Garbage stink in SR

The owners of a new French bistro hoping to bring some joie de vivre to downtown Santa Rosa are crying foul over the way City Hall wants them to handle their garbage.

After investing nearly a half-million dollars renovating a space on Old Courthouse Square, city officials have told Nino Rabbaa and his partners they cannot open Rendezvous Bistro because the city doesn't want garbage from the eatery stinking up a city parking garage.

The decision and resulting delays have outraged Rabbaa, who feels he is being unfairly targeted.

"Why is the parking garage manager saying, 'Nino is the only one whose garbage can't go there?' It's not fair!" exclaimed Rabbaa from his half-finished restaurant recently.

Rabbaa, a native of Paris who moved here in 2005, and partner Franco Fabiani, former owner of the popular Ristorante Fabiani on Montgomery Drive, had hoped to open their Mediterranean-style restaurant in September.

But their building permit has been on hold ever since city parking officials denied the bistro the right to use the garbage disposal area in the northeast corner of the city's Third Street garage.

The city eventually hopes to get all garbage out of the garage, which has long been used by several downtown restaurants to store their waste. It has suggested Rabbaa store his garbage inside the bistro and roll it out to the sidewalk at night like other businesses.

"We have concerns about doing anything that is going to expand garbage use in the garage," said Cheryl Woodward, deputy director of transit and parking.

Garage used for 25 years

Three other downtown establishments -- Flavor, Upper Fourth and Mac's -- have used the garbage enclosure in the garage for years. The location houses containers for wet garbage, glass and cardboard recycling, as well as used fryer oil.

Rabbaa said he assumed he would be able to use the garbage area because previous restaurants in his building had done so for years. Rendezvous is located at the corner of Fourth Street and Mendocino Avenue in a space that once housed Wolf Coffee and Café Japan.

Those restaurants and their predecessors have used the garbage area in the garage continuously for 25 years, said Bill Klippert, the owner of the building.

"These three buildings have had use of that space for a very long time and rather than try to make it work they focus on us and say 'You can't use it anymore,' " Klippert said.

The city probably began allowing the practice to keep garbage off the sidewalks downtown, Woodward said. But that does not mean businesses are permanently entitled to use the public garage to store garbage, she said.

"The reality is, there are no agreements in place and never have been," she said.

Parking spaces in the city are at a premium, especially in the Third Street garage, which is used by 13,000 vehicles a month, she said.

Efforts to clean up

The city has been trying to clean up the garbage area for more than a year following complaints about odors and flies, particularly on hot summer days, Woodward said.

Existing restaurants have agreed to clean up their acts. They are double-bagging their garbage and cleaning up spills in the area, Woodward said.

These efforts have helped, but allowing another business to add garbage to the already maxed-out area would be a step backward, she said. The city is willing to allow existing businesses to continue using the area, but has decided not to grant the right to new tenants, Woodward said.

But Rabbaa can't understand the decision to exclude him, calling it "dictatorial." He feels whenever he comes up with a solution to one problem, city officials give him another hurdle to clear.

He says he doesn't have enough room in his kitchen to store his garbage, and doesn't think it belongs on the sidewalk in front of his restaurant.

His complaints have resonated with some who feel the city isn't doing enough to be business-friendly.

"We talk about economic development and stimulating the local economy, and then we don't seem to do a good job of walking the talk," City Councilman Lee Pierce said.

Pierce has placed the issue on the Oct. 14 City Council agenda. He hopes to use the meeting as an opportunity to resolve the problem and convince city staff of the need to work swiftly to help local businesses thrive.

"I have heard from more than one business that there still is not a customer-friendly attitude at City Hall," Pierce said.

City planning officials feel they have tried hard to accommodate the bistro.

After beginning renovations without a building permit, the bistro's owners were allowed to continue some work while they addressed their garbage issues, said Chuck Regalia, director of the Department of Community Development. The department is currently requiring the bistro to make space inside the restaurant for garbage storage, he said.

"From our perspective we gave a lot of accommodation to let a downtown business go forward," Regalia said.

Possible solutions

Pierce thinks it's short-sighted for the city to refuse to expand the garbage area to preserve a minor amount of parking revenue. The tax revenue such a restaurant could generate would far exceed the amount lost if a parking space were lost, he said.

Rabbaa is thankful for Pierce's efforts, and has plastered the councilman's campaign signs on his bistro's windows. Records also show he donated $500 to Pierce's campaign Sept. 26.

Pierce said the city should temporarily expand the garbage area into a neighboring parking space while a longer-term solution to the problem is found.

One possible solution involves combining two garbage areas into one near the garage exit by removing one of the bathrooms, Woodward said.

A second, smaller garbage area is used by 50 Old Courthouse Square, which also has requested to expand its garbage area, Woodward said. That request was denied in April, she said.

Combining garbage areas could also accommodate a demand by waste hauler North Bay Corp. to locate the containers closer to Third Street, she said.

Councilwoman Jane Bender said it is important to put the dispute in its broader context and urged Rabbaa to be patient with his adopted city.

"Everyone wants to personalize this, but it's not a personal issue. This is an issue of growing pains in our city," Bender said. "He's frustrated and I understand his frustration, but he's got a whole lot of people working on it right now."

You can reach Staff Writer Kevin McCallum at 521-5207 or kevin.

mccallum@pressdemocrat.com.