To: PUBLIC AMENITIES COMMISSION
From: Marc Wiener, Community Development Director
TITLE
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STAFF PRESENTATION AND OVERVIEW OF THE CITY’S HISTORIC PRESERVATION PROGRAM
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City of Redondo Beach has established a Historic Preservation Program to identify, celebrate, and protect properties of historic significance within the community while simultaneously safeguarding individual property rights. The Historic Preservation Program is composed of 1) the Historic Preservation Ordinance, which is codified in the Redondo Beach Municipal Code (RBMC); 2) the Historic Context Statement, which provides background information on the City’s history and early development and provides context for making determinations on the historicity of a property; 3) the Historic Preservation Plan, which provides additional information and guidance on the City’s historic preservation standards.
The program is crafted to encourage property owners to participate in the recognition and preservation of historic resources. Key features of the program include allowing only property owners to nominate their own properties for historic landmark status, Mills Act contracts which reduce property taxes in exchange for maintenance and restoration work on historic resources, and requiring a Certificate of Appropriateness for alterations or demolition of designated landmarks or potential historic resources. The purpose of this report is to provide the Public Amenities Commission (PAC) with an overview of the City’s Historic Preservation Program.
BACKGROUND
The primary purpose of the City’s Historic Preservation Program is to foster public appreciation of Redondo Beach’s historical and architectural heritage. The Municipal Code specifies some of the following reasons for the program (RBMC 10-4.102):
• To safeguard the City's heritage by encouraging the protection of landmarks representing significant elements of its history.
• To foster civic and neighborhood pride and a sense of identity based on an appreciation of the City's past and the recognition and use of historic resources.
• To enhance the visual character of the City by preserving diverse architectural styles reflecting phases of the City's history and by encouraging complementary contemporary design and construction.
• To conserve valuable material and energy resources by ongoing use and maintenance of the existing built environment.
• To take whatever steps are reasonable and necessary to safeguard the property rights of owners whose property is declared to be a landmark or is located in an historic district.
Nomination Process
Nominations of a historic resource as a landmark can be made only by the property owner (RBMC 10-4.301). In order to be eligible for consideration as a landmark, an historic resource must be at least 50 years old; with the exception that an historic resource of at least 30 years of age may be eligible if the PAC determines that the resource is exceptional or at risk of demolition or inappropriate alteration.
In addition to landmarking individual properties, the City’s Ordinance includes a process for creation of a historic district, which may arise from a property owner or group of property owners in a potential historic district, or by the City based on information of a historic survey. Only those properties for which the property owners submit a nomination to be included in a proposed or existing district will be considered to be within the district. The district boundary will not include any property without the written consent of the property owner of said property. The Redondo Beach Municipal Code also includes procedures for removal of a historically designated properties.
Historic Landmark vs. Potentially Historic
RBMC 10-4.104 defines a “Landmark” property as one that is designated by the City, at the request of the owner, and is deemed to have “historical, cultural, aesthetic or architectural character or value, or which represents one or more architectural periods or styles typical to the history of the City.” There are currently 154 properties on the City’s Historic Register, of which three are on the State Register and five are on the National Register.
RBMC 10-4.104 defines “Potential Historic Resources” as properties that have not been designated at the request of the owner, but are “listed in the City's Historic Resources Inventory with a National Register rating of 1-5 or a local survey rating of A or B; and/or (2) listed in the National Register of Historic Places or California Register; and/or (3) that has been evaluated pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act and determined by the Community Development Director to meet the criteria listed in (1) and/or (2) above.”
The Historic Resources Inventory was prepared from a survey that occurred between 1986-1996 and includes 1,024 properties, of which 173 are rated either A or B and are considered potential historic resources. The City’s ability to impose historic requirements on these properties is somewhat limited, based on the fact that the survey must be updated every five years (California Public Resources Code 5024.1) in order to support a presumption of historicity. Staff will be presenting to the City Council later this year on options for updating the survey.
Certificate of Appropriateness (COA)
A COA is required from the PAC prior to making alternations or demolition of structures that are either Landmark properties, in a Historic District, or deemed Potentially Historic (rating “A” or “B”). Minor alternations may be approved by a subcommittee of the PAC. The following criteria is applied when issuing a COA for Landmark property:
(1) Conforms to the prescriptive standards adopted by the Commission; and
(2) Will not detrimentally alter, destroy or adversely affect any exterior improvement or exterior architectural feature; and
(3) Will retain the essential elements that make the resource significant.
The City’s Historic Preservation Plan (Attachment 2) makes reference to the “Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation” as the guidelines for making alternations to a historic property. They are issued by the National Park Service (NPS) and are especially important in projects seeking federal historic preservation tax credits. “Rehabilitation” means the process of repairing or altering a historic building while preserving its historic character. It allows for updates to meet contemporary needs, such as new uses or modern systems, without damaging important historic features. The 10 Standards for Rehabilitation are as follows:
1. A property shall be used as it was historically or be given a new use that requires minimal change to its distinctive materials, features, spaces, and spatial relationships.
2. The historic character of a property shall be retained and preserved. Avoid removing or altering materials and features that define the building's character.
3. Each property shall be recognized as a physical record of its time, place, and use. Avoid creating a false sense of history by adding features from other periods.
4. Changes that have acquired historic significance in their own right shall be retained and preserved.
5. Distinctive materials, features, finishes, and construction techniques or examples of craftsmanship that characterize a property shall be preserved.
6. Deteriorated historic features shall be repaired rather than replaced. Where replacement is necessary, match the old in design, color, texture, and materials.
7. Chemical or physical treatments, such as sandblasting, that cause damage to historic materials shall not be used.
8. Archaeological resources affected by a project shall be protected and preserved. If disturbance is unavoidable, mitigation measures should be undertaken.
9. New additions, exterior alterations, or related new construction shall not destroy historic materials. The new work should be differentiated yet compatible with the old.
10. New additions and adjacent new construction shall be undertaken in a manner that, if removed in the future, the essential form and integrity of the historic property would remain intact.
Most jurisdictions, including Redondo Beach, refer to these standards when evaluating modifications to historic properties. The application of these standards is subjective and varies depending on the local practices for the jurisdiction. For example, some cities may allow significant modifications when deemed to be “compatible” (Standard #9) with the historic structure, while others may be more stringent with the allowance for modification. The scope of modifications may also depend on other factors such the reason for the structure being historic and the level of its significance.
CEQA and Historic Preservation
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is a state law passed in 1970 that requires public agencies in California to evaluate and disclose the environmental impacts of projects they approve or undertake.
Under CEQA, historic resources are considered part of the environment. This means a building, site, structure, or district that is either listed or eligible for listing on the California Register of Historical Resources (or a local register) is protected. Demolition, alteration, or relocation of a historic resource may be considered a “significant impact” under CEQA. The four criteria used to evaluate for eligibility of the State Register include the following:
• Criterion 1 - Is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of California's history and cultural heritage.
• Criterion 2 - Is associated with the lives of persons important in our past.
• Criterion 3 - Embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, region, or method of construction, or represents the work of an important creative individual, or possesses high artistic values.
• Criterion 4 - Has yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history. The majority of properties in Redondo Beach listed as Historic Landmarks or Potentially Historic have not been evaluated for eligibility of the State Register and are not subject to the protections under CEQA. The City’s Historic Context Statement (Attachment 3) may be used a reference for determining whether the property meet the criteria.
APPROVED BY:
Marc Wiener, Community Development Director
ATTACHMENTS
1. Historic Ordinance
2. Historic Preservation Plan
3. Historic Context Statement
4. List of Historic Register Properties