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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1991/05/22 - Minutes - Adjourned Joing (Historic Preservation Commission) May 22, 1991 CITY OF RANCHO CUCAMONGA CITY COUNCIL MINUTES Adjourned Joint Meetinq City Council and Historic Preservation Commission A. CALL TO ORDER An adjourned joint meeting of the Rancho Cucamonga City Council and Historic Preservation Commission was held on Wednesday, May 22, 1991, in the Rains Room of the Civic Center, located at 10500 Civic Center Drive, Rancho Cucamonga, California. The meeting was called to order at 7:10 p.m. by Mayor Dennis L. Stout. Present were Councilmembers: William J. Alexander, Charles J. Buquet II, Diane Williams, Pamela J. Wright, and Mayor Dennis L. Stout. Present were Commissioners: .Melicent Arner, Marsha Banks, Eugene Billings (arrived 7:20 p.m.), Steven Preston, and Chair Bob Schmidt. Absent were Commissioners: Ada Cooper and Alan Haskvitz. Also present were: Jack Lam, City Manager; Brad Buller, City Planner; Larry Henderson, Principal Planner; Anthea Hartig, Associate Planner; Sigmund Dellhime, Management Analyst II; Tarry Smith, Park Planning/Development Superintendent; and Jan Sutton, Deputy City Clerk. , , , , , B. CITY COUNCIL CONSENT CALENDAR B1. Approval of the Environmental Initial Study, Parts I and II, for the proposed Haven Avenue, Westside Parkway Beautification Project - Deer Creek Channel, to Highland Avenue and approval of Resolution and. issuance of a Categorical Exemption therefor. (1403-06 EIS) RESOLUTION NO. 91-134 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CALIFORNIA, APPROVING THE ENVIRONMENTAL INITIAL STUDY AND ISSUANCE OF A CATEGORICAL EXEMPTION FOR THE PROPOSED HAVEN AVENUE WESTSIDE PARKWAY BEAUTIFICATION PROJECT - DEER CREEK CHANNEL TO HIGHLAND AVENUE (i) City Council/Historic Preservation Commission Minutes May 22, 1991 Page 2 (2) MOTION: Moved by Alexander, seconded by Wright to approve the Consent Calendar. Motion carried unanimously, 5-0. C. JOINT ITEMS OF DISCUSSION Mayor Stout stated this meeting was one in a continuing series between the Council and the Commissions and various agencies to enhance communication, and he stated items that were on the agenda were not there for any action to be taken, other than possible direction on the part of the Council or Commission. C1. DISCUSSION REGARDING ESTABLISHMENT OF A HERITAGE PARK FOR PLACEMENT OF HISTORIC HOMES (1402-06 HISTORY) Councilmember Williams stated she had this item placed on the agenda because this had been considered at one point, and she was wondering what the status was on that idea, especially after the problems they just had with the Ledig House. Commissioner Arner stated the Commission has discussed this recently, about saving and moving houses, and then selling them. Councilmember Wright stated that you would need a piece of property in order to do that, and though the Council discussed several possible locations in the past, most of those locations have now been developed. Commissioner Banks stated she needed clarification as to what to discuss, because a heritage park could be set up in three different ways. One way would be to move the houses, develop them commercially, then sell them, which allows the public access to the houses since they are being used commercially. Another way would be if it was developed into a museum complex, but did not feel that was financially feasible in this community. The last way would be to move them into an area where they could be resold and maintained privately. She felt that was more like their land bank program, as opposed to a heritage park. She asked if there was a direction the Council was interested in. Councilmember Williams stated she was interested in what the Commission was doing. Commissioner Banks stated that after a joint meeting held with the Planning Commission, they decided to pursue the land bank idea, an idea of buying the land and moving the houses to that, and not necessarily all right next to each other, but in close proximity. Councilmember Wright thought another use would be to place a house in a park, restore it and develop it to be a centerpiece of that park, and use it as part of the recreational activities. Commissioner Banks stated that had been the original intention of the Ledig House, to move it to Arrow Route and let the City use it. City Council/Historic Preservation Commission Minutes May 22, 1991 Page 3 Councilmember Buquet stated there were cost considerations in moving a structure, and though there are times when you have to realize the importance of the structure, sometimes those cost considerations were a main factor. He felt if they did not set a goal now, and try to designate an area as a heritage park, they will not have that opportunity in the future. He also felt they did not have the resources currently to set up a heritage park, nor did he feel the museum concept was viable. Commissioner Preston stated doing historic preservation was difficult in that it was not perceived as everyone's desire. He thought it was the feeling of the Commission that preservation works best when it was economically productive, and the more that heritage parks are built as museum pieces, the less you are able to integrate preservation as a movement into the larger goals of the