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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/03/2000ACTION MINUTES OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA TTTOTATil~ TTOAiTiI l~TpO !~A-Ib RT~OTAI~i ACTION MINUTES OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA HISTORIC RESOURCES COMMISSION CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS 20 CIVIC CENTER PLAZA SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA. MARCH 3, 2000 n CALLED TO ORDER City Hall Ross Annex, 4:45 20 Civic Center Plaza Santa Ana, California ATTENDANCE: Rose Anne Gazcia Kings, Chair Louis Brenes, Vice Chairman Rita Corpin Paul Giles Philip Chinn Cazlos Bustamante ABSENT: Archibald Berry, Pro Tem Don Cribb James Gartner STAFF PRESENT: Kenneth Adams, Planning Manager Cristine Shaw, Assistant City Attorney Gary Sheatz, Assistant City Attorney Joseph Edwards, Principal Plannet Sharon McCain Johnson, Recordi~pg Secretary Consent Calendar Approval of the Minutes from the regulaz meeting of February 2F 2000. RECOMMENDATION: Approve the minutes of the regulaz meeting of February 2, 2000. 2. Reconsideration of actions taken at previous meeting. *** Consent Calendar Items **" Motion to approve Consent Calendar. MOTION: Giles SECOND: Brenes AYES: Kings, Brenes, Chinn, Giles, and Bustamante NOES: None ABSENT: Corpin, Cribb, Berry, and Gartner 1 Mr. Charles View, Downtown Development requested and received a consensus from the Commission for a tour of the Masonic Temple on Wednesday, March 8, 2000 at 12:00 p.m. It was. agreed for the Commission to meet located at 501-505 North Sycamore Street. Study Session Discussion of incentive pro¢ram for the preservation of structures (Commission Objective No. 2A1 Ms. Lucy Linnaus, Assistant Planner I, presented a powerpoint presentation and discussed with the Commission the survey she conducted to compare what other adjacent cities (Pasadena, Laguna Beach, Escondido, Brea, Long Beach, Redondo Beach, San Juan Capistrano, San Diego, Orange, and Redlands) adopted as incentives for preservation of historic properties. She also informed the Commission of the existing Federal and State Programs and provided recommendatiops for incentives the City could implement such as parking exemption programs, allowing additional uses not allowed in the underlying zone, designing standards compatible with the Secretary of the Interior's Standard6 for rehabilitation, and offering flexibility in uses for legal nonconforming structures. Commissioner Kings requested staff to research the creation off' an overlay zone and consider bed and Commissioner Kings requested staff to research the creation off' an overlay zone and consider bed and breakfast use per the City of San Juan Capistrano. Mr. Joseph Edwards, Principal Planner, indicated that staff could investigate the overlay zone but he also stated that he would like to receive additional incentive suggestions from the Commission. Commissioner Brenes requested staff conduct a study regarding the benefits and detriments of creating a historic overlay zone. Commission Requested Agenda Items 1. Discussion of Mills Act Mr. Joseph Edwazds, Principal Planner, provided a hypothetical calculation of a sample calculation tax benefit for a Mills Act application. Commissioner Chin asked if there were any property improvement programs established and if the recently approved Mills Act Agreement required any property upgrades. Mr. Edwards responded that the recently approved Agreement did not require any improvements, however, it did require that the property owner maintain the structure within the timeframe of the contract, which was 10 yeazs. He further stated that staff had not developed any property improvement requirements for the current Mills Act Agreements. However, it would be appropriate for the Commission to consider developing criteria for property improvements and upgrades for future Mills Act Agreements. Ms. Maya DeRosa, Senior Planner, informed the Commission that she was aware of other cities that required t-te structures to be maintained while other cities required upgrades and prepazed an outline of what upgrades were required within specific years of the Agreement. Several Commissioners commented that they believe it would be [appropriate to require upgrades within the 10 years. term of the Agreement. Mr. Adams informed the Commission that staff would be willing to provide recommendations for the upgrades for specific site improvements such as health and safety issues, however it was the responsibility of the Commission to set d0.e policy for the type and scope of the improvements associated with the Agreement. Commissioner Kings requested, that any future Mills Act Agrcettlents that are presented to the Commission ' for action, that staff prepaze and provide a list of code violations along with staffs recommendation for the improvements. Additionally, she requested and that staff work cllosely with the Building Division to ensure conformity with the current Building laws; and that staff include ~ similar sample