Santa Rosa bistro can open once trash deal signed

<p>A Santa Rosa restaurant can open as soon as it agrees to pay its share for a new garbage enclosure in a downtown parking garage, the City Council said Tuesday.</p><p>"Once he signs an agreement to pay his pro-rated share, he can open," Transit and Parking Director Bob Dunlavey said following the council's unanimous decision.</p><p>Plans by the owner of Rendezvous Bistro, Nino Rabbaa, to open his new Fourth Street restaurant have been stalled for weeks due to a dispute with the city over the use of a garbage bin inside the Third Street garage.</p><p>Previous restaurants in the space recently renovated by Rabbaa have used the bin to dispose of their refuse for decades. And three neighboring restaurants -- Mac's, Flavor and Upper Fourth -- also have garbage bins in the same area of the garage.</p><p>But city officials say some of the 13,000 motorists who use the public garage each month have complained of flies and the stench the garbage generates and have pushed to find a solution to the problem.</p><p>To end the stalemate, the council directed that a solid enclosure be built in the garage. The enclosure would provide room for garbage bins for all four restaurants and would be ventilated to eliminate odors.</p><p>The agreement requires Rabbaa to pay for 25 percent of the construction cost, which has yet to be determined.</p><p>Council members previously said the three other businesses will have to pay their fair share as well, if they want to continue storing garbage in the garage.</p><p>The council, however, put the requirement on hold pending more detailed discussions with the businesses.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Mike McCoy at 521-5276 or mike.mccoy@pressdemocrat.com.</p>