community. Councilmember Buquet stated they have had to be careful in the past to avoid people coming and threatening to force the City to purchase a house or it would be moved off-site to allow for development. He felt they needed to increase the incentives for property owners to do the restoration of the buildings, at least the facade, and maybe a staged process for restoring the inside. Commissioner Banks felt Rancho Cucamonga was on the cutting edge as far as offering incentives. She also felt the Commission had a lenient attitude towards adaptive re-use. She felt they needed to educate the community on the incentives that are in place, and the Commission has formed a community outreach committee in order to facilitate that education. Councilmember Alexander asked how they go about designating something as an historic landmark. Commissioner Banks stated they are trying to only consider sites at the applicant's request, as opposed to picking out what they considered significant places because they were meeting too much owner resistance. She felt they were still having a lot coming before them due to the development in the City. Commissioner Preston stated they usually try to get the major issues decided in one evening, and two at the most. Larry Henderson, Principal Planner, stated there were about a half dozen homes that are clearly threatened, or will be threatened, by development. Councilmember Wright asked if they had any type of long range master plan that addressed ideas such as using a certain number of homes for a heritage park, or in a park site, or for rejuvenating an area such as A~ethyst in Old Alta Loma and using those restored houses for commercial uses. Commissioner Banks felt they had two long range plans, one was studying Old Alta Loma as an Historic District, which would have a lot of design criteria and redevelopment possibilities, in addition to if there was a vacant piece of land, being able to move something onto it, and secondly the land bank program. She City Council/Historic Preservation Commission Minutes May 22, 1991 Page 4 stated the problem is that they have had a slow start on the land bank program, and they need to be out acquiring land for the program, then it will be in place when they have a threatened structure. She stated the only structure that has been able to utilize that program so far was the Ledig House. Councilmember Buquet stated in retrospect they should have made it a condition of approval that the developer move the Ledig House to the other site. He felt they have learned from that experience and could be more aware in the future of similar situations. He also felt instead of having all the structures located at the same spot, they should be in proximity to their original locations. Mayor Stout stated their were two things they learned from the Ledig House experience, one was that they overestimated the commercial value of the structure, and the second one was that moving it any distance from the original site would be very costly and possibly cause damage to the structure. Commissioner Preston stated a few months ago they talked about reviewing what was available and trying to prioritize their importance, and stated staff has generated a current work program which is divided into several categories, such as every day tasks, what could be done with available staff, and things they would like to explore but would need to find a funding mechanism to handle. He stated that program was outlined but they have it on hold pending the City's budget review. He also felt that with the next General Plan revision they should set up a historical preservation or cultural resource management element of the Plan. Mayor Stout asked if they would have to wait for the end of a cycle, couldn't they revise it prior to the next review which would be in approximately four years. Brad Buller, City Planner, stated they could adopt that element prior to the whole General Plan review cycle. Councilmember Buquet stated he would be supportive of having something adopted into the General Plan so that it could be considered when a development comes in for processing. C2. DISCUSSION OF OUINCENTENNIAL CELEBRATION (1402-06 HISTORY) (1404-01 CELEBRATE) Chair Schmidt felt they should commemorate the Columbus celebration, maybe slanted more towards the mingling of the the European, Native American and African cultures; progress in mathematics, geography, and navigation; and most importantly agricultural. He stated they were working on reviewing what has been developed by various government agencies, and when they have all the information collected and reviewed, they would report on it further to the Council. Mayor Stout asked if they had any type of formal proposal for the Council formulated yet. City Council/Historic Preservation Commission Minutes May 22, 1991 Page 5 Chair Schmidt stated he would like to commemorate it similar to what they have done in the past, and that he was going to check with the Cham33er of Commerce to see if they were going to work it in next year in any way. He asked the Council what length of time they would be interested in conducting the celebration for. Consensus was for a short celebration. C3. DISCUSSION OF ARCHIVES PROGRAM (1402-06 HISTORY) Commissioner Arner stated one of their concerns was that now they have a location for the