Not cool.

Most likely, not having a restroom at transit station is a violation of the Calif State Building Code

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The train depot building was built in the wrong location. The City needs confess to the error, pick up the building, and move it to where passengers pass through to get to the trains, similar to the train depot in San Francisco. The interior needs to house vendors who cater to train passengers with a news stand, coffee bar, sandwich bar, restrooms, and a warm, dry place to wait for the train. Our "transit hub" has coffee served from a mobile stand run by a generator....now that's just poor planning.

Another example of stellar planning. Seems to me that paying $2500 a month for this kind of high traffic retail space is practically a gift to the Wine Bar people. Plus they get a $225,000 interior improvement.
I think their restroom should be open to all, irrespective of the wine area. After all probably 40% of Mountain View is not 21.
Is there a restroom for the bus drivers etc?
Was this a "sweetheart deal" - why wasn't it bid out for tacqueria or something which would benefit everyone>

@ James: This space has sat vacant for seven years for want of a tenant. Any taqueria or coffee shop or news vendor could have rented the space for their operation. However, none of those places would likely have allowed their single restroom to be used by anyone other than their patrons, like virtually every other commercial establishment out there. Tenancy is determined by the free market -- who is willing to rent the space in a given location for a given rate -- not by city council fiat. Furthermore, the $225K was not a "gift" to the tenant, but the cost of bringing the space up to code so that it could be rented out -- a responsibility of the landlord, in this case, the city.

@Kelly, with 1100 square feet available, the building is a poor candidate for your vision. Perhaps the city should consider the construction of a shelter for the purposes you suggest, of an appropriate size and layout.

There isn't a restroom there now. How does this change anything? It will be nice to see this space used for something, finally.

Perhaps they can put a public restoom into the proposed Prometheus development at Minton's. If so, then MiRNA could be persuaded to support that development.

Why do Mountain View residents whine so much? There isn't a restroom today, a new business is going in a long time vacant spot which will (a) add to downtown (b) generate revenue for the city. Quit complaining like a bunch of hippees.

To correct a point made in an above post by GregB, the train depot was not empty because no one was interested in renting the space, it was because it took the City Council six years to figure out the best use for it before selecting the best tenant from a pool of applicants. The free market didn't pick the tenant, the council did.

Council is not going to be happy about this since the whole point of the nice lease terms was to have them provide the restroom to the public.

How well do the public restrooms in those prefab buildings in Palo Alto work? Are they hard to maintain? Never used them but I think they're worth considering.

LOL

What Caltrain station depot has a public restroom ?. What Lightrail Station has a public restroom ? What bus stop has a public restroom ?
Status quo remains constant.

Where is the code enforcement truck when you need it? How do you contact the city attorney? You can write the city manager and ask to use the restroom.

This is another example of poor understanding of what makes a city a pleasant place to live and visit, and basic human needs.
A better alternative would be to have a public restroom, and not one just for the wine bar.
This would meet the needs of the Wine Bar customers, the Light Rail and Cal Trans passengers, visitors to Castro Street and the Farmers Market, all of which make Mountain View a great place to both live and visit.

Why is it that the simplest, most obvious things seem absolutely impossible for us to resolve here in the US? Go to Germany, France, Japan, China... any country with a viable train system... and each station will have a snack bar and a restroom either in the station or next to it. It's simple courtesy to treat rail passengers as though they actually had bodies that needed sustenance and relief. People complain that rail travel is uneconomical and uncomfortable in the US, but that's a self-fulfilling prophesy when this sort of brain-damaged management is put into play. Other countries simply have the entire rail system and its stations under the authority of a single entity whose concern is rail travel and passengers. The result is a system that works, rather than the NIMBY-obsessed fiefdoms we maintain in the name of the illusory "free market". In our quest for freedom, we have given up our most basic freedoms.

@seer:
Good point about European countries. They do all have restrooms in train stations. OTOH, none of them have restrooms in those "rest areas" next to the freeways, with the result that they all smell like sewers. Just like our train stations do.

@city council:
If there is only room for one restroom, make it open to the public. Duh.

So far, Kelly is the only person to have hit the nail on the head. And speaking of heads, I can't tell you the number of times that I have been down by the train station and needed to take a leak. For god sakes MV, find a way to get a restroom at a location where thousands of people pass through each day.