calculation with the Mills Act information for property owners/applicants Mr. Edwards concluded the tax benefit discussion by informing the Commission that a property owner could receive up to a 75 percent tax break with a Mills Act Agreement, however, the tax break was determined on a case-by-case basis by the County of Orange Assessor's office. Mr. Adams stated that he would agendize a brainstorming session with the Commission to establish policy for the Mills Act Agreement property upgrade requirements at the next meeting. Commissioner Corpin informed staff that the recent Mills Act Agreement recipient, Ginelle Hardy, stated that she had not receive the amount of her tax reduction and requested staff contact and apprise her of the specific amount of reduction she would receive. 2. Discussion of Status of Objectives. Mr. Joseph Edwazds provided the status of the objectives. Commissioner Kings requested the status of the map request for ttte Council Chambers. Mr. Edwards stated that staff was prepazing a memo to the Ciry Manager's office requesting permission for placing the historic structures on the map; however, staff could prepaze 8 '/z by 11 maps for the Historic Resources Commission pending a response regarding the maps. Commissioner Kings also requested that the maps reflect the French Park district. In addition, she requested the status of the objective related to the consultant reseazching and documenting the structures on the register and if the contract could be expanded Mr. Edwards stated that the contract could not be expanded, however, if modifications were needed or if the Commission wished to increase the funds approved, the request would need to be reviewed and approved by City Council. He discouraged the Commission from advocating separating the work with more than one consultant as this concept would not serve in the best interest toward accomplishing the goals of the Commission. He further stated that staff was anticipating some additional funding from CDBG and that staff would have a (better idea of the additional funding status in approximately one month. Commissioner Kings further empltasized that she believed it was imperative for the consultant to begin the work on the documentation currently funded and stated she would like to receive an example of the possible prototype to ensure it satisfies the same criteria as the State and National Register guidelines. /l_______a_ C _ L_ T _!! T 3. Comments from the Executive Director. The Executive Director was not present. 4. Comments from staff. Mr. Joseph Edwazds informed the Commission that he would be scheduling an adaptive re-use tour and he would contact the Commission for the date and time of the tour. 5. Comments from the Historic Resources Commission. Commissioner Giles expressed to the Commission and staff that it was one of his goals to allow the salvaging and donation of historic items from historical buildings. He further commented that he supported the Santa Ana Historic Preservation Society as the clearinghouse group for salvaging buildings. He also encouraged obtaining funding for a salvaging center and stated that he supported notifying the Santa Ana Historic Preservation Society and the Commission of any demolition pernuts issued. Commissioner Chinn commented that the budget looked good and stated that he believed the humidity was too high in the library history room and expressed concern of the records deteriorating due to the current level. Commissioner Corpin stated that she concurred with Commissiouer Giles comment regarding notifying the Santa Ana Historic Preservation Society and the Commission for issuance of demolition requests; and she requested a tour date during the spring break in April. Commissioner Kings: 1) requested staff to prepaze and submit an application, on behalf of the Historic Resources Commission, for the Christian Scientific Church to be added to the Historic Register; 2) asked that the Commissioners speak to their respective Council members to encourage support of the Commissions' funding requests; 3) informed the Commission that she wanted to have another Committee meeting to discuss salvaging and possibly have a public meeting in May 2000 and invite the neighborhoods and every heritage group to receive public comments regazding salvaging issues; 4) at~d indicated that she had met with Ms. Ann Hazder of the Santa Ana History Room and she would like Plann~ng Staff to meet with the Library staff to discuss the storing of historical reports and possible joint access to historical information. 6. Oral Communications -Comments from the public. (For matters not listed on the Agenda) There were no oral comments. 7. Excuse of absence. Commissioner Corpin moved to excuse the absences of Commissioners Berry, Cribb, and Gartner. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Bustamante and unanimously passed. 8. Adiourmnent. The meeting was adjourned to Wednesday, March 8, 2000 at 501-505 North Sycamore for the tour of the Masonic Temple. SMJ r e Anne~~ings, Chai Historic Resources Commission