archives, they did not know how it would be staffed. She stated one of their original ideas would be to have an intern from a university. They have had a manual developed by a professional archivist, but still needed to decide things like would there be an archive room that was open to the public, who would staff it, if there would be a trained person to work with volunteers, and someone to advise what should or should not be in the archives. Councilmember Williams asked if there would be any grants available that would pay for staffing. Anthea Hartig, Associate Planner, stated archival grants are very hard to come by. Councilmember Williams felt this would qualify as a library program, and thus would be qualified for some library grants also. Councilmember Buquet stated they could look for sponsorship from a local company to offset the costs. He stated they would need to prepare a proposal to take to the companies outlining what their needs were and the costs involved. Councilmember Williams asked how much would it cost for staffing. Commissioner Banks stated currently they were planning on staffing the facility only half time, so approximately $10,000.00 per year. Councilmember Buquet felt that would be a reasonable amount to obtain, possibly with joint sponsorship. Jack Lam, City Manager, asked if this would be something where an intern could come in and set up the program, .and then have it taken over by volunteers. Councilmember Buquet stated they could possibly set up an ongoing internship in conjunction with U.C. Riverside. (4) City Council/Historic Preservation Commission Minutes May 22, 1991 Page 6 (s) Mayor Stout stated they might want to offer some type of stipend for the intern, especially working with graduate students, because they would usually be looking for a sophisticated setting to learn as much as they possibly could, and felt the City's program was not to that point yet. He also stated that Target Stores was interested in specific programs for grant purposes, and thought the Commission should contact them to fund the archive program. Mayor Stout stated they might want to start a program of taking some of the documents in the archives to various schools in the community, a travelling exhibit of sorts, to increase their awareness of local history. He felt these documents were assets, and should not be kept in a basement room all the time. Commissioner Banks stated with their outreach subcommittee they were trying to have an impact on the school system, and could incorporate both long and short range history. Larry Henderson, Principal Planner, stated they have looked at duplicating a lot of information that is in the archives and having a history center in the library at Central Park, in addition to their outreach program. The Council discussed the pros and cons of moving the original documents from the archive area for exhibits. C4. DISCUSSION OF ORAL HISTORY PROGRAM AND HISTORY CENTER (1402-06 HISTORY) Commissioner Banks stated when this was first discussed, the Council felt this was a priority item. She stated they have had a slow start, what with a change in personnel, going through the interview process and lining up the funding, but was concerned that with the current budgetary constraints funding for the program would be cut. She was looking for confirmation that the Council was still committed to this program. Councilmember Wright asked if they have collected any recordings yet. Commissioner Banks stated they have done none yet. Anthea Hartig, Associate Planner, stated they have been working on the contract with Knox Mellon, who was the State Historic Preservation Officer for many years, and once they have all the legal requirements worked out, they can proceed immediately. She stated that some of the information collected on various projects has been oral and has been recorded and filed, along with work on the Old Alta Loma area, but that has been done on a staff level. Once they have the contract worked out, then they will get the approval of the Community Foundation for the release of funds. Councilmember Wright asked if they have looked into a national grant source for funding. City Council/Historic Preservation Commission Minutes May 22, 1991 Page 7 Anthea Hartig, Associate Planner, stated there are some grants available through the state, that range from $1,000.00 to $1,500.00, but they receive many requests. She stated there are not a lot of funding sources available for local projects. She stated one year's budget would be $12,000.00, which would cover twelve interviews. She stated another creative funding avenue they have taken is having development mitigation fund oral histories when applicable. Councilmember Buquet felt that whenever there was a grant opportunity available, staff or the Commission should pursue it, within reason of course. He felt they needed to look for local sources for funding and create their own financial program. Brad Buller, City Planner, stated they were trying to work out a unit cost so that could approach sponsorship at different levels. Councilmember Buquet felt they needed to set up a full range of funding, from corporate levels down to unit costs for interviews, and if that amount was significant, splitting it down somehow. He thought once it was started people will be interested and will financially