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HomeMy WebLinkAbout101-Staff Report .pdf SARATOGA CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: January 21, 2009 AGENDA ITEM: DEPARTMENT: Community Development CITY MANAGER: Dave Anderson PREPARED BY: Christopher Alan Riordan, AICP DIRECTOR: John F. Livingstone, AICP SUBJECT: Heritage Resources Inventory Update RECOMMENDED ACTION: 1. Recommend Staff initiate a contract with an Architectural Historian to update the Heritage Resources Inventory and; 2. Direct staff to apply for a grant from the State Historic Preservation Office potentially offsetting sixty percent of the consultant cost to update the Heritage Resources Inventory. REPORT SUMMARY: At the September 3, 2008 City Council Joint Meeting with the Heritage Preservation Commission (HPC), the HPC discussed their interest in updating Saratoga’s Heritage Resources Inventory (the Inventory). The Council agreed the Inventory needed to be updated. Council asked how long it would take to update the existing Inventory and Staff responded it would take a number of years for the HPC to complete the required tasks. Stating the importance of having an updated Inventory in a shorter period of time, Council directed Staff to research the costs for a professional historian to update the Inventory. DISCUSSION: The Inventory is an official listing of properties identified by the HPC as having a heritage value or heritage character. Saratoga’s historic resources provide special character and cultural depth and provide tangible links to Saratoga’s rich historical and cultural heritage. Each historic building or property represents an investment that should not be discarded lightly; maintaining, and rehabilitating older buildings can result in savings in energy, time, money, and raw materials. There is also a growing recognition by citizens of Saratoga that the City’s historic resources have multiple values and should be retained as functional parts of contemporary life. Originally created in 1988 by members of the HPC and expanded over time, this Inventory includes 110 individual properties as well as 16 properties designated as Saratoga Landmarks. A copy of the Inventory is included as Attachment A. The Inventory is intended to be dynamic and to change as resources are added or revisions are made to existing listings. Information was gathered from a variety of sources, including historic documents and books, interviews with local citizens, and existing county and state inventories containing information on Saratoga properties. Property owners were mailed a letter informing them that their property was being added to the Inventory and were told that being listed would not restrict their use, alteration, or demolition of 1 2 their property. An example of one of these letters is included as Attachment B. Saratoga’s Inventory is out-of-date. The likelihood exists that some of the properties on the inventory have been demolished or modified in some way that could potentially affect their historic integrity. The Inventory update will confirm and update the documentation of historic resources already listed on the Inventory. No new properties will be added to the Inventory during the update and it is likely possible that some properties will be removed as a result of past demolition and/or being significantly modified. While the background information included in the existing inventory is interesting and provides a solid foundation, it does not meet current statewide documentation and preservation planning standards. The Inventory update will document each listed property on State of California Department of Parks and Recreation Forms 523 (commonly known as DPR forms). A sample of a Form 523 is included as Attachment C. Updating the Inventory Staff has discussed alternatives and projected costs to update the Inventory with the HPC and with three separate Architectural Historian Consultants. The specifics of these alternatives are discussed below. • The Historic Preservation Commission completes the update. The HPC could perform all the tasks to update the existing inventory at little cost to the City. Tasks would include an exterior pictorial street survey of all properties listed on the Inventory for the purpose of noting their presence and general state of architectural integrity. The HPC would prepare new DPR forms for each structure to remain on the inventory which would include history of ownership, architectural discussion, estimated age of the structure, possible associations with historic persons or events and general comments on the relative significance of the structures. Due to logistical and time constraints, the HPC has to continue conducting their regular monthly business, and because of the research needed to complete the DPR forms, staff estimates the HPC could update approximately 36 homes per year and could take three years or longer to update the Inventory. • The Historic Preservation Commission updates the Heritage Resources Inventory with guidance and input by an Architectural Historian Consultant. The HPC has indicated to Staff their preference to perform the majority of the tasks to update the Inventory as discussed in the above alterative but would like to do so under the professional guidance of an Architectural Historian Consultant. The Consultant would develop a procedure to update the Inventory, would direct the HPC on the necessary tasks to complete the update, and review the work performed by the HPC for accuracy and completeness. Staff has discussed this update alternative with three consulting firms for pricing and feasibility and was informed that this shared responsibility arrangement has successfully been initiated in other cities. Costs could range from $15,000 - $17,000. Because the majority of the tasks to update the Inventory would still be done by the HPC and because the HPC has to conduct their regular monthly business, staff estimates the HPC could update approximately 55 homes per year and could take a minimum of two years to complete. 3 • Staff initiates a contract with an Architectural Historian to update the Heritage Resources Inventory The quickest alternative to update the Inventory would be to contract with a Historic Resource Consultant to update the Inventory. The Consultant would review all the existing properties on the current Inventory and prepare all new DPR forms. This level of work would be estimated to cost $25,000 and could take three to four months to complete. State Funding to Offset the Cost of the Update Saratoga is eligible for funds to update the Inventory from the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) Certified Local Government grant program. Each year SHPO receives funds from the Federal Department of the Interior, National Parks Service, which are to be distributed to local governments which have been certified to receive them. Saratoga is one of the 55 Certified Local Governments in California (CLG) and a benefit of this status is the eligibility to apply for state grants for heritage related projects. At least ten percent of California’s annual allocation of federal funds received through the Historic Preservation Grants Program must be allocated to local governments. These grants are awarded to CLG’s on a competitive basis, require a 40 percent local government