Nonno’s Italian Cafe is the sort of mountain hangout where on a chilly Friday night you’ll hear “I’m Just a Singer (In a Rock n’ Roll Band)” by the Moody Blues blaring as bundled-up patrons gather around a fire next to the bocce ball court.
Behind the outdoor bar is the owner, 70-year-old Ralph DiTullio, who wants to retire, but says he’s been struggling to get the permit sign-off he needs from the County.
“They’re very nice,” he says of his dealings with the Santa Clara County Planning Department. “But at the same time, they’re putting the knife in your back.”
DiTullio says his right to use the outdoor seating area has come into question by the Planning Department, which he thinks may be curtailing his property rights because its lost track of important paperwork.
Nonno’s Italian has been rallying the community to support its efforts to get the government to confirm Commercial Variance Permits necessary to sell the business as it is currently operating.
“Ralph DiTullio purchased the property at 21433 Broadway Rd. 27 years ago in 1995,” says the form postcard locals have been sending to Supervisor Joe Simitian. “Redwood Estates was a little Wild West back then, with groups of n’ere-do-wells hanging out causing trouble. Ralph and the neighbors worked hard for three years to clean up the area, and only then did he apply for a liquor license, delaying until he knew it wouldn’t exacerbate the situation.”
The message points to the central role the quaint pizzaria has played in the lives of people, not just from Redwood Estates, Chemeketa Park, Summit Woods, Aldercroft Heights and Lexington Hills, but also Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley and all over Silicon Valley.
“Ralph has gone down to the Planning Department multiple times showing proof that he does own the properties and has permits to operate on them, but nothing has been done,” the card proclaims. “We, as patrons and neighbors of Nonno’s Italian, wish to petition you to help with this situation. Nonno’s is such an important part of our community, and losing it would be a real tragedy.”
But County Planning maintains Nonno’s has expanded its business since the time it applied for a liquor license; it wants DiTullio to go through the process to get a Use Permit for the backyard.
The beginning
DiTullio first opened a restaurant as part of the redevelopment of downtown San Jose in 1981, which he now calls one of the worst mistakes of his life.
“I ran from that program down there,” he said. “I saw it was never going to get better for the little guys.”
He opened two pizza storefronts in Los Gatos in the 1980s and a third in Morgan Hill.
“And then this opportunity came,” he said. “It was actually going to be semi-retirement.”
He says the atmosphere he crafted was partly inspired by the one of the taverns described in JRR Tolkien’s “The Hobbit.”
“That romance is what hooked me,” he said. “Our whole goal was to create a community atmosphere, a gathering place for people to share their stories.”
He endeared himself to the community by helping crack down on underage bootlegging.
“They used to just hang out here,” he said. “They almost bankrupted the store across the street, because people stopped going there.”
The business focused on take-and-bake, and cooked on a BBQ outdoors on the weekends.
In 1998, DiTullio applied for a liquor license that would allow him to serve alcohol in the restaurant and sell beer and liquor to-go.
But he says he was initially denied, because the County couldn’t find the proper permits on file.
His landlord had to go down to the County with a decade-worth of tax returns and rental agreements to prove their position.
“The County then told her in a letter that we did qualify for a commercial variance,” he said. “So we got our license.”
But now that he’s decided to retire, the problem of poor document management at County Planning appears to be rearing its head again.
“There comes a time when you have to find out who you’ve been married to for 40 years,” he said of why he’s calling it quits finally. “When we go to sell it, we find out that we don’t have a Use Permit.”
Nonno’s was seeking a new liquor license, to make the property as attractive as possible to a buyer.
But this required a series of approvals from agencies, including County Planning.
“I almost had a heart attack,” DiTullio said, “because they had no record of me being at the County (getting the first liquor license) or doing anything.”
Thankfully, Simitian’s office brought up the issue with the County a few months ago, he says.
And while the Planning Department conceded he had a Commercial Variance for the building, they refused to pave the way for alcohol service in the backyard.
Community support
A petition on Care2.com to “Keep Nonno’s Italian in Redwood Estates open!” addressed to Supervisor Simitian had gathered more than 1,300 signers by Saturday.
