By Linda Taaffe

Lunch at Bandera restaurant could come with a $1 million tab. The downtown rotisserie-style, dinner-only restaurant may be forced to pay that amount to use parking spaces in the surrounding plaza if the owners decide to expand for lunch time business, according to conditions put forward by the Los Altos City Council last week.The council unanimously agreed that the restaurant should pay the city the full cost of creating new parking elsewhere for every additional space it uses in the plaza for its lunch time draw.

Under the council’s recommendation, Bandera would pay approximately $30,000 a space for 35 additional parking stalls over as long as a 30-year period. The city could sell bonds to build parking immediately. This would give the city enough money to replace the used parking spaces elsewhere and guarantee the property inclusion into the downtown assessment district and shared use of the parking plazas.

Restaurant manager James Arnold called the council conditions prohibitively expensive. He said the restaurant would more than likely not open for lunch under those conditions.

“We’re certainly not going to come up with $1 million. If you break it down, they want $1 million for what - access for parking? We don’t hold title to the land and the parking is shared, not private. The city has the option to take parking away (during special events),” he said. “We’re disappointed and confused.”

Arnold said the restaurant was essentially hoping to rent spaces from the city by paying as it does for dinner use of the lot. Those fees come out to about $7,000 annually.

Economic Coordinator Abby Veeser said the city needs cash to build more parking. The request for Bandera to foot the bill is not unreasonable. Every other business has had to pay for parking one way or another, she said.

Bandera opened at the Third Street site along San Antonio Road nine years ago under the condition that it would serve dinner only, due to a deficiency of on-site parking spaces and the peak demand for space in the surrounding plaza during the day.

As part of the restaurant’s approval, Bandera agreed to pay in lieu fees to use the 39 additional spaces staff estimated it would require to operate during dinner. The property includes 17 on-site spaces.

Arnold said the restaurant approached the council about expanding its hours after customers bombarded him with the idea. Arnold estimated that the restaurant would bring in between $15,000 to $20,000 a week in additional lunch sales. He estimated that the restaurant would attract about 150 people more a day. Based on his calculations, the restaurant would need to accommodate about 31 cars at a time during lunch.

Downtown merchants, including the Los Altos Village Association and the Chamber of Commerce, pushed the council to allow Bandera to expand its hours, saying the restaurant would bring energy, foot traffic and added sales revenues downtown.

“Bandera can help us elevate the village,” said Ted Garrett, director of the Los Altos Village Association. “It’s struggling.”

Veeser said the city was scheduled to meet again with Bandera. Arnold said he was unaware of any upcoming meetings.