By Linda Taaffe

Fitness Solutions has opened its doors in Loyola Corners.

Some neighbors were surprised when they discovered that the smell of perspiration had replaced what was supposed to be the aroma of freshly brewed coffee from a new cafe touted to attract foot traffic to one Los Altos shopping center.

Fitness Solutions opened last March at Loyola Corners, in the site previously targeted for Lazy Bean Cafe - a coffeehouse-deli that developers said would add a sense of community to the neighborhood by providing locals a hangout in a shopping area that has recently experienced a decline in retail stores. City planners called the cafe “a fresh idea, an enhancement and an anchor” to stimulate more activity.

Somewhere along the way, however, plans changed and neighbors got a fitness center instead - the fourth within walking distance of one another, including a martial arts studio. Fitness Solutions, Lady Circuit, Los Altos Training Studio and Hiruko Studio all share nearby addresses.

And now at least one resident is demanding that the city put restrictions in place, similar to the ones that banned new nail salons on Main Street, before the shopping area becomes “exercise row.”

The Los Altos mother and local merchant, said she wants to see more family-oriented shops and ones that will bring more tax revenue to the city.

She said she plans to organize a campaign to convince the city to put stricter zoning codes in place that will prevent more retail and restaurant space from being lost at Loyola Corners.

“We need businesses that provide a different environment, not the same business, one after the other,” she said. “This is not how you create a sense of community.”

City Planner James Walgren said a fitness studio is a permitted use at Loyola Corners, which is zoned Commercial Neighborhood. The city approved the zoning as part of the General Plan for the 17-acre shopping district to bring in “attractive shopping” and commercial businesses.

“The CN zoning allows a more flexible mix of commercial activities than the downtown Commercial Retail Sales zoning does,” Walgren said. “The purpose of the Commercial Neighborhood zoning versus the downtown retail zoning is to provide a range of local resident-serving businesses.”

Developer and Loyola Corners neighbor Gary Ross, who owns the Fitness Solutions property, agreed that Loyola Corners has turned into a children- and health-oriented area with the opening of new businesses there; but he doesn’t consider that a negative thing.

Given the current economic times, those businesses have been good for that area, he said. Loyola Corners has struggled, like downtown, to gain foot traffic in recent years.

Ross, a board member of the Los Altos Chamber of Commerce, has worked to improve commercial activity throughout town. He’s the first to admit disappointment over the loss of the proposed Lazy Bean Cafe.

“We all need to be working toward a common goal for the shopping district to be a success,” he said. “It was just the economic times. We saw Clarke’s go under and got very concerned about competing with Tom’s Depot. It just didn’t make sense to open. We would have ended up creating more harm to that corner. There’s not enough (customer dollars) to go around.”

Ross said Fitness Solutions was already in that area. The business merely moved from the clock tower to the new site. Lady Circuit moved from a different site into the clock tower site. They were already there, just on different parts of the street, he said.

Ross said he believes that more city control over Loyola Corners could hinder the center’s commercial success.

“Let’s just say something like Togo’s had to be put in that site and it put Tom’s, which serves breakfast and lunch, out of business. What’s the benefit of bringing in a new business only to put an existing one out of business?” Ross said. “I think you have to talk to the tenants and find out what’s good for them.”

Ross said he hasn’t ditched plans for the Lazy Bean Cafe. He could open the cafe in a different location at the center when the economy strengthens.

In the meantime, he hopes

that the business mix at the

center will enable Tom’s to

expand its hours, and the district to thrive.