DiTullio says without a liquor license for the backyard the property is less valuable. Since the property has been used for commercial purposes for decades he believes it should be allowed to be used that way in the future.
And without an outdoor liquor license, he says he might just have to sell to a developer, since it would severely restrict what a restaurant owner could do with the property.
When the Los Gatan caught up with Simitian during the Los Gatos Holidays Parade, he said he was aware of the situation and looking into it.
Then, on Dec. 16, when the Los Gatan dropped by and saw the outdoor service area in operation, DiTullio revealed he’d just heard back from Simitian’s office that evening.
The supervisor’s staffer had told him she was in the process of setting up a meeting with him, their office and County Planning.
“I was elated,” he said. “That’s exactly what I’ve been screaming for.”
DiTullio says he’s frustrated because he feels like he’s getting an inappropriate level of push-back from the County.
The only reason he’s been as successful in his efforts as he has is because he’s been able to track down official documents that the Planning Department hasn’t been able to find, he says.
For example, he dug up a 1998 letter the County sent to Amal Winter, who he used to rent the space from before he bought it.
“The property tax records, Federal Income Tax forms…as well as copies of leases, water bills, telephone records, and business property statement, you have submitted, demonstrate that at the time of purchase, your property was used as a hardware store. Subsequently, your property has been used as a food store, video rental and repair shop, yogurt store, take out pizza establishment, and professional office,” wrote Michael M. Lopez, a zoning administrator, for the county’s Environmental Resources Agency Planning Office. “I have determined…it has been in continuous operation as a business/commercial use until the present time. Therefore, based on the foregoing, I have determined that you have demonstrated subject property qualifies as a legal nonconforming use.”
Although, the letter does specify the “nonconforming use” can’t be expanded.
DiTullio argues that the commercial use extends to the backyard and points to satellite imagery he uncovered from the 1960s showing what appears to be some sort of commercial use occurring in the outdoor areas of the property.
In a Dec. 9 letter from Santa Clara County Planning & Development Director Jacqueline Onciano to DiTullio, the County asserted its right to demand a Use Permit.
The County found out about expanded service area when DiTullio applied for the liquor license, she said.
“Specifically, the expansion involves the addition of the outdoor restaurant seating area and related amenities,” she wrote. “While the expansion of area and installation of related amenities is not permitted and in violation of the County Code, there is a process available to permit this expanded area through a Use Permit.”
Onciano noted (in bold lettering) that the County has chosen not to crack down on DiTullio just yet, but pointed out it might chose to start enforcing what it sees as a violation if he doesn’t jump through the Use Permit hoop.
But DiTullio doesn’t want to do this for a couple reasons: For one, he’s afraid that parking—and other—requirements involved in securing a Use Permit would be impossible to implement in this rural fire-prone zone, thanks to the recent introduction of stricter codes.
And further, he has evidence—from the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, no less—that his liquor license actually does cover that backyard.
But County Planning does not appear to be budging.
“It is a very simple issue,” Onciano told the Los Gatan on Tuesday, while declining to comment further.
Nadine Coburn, 61, and her husband Brian Coburn, 59, who live along the Santa Cruz Mountains summit, chose to spend Friday evening dining at Nonno’s—their neighborhood haunt.
“I signed the petition because I think it’s bullshit,” Nadine said. “It’s our little gem in the mountains. We love it here.”
It’s not the first time she’s heard the stories of County Planning’s bureaucracy problems, she says.
But this case is particularly galling to her, because she knows DiTullio has been able to produce documents that the County has been unable to locate.
“They’re not organized,” she said. “And now they’re trying to make him suffer.”
Her husband jokes that it would be better for them if the County keeps stonewalling Nonno’s—so DiTullio is prevented from retiring and can keep cooking delicious eats for them.
“We have a perverse interest in him not being able to sell the place,” he said. “He’s been doing it for 30 years.”
Nadine says Nonno’s is one of those rare spots that has managed to create a true sense of community.
“We come here on Sunday night, too, and it’s always the same people,” she said. “It’s kind of like—old school.”