participate to be involved in that history. He stated he would like to see them get creative because traditional funding sources are not available anymore. Councilmember Wright stated there seemed to be a perception that the Council was not ready to fund the program, when she felt they were saying let's work together to find funding, maybe for the Commission to work on some proposals and then when they have some ideas, bring it to the Council so they can help identify the funding sources. She did not want the Commission to be so concerned about funding that they would not present worthwhile ideas to the Council because they thought there be insufficient funds available. Councilmember Buquet stated he would like a follow-up on this from staff or'the Commission in ninety days. Commissioner Arner stated they touched on the topic of a history center when they were speaking about the archive program. She stated there are a lot of residents that have things they would donate to a history center if they could be assured that they would be safe and not distributed into the community. Councilmember Wright stated the current plans for the library include a history room, but it will depend on the funding that is received and how the construction of the building is conducted. Commissioner Arner felt there were a lot of people who felt it was not safe.to give things to libraries. She stated that libraries she has visited that had successful history programs had a separate room that was staffed, and the materials inside did not ever leave the facilities. Commissioner Preston asked if the library would ever be run by the City as opposed to the County. City Council/Historic Preservation Commission Minutes May 22, 1991 Page 8 Jack Lam, City Manager, stated that would hinge on what occurs with the library funding, and the administration of the library tax funding. He stated they are defining the master plan as to what the community needs, and looking at contingency plans if they are not successful in receiving a grant. Councilmember Williams stated one of the tasks of the library consultant is to determine the legal documents needed to transfe~ operation of the library from the County to the City, if that need arises. C5. DISCUSSION OF BUDGET (0205-01 BUDGET) A. Fundin~ Preservation Proiects - Workin~ with the RedeveloDment A~encv on activities within the A~encv boundaries. B. Other Fundin~ ODtiOnS. C. Land Bank Program. Commissioner Preston stated the Commission was aware of the budget problems facing all cities this year, and though they understand the large budget decisions are things only the Council has the right to make, they have discussed in the Commission programs they would like to initiate. In order to accomplish those plans, though, they would need additional staff. As the Commission understood it, at this time the funding for the historic preservation programwas drawn entirely from the General Fund, but they have discussed using the Redevelopment Agency to a greater extent in a couple of different ways. The first way would be that there are many cases where the decisions on preservation are decisions that enable development to proceed, so in some cases a staff planner working on the project could have that time funded by the Agency as opposed to the General Fund. The second way would be if a developer approached the Agency at a meeting and stated they did not agree with proposed historic preservation on a project, and they were wondering if the Agency would be interested in approaching the preservation-redevelopment link in a way that the preservation deals are turned as part of the deal points in an owner participation or disposition and development agreement. Jack Lam, City Manager, stated they Agency has $50,000.00 in the land bank program, because it was felt that program was related to the purposes of redevelopment. He stated that if projects were done in the redevelopment area, there might be funding available, but they could not necessarily go outside of that area, and cautioned about marginal projects. Councilmember Buquet stated they were just trying to express that the state was reviewing all uses of redevelopment funds because they wanted to be able to confiscate that money if used improperly, so they wanted to be careful projects were done properly. City Council/Historic Preservation Commission Minutes May 22, 1991 Page 9 Commissioner Preston stated he was only talking about redevelopment projects, things that would be benefitting the redevelopment of the community, so did not feel that would be a problem. He stated that historic preservation is a permitted activity of Agency funds, so he just wanted the Council to keep that funding source in mind. Commissioner Banks stated that in regards to the land banking program, she felt most of the Commission was not pleased with the process the Ledig House went through, that the house was not secured properly to avoid vandalism once the last owners moved out. Councilmember Buquet agreed that they needed to develop a procedure for maintaining property, to ensure that proper caretaking was maintained for the properties as they got into the land banking program. C6. DISCUSSION OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT VERSUS PRESERVATION (1402-06 HISTORY) Commissioner Preston stated that the Commission