match using public and/or private funds and are used to facilitate the recognition and preservation of historical resources. For the 2008-2009 grant cycle, OHP received 14 CLG applications requesting $302,900, and selected 8 cities and counties to receive $143,000. These ranged from $5000 for the City and County of San Francisco to create a Historic Resource Inventory Electronic Database to as much as $25,000 for the City of Napa to develop a citywide historic context as part of its ongoing historic property survey program. The application deadline for these funds was April 28, 2008. If the City of Saratoga does apply, it would be the first time a grant request was submitted to the OHP. The amount of grant money available for 2009-2010 and the application deadline has not yet been released by OHP. Heritage Resources List and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) California environmental review law has changed since the Inventory was created in 1988. As mentioned earlier, property owners were notified of the de minimis impact on their property by being listed on the Inventory. An important aspect of current environmental law is that when a structure is listed on a Heritage Resource Inventory it is considered a Significant Historic Resource and any application possibly causing a substantial adverse change to a Heritage Resource is subject to environmental review under CEQA. A Heritage Resource are all structures and properties listed on the Inventory and all properties determined by the HPC during their review of an application that the property is “historically significant” and therefore added to the list. Generally, a resource is considered significant if the resource meets the criteria for listing on the California Register of Historical Resources (please refer to Attachment D). Substantial adverse change includes demolition, destruction, relocation, or alteration such that the significance of an historical resource would be impaired. While demolition and destruction are fairly obvious significant impacts, it is more difficult to assess when change, alteration, or relocation crosses the threshold of substantial adverse change. The CEQA Guidelines provide that a project that demolishes or alters those physical characteristics 4 of an historical resource that convey its historical significance (i.e., its character-defining features) can be considered to materially impair the resource’s significance. The City of Saratoga requires all project applicants’ to provide information regarding the age of an existing structure to be demolished or physically altered. The structure has the possibility of being considered historically significant if it is greater than 50 years old. Staff determines during the review of the project if the structure has architectural elements of a historic structure and schedules the application for HPC review. The HPC makes the determination if the structure meets the criteria to be “historically significant”. If the project is “historically significant”, the HPC determines if the physical changes to the structure follow the “Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historical Properties. If the HPC makes the finding that the physical changes to the structure meet the standards, than the impacts are considered as mitigated to a level of less than significant, and no further environmental review is required. CEQA and the requirement for historic review to determine if a structure is “historically significant” are only applicable to discretionary projects. A discretionary project is one requiring the exercise of judgment or deliberation by the City in determining whether the project will be approved, or if a permit will be issued. Some common discretionary decisions include placing conditions on the issuance of a permit or reviewing the design of a proposed project. Aside from decisions pertaining to a project that will have a direct physical impact on the environment, CEQA also applies to decisions that could lead to indirect impacts, such as making changes to local codes, policies, and general and specific plans. CEQA does not apply to ministerial projects. A ministerial project is one that requires only conformance with a fixed standard or objective measurement and requires little or no personal judgment by Staff as to the wisdom or manner of carrying out the project. Generally ministerial permits only require the determination that the project conforms to applicable zoning and building code requirements and applicable fees have been paid. Building permits are considered ministerial projects and not subject to CEQA. Homeowners of potentially historic homes that are not already included on the Inventory may apply for a building permit to modify their home without HPC review. These ministerial projects could include the following: • Demolition permits. • Single story additions to an existing one or two-story homes that do not increase the floor area by more than 50%. • Second story additions less than 100 square feet. • Remodeling projects that remove less than 50% of the exterior walls. • Roof, siding, doors, or window replacements. Planning does review the above types of non-discretionary ministerial projects as “over-the- counter permits” and are approved and forwarded to the Building Department if all zoning standards are met. FISCAL IMPACTS: 5 Having the HPC complete the update to the Inventory would have little fiscal impact. Depending on the update alternatives recommended by the Council which could include the work of a Historic Resource Consultant, estimated fees could range from $15,000 - $25,000. Funds to pay for a consultant to update the Inventory could be paid out of the Council Discretionary Fund. The balance of this fund is $48,043. Additional funds may be obtained from the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) Certified Local Government grant program. As mentioned earlier, this grant could cover sixty percent of the cost of the update with the city responsible for paying the remaining forty percent. CONSEQUENCES OF NOT FOLLOWING RECOMMENDED ACTION: The existing Heritage Resources Inventory would remain unchanged. Without an update and as time passes the Inventory would likely become less relevant. ALTERNATIVE ACTION: 1. Recommend the HPC update the Heritage Resources Inventory with guidance and input by an Architectural Historian Consultant. 2. Leave the existing Heritage Resource Inventory unchanged. FOLLOW UP ACTION: 1. Direct staff to budget for a Historic Resource Consultant to update the existing Inventory. 2. Direct staff to send out a Request for Proposals (RFP) to qualified Historical Consultants to begin the contract process to update the Inventory. 3. Apply for a grant from the State Historic Preservation Office to help offset the cost of the Inventory update. ADVERTISING, NOTICING AND PUBLIC CONTACT: Notice of this meeting was properly posted and published in the Saratoga News on January 6, 2009. ATTACHMENTS: A. City of Saratoga Heritage Resources Inventory. B. Sample letter prepared by the HPC from July 1988 informing a property owner that their property was being added to the Heritage Resources Inventory. C. State of California Department of Parks and Recreation DPR Forms D. Secretary of the Interior Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties