HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007/11/28 - Agenda Packet~~
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THE CITY OF RANCHO CUCAMONGA
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
AGENDA
RANCHO
CUCAMONGA NOVEMBER 28, 2007 - 7:00 PM
Rancho Cucamonga Civic Center
Council Chambers
10500 Civic Center Drive
Rancho Cucamonga, California
I. CALL TO ORDER
Pledge of Allegiance
Roll Call
Chairman Stewart _ Vice Chairman Fletcher _
Munoz _ Howdyshell _ Wimberly _
II. ANNOUNCEMENTS
III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Regular Meeting Minutes of September 12, 2007 _
IV. CONSENT CALENDAR
The following Consent Calendar items are expected to be routine and non-controversial
They will be acted on by the Commission atone time without discussion Jf anyone has
concern over an item, rt should be removed for discussion
V. DIRECTOR'S REPORTS
A CURRENT PROCESS FOR REVIEWING SUBDIVISION MAP
REQUESTS FOR MILLS ACT PROPERTIES
VI. PUBLIC COMMENTS
This rs the time and place for the general public to address the Commrssron Items to be
discussed here are those that do not already appear on th-s agenda
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
` ~ AGENDA
RANCHO NOVEMBER 28, 2007
G'UCAMONGA
Page 2
VII. COMMISSION $USINESS/COMMENTS
VIII. ADJOURNMENT
!, Lors J Schrader, Planning Commission Secretary of the City of Rancho Cucamonga,
or my designee, hereby certify thaf a true, accurate copy of the foregoing agenda was
posted on November 21, 2007 at least 72 hours prior to the meeting per Government
Code Sect-on 54964 2 at 10500 Crvrc Center Drive, Rancho Cucamonga
Please turn off all cellular phones and pagers while the meeting is m session
Copies of the Planning Commission agendas and minutes can be found at
http //www ci rancho-cucamonga ca us
If you need special assistance or accommodations to participate in this meeting,
please contact the Planning Department at (909) 477-2750 Notification of 48
hours prior to the meeting will enable the City to make reasonable arrangements to
ensure accessibility Listernng devices are available for the hearing impaired
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Stiff Report
DATE November 28, 2007
TO Chairman and Members of the Historic Preservation Commission and the Planning
Commission
FROM James R Troyer, AICP, Planning Director
BY City Attorney's Office & Advanced Planning Staff
SUBJECT CURRENT PROCESS FOR REVIEWING SUBDIVISION MAP REQUESTS FOR
HISTORICAL MILLS ACT PROPERTIES
BACKGROUND
With the City facing build out and the scarcity of vacant and underutilized land available, staff is
• receiving requests regarding development and subdivision of historic properties that are currently
subject to the Mills Act Agreement Currently, if a subdivision is proposed on a site that consists of
a Landmarked historic resource, it is required that the applicant file a Landmark Alteration Permit
Aside from those requirements generally applicable to subdivision of historic properties, there are
no specific local procedures dealing exclusively with subdivision requests for properties that are
subject to a Mills Act Agreement After consulting with the City Attorney, this staff report was
drafted to update the Historic Preservation Commission and the Planning Commission on how staff
will process these requests until a different procedure is created in the update of the Historic
Preservation Ordinance, through an amendment to the General Plan, and/or through an
amendment to the applicable Mills Act Agreement
The concept of the Mills Act program is to provide an incentive for the property owner to protect and
preserve the property by retaining its characteristics of historical significance This intent is
encouraged through the reduction of property taxes, thus enabling the property owner to reinvest
the money saved from the reduced property tax on the improvements The exact amounts are
dependent upon the County Assessor's property valuation, which is based in part on income
potential divided by the capitalization rate at the time of the assessment The properties that enter
into the agreement are to be inspected by City staff on an annual basis to determine whether
notable progress has been made in rehabilitating the property To be eligible for a Mills Act
agreement, the "qualified historical property" must either be listed on the National Register of
Historic Places, or on the State, City, or County official register of historical or architecturally
significant sites, places, or landmarks The Mills Act agreement restricts all the land comprising the
qualified historical property unless otherwise indicated in the contract Rev &Tax Code § 439 1
ANALYSIS
• Currently, the City of Rancho Cucamonga's General Plan and Municipal Code do not specificall
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prohibit the subdivision of Mills Act properties On the other hand, any subdivision of property,
ITEM A
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISS-ON STAFF REPORT
REVIEWING SUBDIVISION MAP REQUEST FOR HISTORICAL MILLS ACT PROPERTIES
November 28, 2007 •
Page 2
