescript building." He paused and pointed to the Honda dealership across the street.

"It's in a commercial area."

That's exactly the look the town of Los Gatos is trying to avoid. To residents, Los Gatos Boulevard may be the commercial district in town, with car dealerships and fast-food places lining the street, but over the past few years, the town has tried to put its own mark on the strip.

"Clearly, it's a Los Gatos vision of a major arterial street and what it isn't is a Stevens Creek and an El Camino," said Bud Lortz, Los Gatos community development director.

To this end, the town offers the Los Gatos Boulevard Plan, guidelines for building and beautifying the area. It calls for a small-town feel to the busy street and offers suggestions to achieve that design.

As the owners of the KFC/Taco Bell appear before the Los Gatos Planning Commission for approval of an exterior renovation March 10, the town's influence will be clear. The design of the fast-food franchise will not be typical, but will be a distinctive Los Gatos take on a franchise operation.

The renovation at KFC/Taco Bell is only part of a larger dialogue about how corporate enterprises fit in Los Gatos. Just weeks ago, the planning commission refused to allow a Cold Stone Creamery, a franchise ice cream shop, to set up downtown. The commission cited the growth of a mall-like atmosphere in the area as a reason for its decision.

As it is, the Los Gatos KFC/Taco Bell looks exactly like any other fast-food place in America. There are the ubiquitous neon signs and posters for 99-cent burritos adorning the windows, although the building is slightly more rustic than the newer Taco Bells. There are no mock bells, and it looks like an old house in need of a paint job, not a Spanish-style adobe.

But it's still a fast-food place.

It will not look this way after the renovation is completed. The building will be tasteful, with a stone base and a wooden bracket running around the exterior.

"It's very unique to Los Gatos," said Edwin Bruce, president of Edwin Bruce Associates and the chief architect behind the project. Bruce added that designing a corporate building to meet the architectural standards of a particular town or city is not an unusual demand. He has a similar project already in the pipeline in Morgan Hill.

Such involvement is certainly not new to Los Gatos. There are several cases spread over the town, such as the new Walgreens on N. Santa Cruz Avenue and the Forbes Mill Steakhouse, where stores and restaurants have modified their desired look for the town.

This process is often a series of compromises between the town and the store.

"Corporate businesses usually have some sort of corporate architecture and the town has its own historic charm and character," said Lortz. "Sometimes a corporate applicant needs to recognize our goals, and we need to understand aspects of their business that are important to them."

Builders generally feel these requirements don't pose too many constraints, except when it comes to the sign of the corporation or franchise.

"The design of the building would trump out any corporate image," said Bill Hirschman, president of Lexor Builders. Hirschman, who has been involved with several projects on Los Gatos Boulevard, said the one area where the Los Gatos vision and corporations can conflict is over the store or dealership's logo.

This might be the case with the KFC/Taco Bell. Its sign will not be the brightly colored bell or the colonel's face, but one in muted colors and smaller in size than normal.

Another recent example is the new Talbots store in the Old Town Shopping Center. The corporation's signature style is bright red doors with shiny gold handles, but when the company's Los Gatos store opened last week, its doors were a subdued burgundy.

The planning commission will hear the KFC/Taco Bell matter on March 10 at 7 p.m. in council chambers, 110 E. Main St.