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MINUTES |
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MEETING OF THELANDMARKS COMMISSION Founded 1875 “Populus felix in urbe felici” |
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Monday,
January 14, 2002 |
City Council
Chambers, Room 213 |
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7:00
p.m. |
1685 Main
Street, Santa Monica |
1. ROLL CALL Present: Commissioner Bolton
Commissioner
Fresco
Commissioner
Genser
Commissioner
Schnitzler
Chair
Pro Tempore Lehrer
Chairperson
Alofsin
Absent: Commissioner Posek
Also
present: Liz Bar-El, Commission
Secretary
Kimberly
Christensen, Senior Planner
Arlene
Johnson, Staff Assistant
2
REPORT FROM STAFF:
Ms. Bar-El
thanked the four Commissioners that went to the City Council meeting to testify
on the Historic Preservation Element.
The HPE is in the environmental review stage. Staff met with consultants and will have the determination by
spring or summer for the final stage of approval. She stated that the Civic Auditorium appeal will be heard on
January 22nd. The status on 221 Santa
Monica Blvd.: the application for exterior changes to the Crocker Bank building
will be going to the Architectural Review Board. PCR is looking at the proposal.
It is not yet scheduled, however it could possibly be scheduled for
February. She stated that the Realtor
letter is ready to be sent out and staff is working on the mailing list. Presently, the other Landmark material is
available at the public counter, and the information booth. Staff is also working on the brochure phase,
and is coordinating with information systems in getting this information on the
website.
3. APPROVAL
OF MINUTES:
Public Input
Permitted
A. December 10,
2001
Commissioner
Genser moved to approve the minutes.
Chair Pro Tempore Lehrer seconded the motion and the motion passed
unanimously by voice vote with the following corrections: Correct spelling of
Barbara Flammang and Christy McAvoy’s names and Item E, “priority properties”
should be “priority neighborhoods”.
4. PUBLIC INPUT: (On items not on agenda and within the jurisdiction of the Commission)
None
5.
COMMUNICATIONS: (Public discussion by the person presenting the
communication on items not on agenda and within the jurisdiction of the
Commission)
Chairperson
Alofsin brought in a calendar with historic photos of Santa Monica from a local Realtor, and mentioned a program
entitled “Treasures from the Los Angeles Library” to be held on January 15th
by the L.A. Conservancy. She stated
that she is producing a service announcement to be aired on public television
on February 7th. She is
searching for a tagline for the piece, and is considering something along the
lines of a suggestion from Liz Bar-El, “Saving Something Good for You”.
Commissioner
Schnitzler drafted a letter to Director Suzanne Frick in regard to La Mesa
Drive. She read Ms. Frick’s response
and after further discussion, the Commission agreed to form a sub-committee on
Ordinance change, including the sequence of review and concern regarding the
threshold for whether or not construction is considered a substantial remodel
and enforcement methods. The
sub-committee members are: Commissioners Schnitzler and Genser with Chairperson
Alofsin as an alternate. She also
shared a piece from the real estate section of the Los Angeles Times regarding
historic homes.
Commissioner
Fresco stated that the Ocean Park community will have their Congress on
February 24th, and all Commissioners are welcome. It will be held at Joslyn Park with the time to be
announced. She stated she would hand
out pamphlets and asked that a staff person attend to answer any questions that
the public may have.
6. CONSENT CALENDAR:
Public Input
Permitted
A. Statement
of Official Action: Certificate of
Appropriateness Application No. LC-01CA-006, 211 Alta Avenue, for a proposed
addition to connect two bungalows at the front of the property with a wood and
glass hallway.
Commissioner Genser moved to approve the Statement of Official
Action. Chair Pro Tempore Lehrer
seconded the motion and the motion passed by the voice vote.
7. PUBLIC
HEARINGS:
A.
Certificate of
Appropriateness Application No. LC-01CA-007, 2625 Third Street, for
construction of a 220-square foot accessory structure in the rear yard of a
residential property that is a contributor to the Third Street Neighborhood
Historic District.
Staff report
presented by Ms. Bar-El.
Karen Blechman,
owner, stated that she and her husband tried to understand the permit process
and what they were supposed to do. She
stated that they thought no building permit was needed. She stated they bought the accessory
building as a kit and didn't have an architect at that time. After evaluating what needed to be done when
approached by Code Compliance, they hired an architect to do the drawings.
Commissioner
Genser moved to approve the Certificate of Appropriateness, Commissioner
Schnitzler seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously by voice vote.
B.
Certificate of
Appropriateness Application No. LC-01CA-008, 406 Adelaide Drive, for
alterations to a property designated as a City Landmark, including repainting
of siding shingles, demolition an existing carport and construction of a new
structure to include a three-car garage and accessory living quarters in the
rear yard with access from the alley.
Staff report presented by Ms. Bar-El.