whether it is subject to a Mills act agreement or not, must comply with state law, the City's General
Plan and the City's Municipal Code
The City is authorized to deny a tentative subdivision map if it is inconsistent with the General Plan
and any applicable specific plans Section 6 3 2 of the General Plan, entitled "Historic Resources,"
sets forth the City's policy in favor of preservation of historical properties It notes that the City
adopted the Historic Preservation Commission Ordinance in 1978 to "[d]esignate, preserve, protect,
enhance and perpetuate those historical structures and sites which contribute to the cultural and
aesthetic benefit of Rancho Cucamonga " RCMC § 2 24 010 (emphasis added) Not only historical
buildings are protected The site and environmental setting on which a building is located can be
part of the historical resource that is subject to the General Plan's policy in favor of preservation and
perpetuation
The City is also authorized to deny a tentative subdivision map if the City finds that the design of the
subdivision or the proposed improvements are likely to cause "substantial environmental damage"
and if certain findings cannot be made pursuant to state law's requirement for environmental review
under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)' If the project would result in a substantial
adverse change in the significance of a historical resource, the project may have a significant effect
on the environment
A substantial adverse change in the significance of a historical resource means "physical
demolition, destruction, relocation, or alteration of the resource or its immed~afe surroundings such
that the s~gnrficance of a hrstoncal resource would be materially impaired " 14 Cal Code Regs § •
15065 6(b)(1) (emphasis added) The significance of a historical resource is materially impaired
when a project "demolishes or materially alters in an adverse manner those physical characteristics
of a hrstoncal resource that convey its historical significance and that justify its inclusion in, or
eligibility for, inclusion in the California Register of Historical Resources " 14 Cal Code Regs §
15065 6(b)(2)(A) Additionally, it is materially impaired when a project "demolishes or materially
alters in an adverse manner those physical characteristics that account for [the historical resource's]
inclusion in a local register of historical resources" (unless the City establishes by a preponderance
of evidence that the resource is not historically or culturally significant) 14 Cal Code Regs §
15065 6(b)(2)(B)
Federal standards provide guidance for determining what changes would not cause a substantial
adverse change, as projects that follow those guidelines are considered mitigated to a "level of less
than a significant impact on the hrstoncal resource" under CEQA See 14 Cal Code Regs §
15064 5(b)(3) The Secretary of the Interior recognizes that the building site, comprised of a
historic building and associated landscape, "may be significant because of its association with
the historic building or buildings The relationship between buildings and landscape features on a
site should be an integral part of planning for every work project " The Secretary of the Interior's
Standards for the Treatment of Hrstonc Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rel~ab~l~tating,
Restoring, and Reconstructing Historic Buildings, 13 (Weeks and Grimmer, 1995)
The Secretary of the Interior recommends retaining and preserving the features of the site that are
important in defining its overall historical character Id at 102 This includes "[r]etaining the historic
relationship between buildings and the landscape" and "ongoing maintenance of historic plant
~ Both the Municipal Code and the California Subdiv~s~on Map Act outline additional grounds that require the City •
to deny a tentative subdivision map This report ~s only intended as a brief overview pf some of the ]~hely findings
that could i esult m denial of a subdivision map for a Mills Act property
A-1
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION STAFF REPORT
REVIEWING SUBDIVISION MAP REQUEST FOR HISTORICAL MILLS ACT PROPERTIES
November 28, 2007
• Page 3
material " Id at 102-103 in comparison, "[r]emoving or radically changing buildings and their
features or site features which are important in defining the overall historic character of the property
so that, as a result, the character is diminished" is not recommended Id at 102 Further,
introduction of new construction onto the building site which is "visually incompatible in terms of
size, scale, design, materials, color, and texture, which destroys historic relationships on the site, or
which damages or destroys important landscape features" also falls under the "not recommended"
category Id at 105
Consequently, subdivision of historical property that would allow alteration of the historic
relationship between the historical building and its surrounding landscape and introduce other
incompatible buildings on the site may be considered a significant impact under CEQA Each
