Council Mtg: December 10, 2002 Santa Monica, California

TO: Mayor and City Council

FROM: City Staff

SUBJECT: Impact Report Related to the Initiative Petition for Proposed Ordinance Entitled “Homeowners Freedom of Choice Initiative”.

INTRODUCTION

On November 12, 2002, the City Council considered the Initiative Petition proposing an amendment to the City’s Landmarks and Historic District Ordinance. Pursuant to Election Code Section 9214, the City Council ordered an impact report from staff about two limited topics: the number of properties affected by the proposed initiative and the policies of other cities regarding owner consent.

DISCUSSION

The proposed “Homeowners Freedom of Choice Initiative” is only applicable to properties in the R1 district. There are a total of 6,586 parcels zoned "R1”. Of these, 5,302 parcels have existing buildings that were constructed in, or prior to 1952. Approximately 400 properties in the “R1” zone are listed on the City’s Historic Resources Inventory, of which 348 are in the area north of Montana Avenue.

Staff conducted an inquiry into the issue of owner consent, polling other Cities with historic preservation programs and reviewing available ordinances. Attachment A contains data regarding 27 municipal and county jurisdictions with a range of approaches to preservation of local historic resources. However, the majority of these jurisdictions do not require owner consent for either individual designations or historic district designations. Of the 27 jurisdictions surveyed, only 9 jurisdictions require owner consent for individual property designation and only 6 jurisdictions require owner consent for historic district designation.

Currently, several other Southern California cities are wrestling with preservation policy issues. One local jurisdiction, Redondo Beach, currently requires owner consent for both individual property designation and historic district designation. This city has also faced significant development pressure. Because of the owner consent provision, many historic buildings have recently been lost, and the city has no control over this trend. Consequently, staff understands that the Redondo Beach City Council may consider changing its demolition permit review process.

The City of Pasadena required owner consent of 51 percent of affected property owners for historic districts and owner consent for individual properties until recently. However, the City of Pasadena recently amended its regulations to eliminate owner consent for both designations (effective on December 5, 2002) due to concerns over the loss of significant historic resources.

The City of Glendale requires 100% owner consent of individual properties and of affected property owners for historic districts. The City of Glendale is currently developing a “Historic District Overlay Zone” process, which would require consent of at least 50% of affected property owners to apply for a special zoning overlay.

Prepared by: Suzanne Frick, Director

Jay M. Trevino, AICP, Planning Manager

Amanda Schachter, Principal Planner

Kimberly Christensen, AICP, Senior Planner

Elizabeth Bar-El, AICP, Associate Planner

City Planning Division Planning and Community Development Department

Attachments

A. Matrix of preservation policies in selected California cities

LBE

December 4, 2002

Attachment A

Owner Consent Policies for Historic Designation, Selected California Cities

Jurisdiction	Owner Consent Required (Individual Designation)?	Owner Consent Required (District)?	Additional Comments
City of Alameda	No	No
Berkeley	No	50% of owners must consent
Burbank	Yes	*	*Municipal Code does not establish any specific regulations for historic districts.
Colton	No	No
Davis	No.	No.
Eureka	Yes	No Info.
Fresno	No	50% plus one must consent
Glendale	Yes	Yes*	Developing a “Historic District Overlay Zone” process, which would require more than 50% of owners consent in order to apply for a special zoning overlay.
Highland	No	No
Long Beach	No	No
Marysville	No	No
City of Monterey	Yes	No Info.
Monterey County	Yes	No info.
City of Orange	No info.	No
Pasadena	No	No*	*51% Owner consent was required but was recently eliminated (effective 12/5/02).
Redondo Beach	Yes	Yes*	*Districts required 85% and increased to 100%. Regulations currently being reviewed again.
Redwood City	No	No
Sacramento	No	No
San Clemente	No	No info.
City of San Diego	No (except for religious institutions)	Geographical Districts – No; Thematic Districts - Voluntary
San Diego County	Yes	Yes	Without owner consent, resource may be determined “eligible for listing” until owner consent is received.
Santa Clara	Yes	No info.
Santa Cruz	No	No info.
San Juan Capistrano	No	No
South Pasadena	No	No
Tuolumne County	Yes	Yes
West Hollywood	No	No

Source: Survey by City of Santa Monica, Planning and Community Development Department, November 2002