Winston Chappell, project architect, stated that
they are trying to preserve and enhance the building by using colors to liven
the building up. They chose the
discontinuous wall treatment to make the accessory building different from the
main structure. He stated the existing
carport is invisible from the street because of the 8 foot wall and the brick
wall does not impact the existing wood because it stops at the wood portion.
Chair Pro Tem
Lehrer stated that the dark stained shingles are a classic, and once paint is
applied, it is permanent; you cannot get back the original look. The Gamble House is an example of the very
high cost of removing paint from original stained shingles. She felt the shingles should remain with the
original stain. Also, the application
for putting paint on the building is not consistent with Standard #5 of the
Secretary of Interior’s Standards.
Commissioner
Schnitzler commended the property owner and is thrilled that the carport will
be demolished. She stated the house is
extremely somber and could use lightning.
She suggested stripping the shingles to make them lighter, and the trims
could be painted.
Alofsin asked
the owner if she could possibly stain the shingles rather than paint them.
Mr. Chappell
stated that they aren't shingles, but barn shakes. Shake material splits, so they have a lot more texture than
shingles. He stated these barn shakes
have been on the house for almost 100 years, and need some repair. He also stated that the house has had
numerous coats of linseed oil, which has crystallized on the surface and
darkened the color over time. He stated
that their proposal would actually enhance and not damage the building. The green stain will not adequately cover
the brown, but will turn it into an olive color. By the other method, they would have to clean the wood and then force
the color into the shingles.
Chair Pro
Tempore Lehrer stated that property owners are the stewards of the house. She still feels the paint will be a problem
later on.
Commissioner
Bolton stated that with the linseed oil on the shingles, the paint should be
easy to remove if they choose to do so in the future. However, if the oil is removed, there is a chance of destroying
the shingle.
After further
discussion, Commissioner Bolton moved to approve the Certificate of
Appropriateness. Chairperson Alofsin
seconded the motion and the motion passed by the following vote:
Ayes: Bolton, Fresco, Genser, Alofsin
Nayes: Lehrer
Abstain: Schnitzler
Absent: Posek
8. OLD BUSINESS:
Public Input Permitted
A. Discussion of Landmarks Commission priorities for 2002-3 Council budget and designation priorities.
Staff
report presented by Ms. Bar-El
Chuck Allord, Neighbors for a Safer
Safer Monica, stated that the City Council should be aware that the boards and
commissions are the most important thing to the Council and civic outreach is
important. However, he feels the
Landmarks Commission wasted a lot of money going after things that are
unattainable.
After discussion, the Commission
decided to ask the City Council to allocate resources that would allow the
Commission to:
·
Work with the neighborhood groups
·
Conduct Community outreach (workshops)
·
Process more landmark designations per year
·
Proactively pursue the HPE Priority #1 goals
·
To develop incentives
The Commission also discussed
recommending that the Landmark / Structure of Merit designation application fee
be eliminated. Commissioner Genser
moved to direct staff to formulate a letter to the City Council regarding
increasing the Landmark budget to fund these activities. Commissioner Schnitzler seconded the motion
and the motion passed unanimously by voice vote.
9. DISCUSSION
ITEMS:
A. Demolition
Permits
1. 451 18th Street (PC012486)
R1/Single Family
Residential
One-story, Single Family
Resident w/ Detached Garage
Structure Identified in
Historic Resources Inventory – 5D
Chair Pro Tempore Lehrer moved to nominate this residence as a structure
of merit. Commissioner Schnitzler
seconded the motion and the motion passed by the following vote:
Ayes: Fresco, Lehrer, Schnitzler, Alofsin
Nayes: Bolton, Genser
Abstain: None
Absent: Posek
2. 470
18th Street (PC012518)
R1/Single Family Residential
2-Story, Single Family
Residence w/ Detached Garage
Structure Identified in
Historic Resources Inventory – 5D
Chair Pro Tempore Lehrer moved to nominate this residence as a structure
of merit. Commissioner Genser seconded
the motion and the motion passed by the following vote:
Ayes: Fresco, Genser, Lehrer,
Schnitzler, Alofsin
Nayes: Bolton
Abstain: None
Absent: Posek
3.
229 20th
Street (PC012590)
R1/Single
Family Residential
Single
Family Residence w/ 2-car Detached Garage
Structure Not Identified in the Historic
Resources Inventory
No action taken on this
item.
B. Presentation of the Civic Center Master Plan preferred alternative (Andy Agle).
Mr. Agle
presented his slide show. He stated the
City is moving forward with updating the Civic Center Specific Plan. In January 2001 the Council started by
appointing the Civic Center Working Group that facilitates the community
process. The working group has hosted a
series of community workshop meetings that began in the Spring of 2001, with
some focus meetings looking at open space, housing, infrastructure, circulation,
civic and cultural uses and overall goals for this area.
The creation
of meaningful open space has been a critical goal for the Civic Center Specific
Plan, and the plan provides over 14 acres of open space. The Town Square space could host a variety
of social, cultural and recreational events.