To Kelly, James, Jerry, and Anne in particular and others in general,

Could you kindly do me a favor and run for City Council?

Your insight and logic would be a huge asset.

Scene setting: Mountain View Voice offices, immediately prior to a pressing deadline.

Editor: "Ok, team we need to make a decision on what stories to run. How about the technology NASA is developing to support unmanned space exploration?"

Reporter: "Space technology is complicated - it might confuse people."

Editor: "What about Google? They are the city's largest employer, arguably the Internet's most important company and they have unveiled a host of new products recently."

Reporter: "Their market share is slipping. Now they only have 65% or so of the search market - that hardly seems relevant anymore."

Editor: "Good point. Well there's the Minton's redevelopment story. It has everything: the closing of a long-standing Mountain View business (that locals didn't support enough to stay in business), a big money-grubbing developer, a local neighborhood association that is up in arms rallying against it and seemingly storming city hall to demand concessions."

Reporter: "Seems controversial."

Editor: "Ok, then what do you suggest?"

Reporter: "How about a story about a commercial enterprise creating a new business in Mtn View that will have only one bathroom for patrons."

Editor: "Genius. Let's print that one. Great work today. You wanna go for a drink?"

Reporter: "Sure do you know of any good wine bars around here?"

this makes all the sense in the world. serving light food and beverages WITH NO RESTROOM???? perhaps patrons (if any) can hop across castro street in a pinch and use one of the other restaurant restrooms? the folks trying to get this thing off the ground will get whats coming to them when potential patrons find out theres no place to relieve all of that wine......NO RETURN CUSTOMERS... helllo???

[b]Mickey Mouse is a member (registered user) of Mountain View Voice[/b]

Kelly makes a lot of sense.

Those councillors sure are good at wasting our money...

Daniel not good form to call out a person (GregB) on this thread who attempted to add some additional facts and balance to your story. The "market" is actually just the accumulation of all individuals or institutions coming to leasehold terms on a commercial property. In this instance, the landlord solicited many bids on multiple occasions over the course of several years. Your own paper's archives note this. At least twice they selected another party and those deals fell through. In this instance they were able to negotiate a deal with a business who was willing to invest (in a very difficult market) in opening a new business in a building that has sat vacant for 7+ years. (And yes, just as any commercial landlord would have to do, they needed to invest $'s to bring the building up to what is known as "vanilla shell" in order to make it rentable). This is indeed a single transaction that is now part of "the market."

The alternative in this instance was not a restaurant, coffee shop, tacqueria, news stand or bank of public restrooms. The alternative was the status quo - empty building, no public facilities, no tax revenue and the city paying to maintain an otherwise empty facility. Why the negative tone when we get a new business that complements others downtown, new jobs and tax revenue? In exchange, I'll continue to not expect to go to the bathroom at Centennial Plaza (just as I have for the past 7+ years) unless I'm enjoying a glass of wine.

The station, though scenic, was an expenditure of funds by the Downtown Redevelopment District that does not seem well planned. The poor though on some of these 'special district' projects is why I oppose the long durations of these districts. The Downtown district is close to being closed by a state sunset provision. Perhaps that will cause more sense to prevail (wether market or council sense).

(Sung to the melody of Oh Christmas Tree)

Oh Voice Paper! Oh Voice Paper!
How catchy are your headlines;
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How catchy are your headlines;
Not only keen when covering beer,
But also when w(h)ine for cheer.
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Oh Voice Paper! Oh Voice Paper!
Much insight thou has't given me;
Oh Voice Paper! Oh Voice Paper!
Much insight thou has't given me;
How often has your delightful rag,
Afforded me stories about pee pee.
Oh Voice Paper! Oh Voice Paper!
Much insight thou has't given me.

Oh Voice Paper! Oh Voice Paper!
Thy reporters report so smartly!
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Thy reporters report so smartly!
The facts they seem to overlook,
With splendor in their gobbledygook.
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Thy reporters report so smartly!

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How richly you inform thee!
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Thou bidst us truth and understanding,
And trust in wisdom unfailingly.
Oh Voice Paper! Oh Voice Paper!
How richly you inform thee!