Plastic bags can stay and so can bars masquerading as
restaurants. Earlier this month the City Council entertained the
idea of banning plastic bags from grocery stores, but on July 20
the elected body scuttled this eco-friendly effort and instead
decided to enforce an existing law requiring supermarkets to offer
plastic bag recycling.
By Chris Bone Staff Writer
Gilroy – Plastic bags can stay and so can bars masquerading as restaurants.
Earlier this month the City Council entertained the idea of banning plastic bags from grocery stores, but on July 20 the elected body scuttled this eco-friendly effort and instead decided to enforce an existing law requiring supermarkets to offer plastic bag recycling.
While this seems like a fine idea, many grocery stores don’t advertise their recycling abilities, and councilmen said that the public’s disconnect from curbside recycling rules and opportunities also threatens city streets with abandoned bags.
“I’m on the Gilroy City Council, and I didn’t know I could put plastic bags on the curb to recycle them,” said Dion Bracco, referring to residents’ ability to recycle their post-grocery balls of wrinkled plastic into long-lasting plastic two-by-fours.
“The city needs to make sure everybody in Gilroy knows that this is an option,” Bracco said. “One thing we can do is educate our citizens.”
Sending out notices in garbage or water bills and making sure grocery stores clearly offer recycling are two simple solutions, said Councilman Peter Arellano.
Another easy solution also has landed on the City Council’s lap after it decided to continue allowing restaurants to include bars for “secondary uses,” meaning wine can flow and music can play as long as people are eating.
But the raucous karaoke nights and dance parties at Chips N’ Salsa, the downtown restaurant on the corner of Sixth and Monterey streets, and other eateries-cum-taverns have drawn the ire of police and residents and called into question the sincerity of “restaurants” that serve primarily alcohol after 9 or 10pm.
The council’s fix may come in the form of a pending bankruptcy lawsuit against Chips N’ Salsa owner Jim Angelopoulos and Glen Gurries, the former tenant who said he sold his lease to Angelopoulos with city approval. The judge could close the downtown hang-out to pay back creditors, potentially leaving the Old City Hall as quiet as the City Council could make it.
Officials have said Chips N’ Salsa is not the only late-night party magnet. Restaurants such as Happy Dog Pizza, on Fifth Street, and Tenampa, near the intersection of First and Monterey streets, have also stretched the limits of their business licenses.
Despite the lawsuit, City Administrator Jay Baksa said that “it’s going to be wise for the council to carry on this conversation” because of residents concerns, and Mayor Al Pinheiro cautioned that clamping down on restaurants might stymie legitimate food-dance-and-drink establishments.
“We want to bring downtown to life,” Arellano said, “and it’s only going to be alive with restaurants and, unfortunately, liquor.”
Chris Bone covers City Hall for The Dispatch. Reach him at 847-7109 or e-mail him at cb***@************ch.com