has .talked about when there is a case where they cannot balance the goals of preservation with the developer, how would the Council like the Commission to handle it. Would they want the Commission to just look at the historical impact excluding all economic factors that may come into play when making their recommendation, then send it up to the Council, or should they approach the projects with the awareness that in order to make a project move, they should shorten their list of interests to pursue and try to present to the Council something that already presents a compromise or reduction in requirement. Councilmember Buquet felt it was a matter of common sense. Commissioner Banks disagreed, stating she did not feel they were qualifiedto judge a project on monetary constraints, that the Commission should just look at the historical merit of a project. Councilmember Buquet stated he thought the Commission should be able to take an approach that balanced as much of the variables as possible. The Council and Commission discussed various projects from the last year and considerations that might have been made at' the Commission level. Mayor Stout stated he felt the Commission'should be helping the Council to analyze why something was historically significant, making a recommendation of some sort as to what can be done to make it work, but as far as the economics of a project, he felt the Council was who ultimately made that decision. He stated he did not want the Commission compromising a situation t6 where he could not tell why they made their decision and what was important. (7) City Council/Historic Preservation Commission Minutes May 22, 1991 Page 10 Councilmember Wright stated she felt that with all the Commissions when they were reviewing a project, they were looking at.it with the City's interest in mind, not necessarily the developer's interest in mind, and that would be the aspect she would like this Commission to take when reviewing a project. She stated they could consider all of the aspects, including the economical, in the report, but the determination should have to do with whether or not there was historical significance. Councilmember Buquet left the meeting at 8:45 p.m. (8) (9) Commissioner Banks stated she felt that is how the Commission has been making their decisions, but they were looking for direction if that was how the Council wanted decisions made so that when it goes before Council it will be understood the context the decision was made in. Mayor Stout felt economic considerations were a different issue, and should be handled at the Council level, that the Commission should focus on the historical aspects with a solid recommendation, so the Council could work out a compromise with the developer. He felt the City h~d a strong commitment when it was felt that something was historically significant, and presented information on the Virginia Dare Winery project as an example where they placed historical significance over economic considerations. Commissioner Preston presented information on how the Commission can go about getting documentation on a structure for their historical files without necessarily having to permanently preserve that structure and delaying or changing an economically sound development. C7. AFFIRMATION OF SUPPORT FROM CITY COUNCIL ON DEVELOPER FUNDED STUDIES (0401-00 FUND) Commissioner Banks stated that in the last six months or so, the Commission has come up with some innovative ways to fund studies and restoration. She stated this was something new for them to be doing and the developers are not used to historic preservation being a mitigation 'practice, and they were looking for affirmation from the Council that this was the direction they want the Commission taking because it could be controversial in the beginning. C8. DISCUSSION OF ROUTE 30 ISSUES (1402-06 HISTORY) Commissioner Preston left the meeting at 8:55 p.m. City Council/Historic Preservation Commission Minutes May 22, 1991 Page 11 Commissioner Banks stated they are the only Commission that presently has a subcommittee looking at Route 30 in detail. She stated they are looking at the draft EIR, which is still confidential, they are videotaping the route,'they are walking the route and looking at every structure and the vegetation. She stated she was concerned about the process that would occur when they can develop proposals once the EIR was released. It was her understanding that whatever report the Commission develops would go through the Planning Commission first, and she was concerned that their report would be watered down when given to the Council. Mayor Stout stated he has not ever seen that happen. He stated if the Historic Preservation Commission has an opinion on something, the Planning staff has always included a section in the report that addresses their concerns, without a position being taken by the Planning Commission. He stated the report the Council will see will include opinions from both bodies for the Council to review. Commissioner Banks stated they would probably be some strong statements from the Historic Preservation Commission, and felt they had a real opportunity to have some state funded preservation in conjunction with Route 30. Councilmember Wright stated she would like the Commission to identify'things that will be problems and list