protect would have to be evaluated to determine whether the relationship between the historical
building and its surroundings are part of the physical characteristics that accounted for the historical
resource's inclusion in the City's list of historical resources
A subdivision proposal involving a property designated as a landmark also requires approval of a
landmark alteration permit by the Historic Preservation Commission Prior to the approval of the
permit, the Historic Preservation Commission must find that the proposal is consistent with the
purposes of the H~stonc Preservation Commission Ordinance and will not be detrimental to a
structure or feature of significant aesthetic, cultural, architectural or engineering interest, or value of
an historic nature If these findings cannot be made, the burden is on the applicant to demonstrate
that the denial of the application would result in "immediate and or substantial hardship " RCMC §
• 2 24 120 If a tentative map is approved, the Historic Preservation Commission would also have to
determine whether the entire subdivision will continue to be designated as a landmark or point of
historical interest, or whether the requisite findings can be made to Justify altering the boundaries of
that designation
Finally, subdivision of a Mills Act property could violate the terms of the Mills Act agreement The
Mills Act requires that all qualified historical property meet the United States Secretary of the
Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation For example, those standards as incorporated in some
existing Mills Act agreements provide
1 Every reasonable effort shall be made to provide a compatible use for a property that requires
minimal alteration of the building, structure, or site, and it [sic] environment, or to the use of a
property for its originally intended purpose
2 The distinguishing original qualities or character of a building, structure, or site, and its
environment shall not be destroyed The removal or alteration of any historical material or
distinctive architectural features should be avoided when possible [emphasis added]
Subdivision of the property that would significantly alter the site and its environment, or destroy
distinguishing original qualities or character of the site and its environment, would arguably violate
the agreement On the other hand, if the City determines that subdivision of the property would not
violate the agreement, the City may condition the grant of the tentative map on the property owner
agreeing to enter into an amended Mills Act agreement to cover the newly created parcel containing
the historical building or other historical feature that qualifies it for continued landmark status
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HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION STAFF REPORT
REVIEWING SUBDIVISION MAP REQUEST FOR HISTORICAL MILLS ACT PROPERTIES
November 28, 2007 •
Page 4
RECOMMENDED PROCEDURE
From the foregoing, it becomes apparent that each request for subdivision of a Mills Act property
must be analyzed on a case-by-case basis A number of factors must be analyzed, such as the
type of historical designation that applies to the property, the extent of property covered by the
designation, the extent of the real property covered by the Mills Act agreement, and whether the
subdivision proposal is compliant with the General Plan, the Subdivision Map Act, and CEQA In
order to make an informed decision, staff believes that both state law and the City's Municipal
Code require that the City complete the environmental review process before a decision may
be made on the subdivision request Therefore, the City will require the following
That an outside historic preservation consultant be hired by the City to evaluate the proposed
subdivision's conformance with the General Plan, CEQA and applicable Mills Act agreement
and paid for by the applicant The historic preservation consultant prepares a
"cultural/historical resource study" evaluating the proposal
That the initial study be prepared by an outside consultant that will be retained by the City and
paid for by the applicant
3 A deposit will be collected at the time a consultant is selected for the Initial Study and the
cultural/historical resource study
Only after the environmental review process and cultural/historical resource study are complete, will
the City be in a position to hold the required public hearings Most likely, a point meeting of the
Historic Preservation Commission and the Planning Commission will be called to hear the matter
At that point, those bodies will fulfill their various roles in the process by weighing the facts and
making the requisite findings needed to approve, conditionally approve, or deny the subdivision
tentative map
RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that the Historic Preservation Commission receive the
staff report and file for future reference
Respectfully submitted,
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Ja es R Troyer, AICP
Planning Director
JRT MN/ge
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