The Palisades Garden Walk is located at Ocean Avenue and the Santa
Monica Freeway. It is 3.6 acres and is
meant as an anchor to the continually unfolding experience of Palisades
Park. The Civic Auditorium Park is
intended to create visual pedestrian linkages to the Ocean Park
neighborhood. This park will include
other activities, such as small active sport courts, exercise stations along
the pathways and children’s playgrounds.
The village open space is about 7/10 of an acre. The open space includes a series of
landscape walkways in between these buildings and plays a key role in inviting
pedestrians into the Village Green.
Olympic Drive will include a 20-foot wide pedestrian walkway, which will
link from the public plaza at the public safety facility down through the Civic
Center area. Main Street will be
transformed into a green street. The
Main Street Circle open space is intended to better integrate the street into
the adjacent open space. Main Street
could also be closed for weekend events.
Housing is a
critical plan. The plan proposes that
housing be developed south of Olympic Drive and west of Main Street. They anticipate that about 300 units of
housing could be developed in this area and the working group is recommending a
minimum of 160 units be affordable to very low and low-income families.
On the basis
of the research they’ve done, as well as the input from the community, the
working group is recommending that the auditorium focus on community uses and
cultural events. The plan allows for
expansion of the auditorium to better accommodate these community uses as well
as cultural uses.
With the
construction of the Public Safety Facility, there is an opportunity to bring
city offices that are scattered throughout Santa Monica, back to the Civic
Center to strengthen that civic nature of the Civic Center. The recommendation is the eastern addition
to City Hall not be maintained. In
order to meet the City’s needs, it is recommended that a new building be
constructed on the north edge of the Town Square. It is purposed that the Main Street bridge be converted to
pedestrian use only, and this building would provide a portal from the downtown
into the civic center area.
The working
group is recommending that the area at the southwest corner of Civic Center
Drive and 4th Street be reserved for future performing arts
facility, and made a recommendation that an invitation be made to Santa Monica
College to locate their proposed theater in this location rather than the
Madison School site.
In regard to
parking, the plan proposes that City Hall and housing uses would provide
underground parking to meet their needs.
There is also a plan that the Civic Auditorium would include parking
around its perimeter underground to support the daytime needs of the Civic
Auditorium and the Civic Center parking garage would support the Civic
Auditorium and the open space usage on evenings and weekends when it’s not in
peak use.
He spoke more
on the costs of this project and taking the proposal to the City Council.
Chuck Allord, Citizens for a Safer Santa Monica, stated he hoped that the Commission would make some suggestions.
C. Santa Monica Historical Society’s Letter regarding Historic Preservation Element (referral from Council)
Ms. Bar-El
stated that the Commission must discuss whether it wanted to recommend changes
to the Element based on the proposals in the letter and, if so, whether to
schedule a public hearing for these language changes.
Louise
Gabriel, S.M. Historical Society Museum, stated they would like to
request approval of the revisions specified by them in the Historic
Preservation Element. They suggested
that wherever the Santa Monica Public Library is mentioned as a resource for
historical material, that their historical museum be included as well. She stated that their museum serves as a
learning center for the local schools, as a research center for historians and
scholars, as a resource for the TV and print journalists and the film industry
and as an education center for the entire Santa Monica community.
Chair Pro Tempore Lehrer stated that many groups participated in the long public input process regarding developing the Preservation Element, and wanted to know if a representative attended from the Museum. She also asked why the request didn’t come forth sooner.
Ms. Gabriel stated that they had attended a few meetings but weren’t aware of everything that was going to be in the element, and never saw the final draft until recently.
Ms. Holbrook, spoke on several of the objectives and asked that the HPE acknowledge that some resources available at the libraries are made available at their museum as well. She hoped that future resources would be shared between both institutions.
Chair Pro
Tempore Lehrer stated she has a problem with language that addresses specific
programs in reference to this organization.
It goes beyond what the HPE is really meant to do. It sets out broader objectives and she
doesn’t feel it is appropriate.
However, the Historical Society is an important information resource and
if they could include it as that kind of reference in the document that may be
a good way to work it out.
Ms.
Christensen indicated that there are other ways to get this information to the
public, for instance, linking the City’s website to the S.M. Historical Society
Museum’s website. She also mentioned
that the document does address the Historical Society under Objective 3.7.
The Commission
decided not to make further recommendations on the HPE language and no action
was taken on this item.
D. Planning Commission Case List (Information Only)
10. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS:
(Requests from Commissioners to add items to
upcoming agendas)
Commissioner
Schnitzler requested to put on the agenda the Crocker Bank building as a
discussion item.
Commissioner
Genser requested to put on the agenda enforcement of the Mills Act contracts.
11. NEXT MEETING DATE AND COMMISSION AGENDA: Monday, February 11, 2002
12. ADJOURNMENT: 10:45 p.m.