suggestions on what needs to be done to mitigate against those problems. Commissioner Banks stated they are taking steps in that direction, and have found the response from the state to be excellent on this matter. Mayor Stout stated another issue to address is that Rancho Cucamonga is not the approving authority for Route 30, that SANBAG is the agency that has jurisdiction, with input from Caltrans and the federal transportation people. He stated that when dealing with these grgups, Rancho Cucamonga would be an insignificant geographical location to them. He felt to impress them with the importance of the issues, it would have to be presented in a very logical and precise manner, or they will ignore preservation issues and deal with other things first. Councilmember Wright stated if there was a structure in the way that needed to be preserved, the City would have to be responsible in seeing that was done, and not rely on other agencies to do that. Commissioner Banks stated they have suggested the state purchase a piece of property where they could relocate a threatened structure of significance, then they could sell it. That way the state would be fronting the money instead of the City. Commissioner Billings stated that Caltrans has done a tremendous amoun~ of preliminary work, and felt that Caltrans was going to be cooperative .in this matter. City CoUncil/Historic Preservation Commission Minutes May 22, 1991 Page 12 (lo) C9. DISCUSSION OF ITEMS OF MUTUAL CONCERN (1402-06 HISTORY) Mayor Stout felt they needed to keep in mind that what was being done today would be historically significant in the future. He stated he would like the Commission to suggest any ideas they might have to the Council on what they should be doing today if that was possible. Commissioner Arner felt they could not predict what would be historically significant in the future, but they could be sure to document what happens today to be available to future generations. Councilmember Wright thought that Route 66 was an example of recent history that happened inadvertently. You can tell that people did not give it any significance, it was just a way to get somewhere, but now it is considered in a nostalgic way and people are trying to preserve it. She felt you could not do something with the intention that it was for history, you could only document what was done because the passing of time would determine what will be significant. Larry Henderson, Principal Planner, thought possibly what the Mayor was expressing would be something like what the City of Fullerton did with their transportation center, where they took what was basically a slum area and vacant lots, and over the last ten years they have bought the train station, built a parking structure, brought in another station, converted a restaurant, and put in landscaping and parking, and are even talking about expanding it because it has been so successful. He thought some day that might be viewed as historically significant because they took part of the old and combined it with part of the new and made a better center. Councilmember Wright stated the Cucamonga School District will be celebrating their centennial next year and thought the Commission might be interested in that. Councilmember Wright stated she would like to get some information regarding a hitching post that was reportedly still standing on Foothill Boulevard near Rochester Avenue, and she was wondering if anything was ever done about preserving that. She also stated they have spoken in the past about putting markers out for buildings that have been preserved to help identify them for the community, and wanted to know the status of that. Councilmember Wright felt they'needed a programto continue educating the public of the historical buildings in the community. Commissioner Banks stated the sign program was moving ahead, that there were brass plaques on a few locations. Anthea Hartig, Associate Planner, stated a developer was picking up the cos~ for the prototype, and what they were trying to determine now was if the City could initiate putting up plaques. City Council/Historic Preservation Commission Minutes May 22, 1991 Page 13 Mayor Stout asked if it would be possible to put out a map that showed the location of all the historical items in the City. Commissioner Banks stated the community outreach subcommittee was working on producing that. She ~tated they are working on producing a walking tour'for the schools in the Etiwanda area since they cannot always afford field trips that involve buses. She felt the Commission could do a lot of things, but that the public needed to be aware of them. The Council and Commission discussed various ways of promoting historical tours in the City. D. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC D1. John Anicic, Jr., Fontana Historical Society, complemented the Council and Commission on their open communication, and stated he felt Rancho Cucamonga had a very good historical preservation program. E. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Moved by Williams, seconded by Wright to adjourn.. Motion carried unanimously, 4-0-1 (Buquet absent). The meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Deputy City Clerk Approved by the Historic Preservation Commission: June 6, 1991 Approved by the City Council: June 19, 1991