BASTROP, Texas — I never thought I'd see the day when this small town 30 miles east of Austin would have a squabble over valet parking.
Bastrop used to have a beer joint/catfish restaurant in town called Ray's Place known for the live bait tank in the dining room. So valet parking over here would be kinda like Callahan's General Store having a doorman.
But times have changed, and so has beautiful downtown Bastrop. And now a fancy high-dollar steakhouse named Hasler Brothers is catching grief from some of the locals for providing valet parking for its customers.
Some people have complained that the valet stand in front of the restaurant illegally took up parking spaces on Chestnut Street. The matter was discussed at a recent City Council meeting.
Cindy Herman, who owns Hasler Brothers with her husband, Mike, admits that the valet parking didn't exactly capture the public's imagination over here. The decor of the restaurant seems to match up well with valet parking. The bar area has a baby grand piano and hardwood floors. The place sells a $38 porterhouse, and the menu is so chichi that the prices don't have dollar signs printed next to them. No bait tank in this place, friends and neighbors.
Still, in 60 days of running valet parking this summer, only six people used it.
"And one of those was the mayor," Cindy Herman said. "They didn't want to have their cars valeted. I don't know what the reason was. Maybe they didn't want to spend the $6 to valet park their car."
Maybe the good old boys who live over here figure they can park their own darned trucks. Maybe they thought they were being offered "ballet" parking, and they didn't want to go to that.
The valet stand on Chestnut Street caused quite a stir. After some people fussed about it, the city decided to look into whether valet parking should be allowed downtown at all.
Chestnut Street is an extension of a state highway. And Mike Talbot, the city manager, says he got a ruling from the Texas Department of Transportation that you can't dedicate a parking spot for any business on a state road. And that would make the valet stand illegal.
"We are now evaluating the concept to determine ... if valet parking is needed, and would enhance our downtown environment," Talbot said.
Talbot said that as far as he knows, this was the first time Bastrop ever had valet parking.
Linda Hudson, owner of the Lost Pines Quilt Shop, next door to Hasler Brothers, wants the valet parking gone. She says she sent complaints about it to the city attorney, the City Council, the mayor and the city manager.
"This is a historic area; they should probably try to leave it that way," she said. She says the valet stand was taking up spaces that could be used by her customers.
"They were telling people they have to pay $6 to park on a city parking space," she said.
Cindy Herman says the valet service was telling people no such thing. And besides, she added, there were very few hours when the valet parking service and the quilt shop were open for business at the same time.
"I guess she's not selling enough quilts because I can't imagine it's a parking issue," she said.
I can't wait to see the feud that erupts when Bastrop gets a concierge.
John Kelso writes for the Austin American-Statesman. E-mail: jkelso(at)statesman.com.