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CHC Minutes-2007-08-28MEMORANDUM September 4, 2007 TO: Dave Adams, City Manager Steven Apple, Planning Director FROM: Teri Delcamp, Historic Preservation Manager Cultural Heritage Commission Secretary SUBJECT: Cultural Heritage Commission Actions of August 28, 2007 This memorandum summarizes the actions taken by the Cultural Heritage Commission at their Tuesday, August 28, 2007 meeting. No action is required unless the City Council wishes to hold special review of an item. CALL TO ORDER Chair Tryon called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. ROLL CALL Present: Don Tryon, Chair Ed Nunez, Vice-Chair Jess Andrews Nathan Banda Alana Jolley Lorie Porter Janet Siegel Absent: None Staff: Teri Delcamp, Cultural Heritage Commission Secretary ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None. OLD BUSINESS 1. Continued Consideration of Administrative Update to the Buildings and Sites of Distinction List (BOD) and Status of Mexico Lindo-Vaquero West Building at 26755 Verdugo Street (Applicant: City of San Juan Capistrano) Teri Delcamp made the staff presentation and recommendation that the Commission provide input on the proposed changes to the BOD, render a determination on the BOD status of the Mexico Lindo-Vaquero West building, and approve the administrative updates to the BOD. The CHC initially considered the BOD update at the July CHC meeting, and continued the item to more fully consider the information presented. The Mexico Dave Adams, City Manager 2 September 4, 2007 Lindo-Vaquero West’s BOD status was previously considered by the CHC in November 2006. At a recent joint meeting on the Vaquero West project, the City Council directed staff to bring the building’s BOD status back to the CHC for re- consideration for potential removal from the list. Staff recommended that the CHC take the Mexico Lindo-Vaquero West as a separate motion and then consider the balance of the BOD update. Staff provided a handout with summaries of written material on the Mexico Lindo-Vaquero West building and interviews with Pam Hallan-Gibson and Basque descendants. Ilse Byrnes spoke in favor of keeping the Mexico Lindo-Vaquero West building on the BOD. She stated that if we lose another building we will lose part of the downtown’s integrity, and urged the renewal of a policy the City used to have requiring incorporation of historic buildings into projects. Eric Altman, applicant for the Vaquero West project, stated the building was not structurally safe when he purchased it. He has completed repairs to the building so that it can be used, but there is only so much that can be done to rehabilitate it. His contractor estimates even with the completed repairs, the building only has 10 to 15 years of life left. If he is to keep it, which he has been proposing all through the process as encouraged by staff, he needs to add on to it to off-set the costs to rehabilitate it. Other City review bodies and decision-makers have been pressing him to demolish the building. If it is demolished, he would build a new building that will be more compatible with the appearance of the downtown. The new building could be listed in the City’s Inventory of Historic and Cultural Landmarks 50 years from now, whereas the existing one won’t last that long. Chair Tryon asked specifically about the combination straw/plaster referenced by Pam Gibson in staff’s handout. Staff and the applicant responded that the material is plastered on the upstairs walls, not internal to the walls. The applicant responded affirmatively in response to Commissioner Siegel’s question about whether he is willing to provide a Historic Depiction Program for the project on the theme of San Juan’s Basque history. In response to Vice-Chair Nunez ‘s question about how much the applicant knew about the history of the building, the Los Rios District and the town before he purchased it, the applicant said he knew some of the history. However, he said a lot of the information provided by staff is new information that wasn’t available when he purchased the building. After due consideration, Commissioner Porter moved, and Vice-Chair Nunez seconded, to keep the Mexico Lindo-Vaquero West building on the Buildings and Sites of Distinction List (BOD) based on the additional information provided by Pam Gibson and Basque descendants. The motion was approved by a vote of 6-1 (Tryon Dave Adams, City Manager 3 September 4, 2007 opposed). Commissioner Siegel stated she had changed her position since last November based on the perspectives of Pam Hallan-Gibson whose opinions she highly respects. The CHC also requested staff to forward the additional information to the City Council, Planning Commission and Design Review Committee members who were present at the previous joint meeting on the Vaquero West project. Staff cautioned the Commission that continued listing on the BOD does not necessarily mean the building will not be demolished as part of the project. The Commission proceeded to consider the balance of the BOD update after a brief presentation by staff. Staff is recommending minor corrections, adding some of the properties in the Mission Hills-Mission Flats area by historic name and address, and adding other properties that are potentially historic including the Troubleman’s Cottage on Lobo Street, the John Lautner Building on Via de Agua and Rancho Capistrano. Commissioner Siegel does not support adding the Haupert House and the Father O’Sullivan House in the Mission Hill-Mission Flats area. Commissioner Porter agreed that the Haupert House does not appear to be as architecturally significant as other properties in the Mission Hill-Mission Flats area. Commissioner Siegel explained that when the property owner had requested historic designation for the O’Sullivan House, the CHC recommended denial because of an arbor that had been constructed in front of the house after the owner’s designation request was submitted. The arbor destroys the appearance of the house as viewed from the street. Designating it would have sent the wrong message to property owners because the integrity of our historic sites needs to be maintained. Commissioner Jolley stated that Father O’Sullivan was a significant person in San Juan’s history, so the house is important for that association not just its architecture. The arbor doesn’t affect the house itself, and the site should be placed on the BOD. Other discussion ensued about integrity of other properties, including the Community Christian Church, which are on the BOD. Commissioner Porter also requested staff to reflect additional history associated with the Rancho Capistrano property. The Capistrano Saddle Club was also a significant part of the site’s history in the 1960s. After due consideration, Commissioner Siegel moved, and Commissioner Porter seconded, approval of the balance of the Buildings and Sites of Distinction List update but excluding the listing of the Haupert House and the Father O’Sullivan House. The motion was approved by a vote of 4-3 (Andrews, Banda and Jolley opposed). Dave Adams, City Manager 4 September 4, 2007 NEW BUSINESS None. INFORMATION ITEM None. COMMISSION/STAFF COMMENTS Commissioner Siegel expressed strong concern about the recent Los Rios Park plans approved by the City Council, specifically the tot lot. She did not recall the tot lot being part of the project from the beginning, and questioned how the park plan process resulted with a tot lot. The Commission questioned how local residents feel about the tot lot. Staff explained that through the evolution of the project through the master concept plan process an area was identified as a tot lot behind the new restroom building, along with picnic areas. When the concept plan was presented to the CHC, the focus was more on the area of the park within the National Register Historic District, although the entire site plan was displayed and distributed by staff. The master concept plan originally approved by the Council showed the tot lot. In the more recent process for the working drawings, staff’s intent has been conformance to the approved master concept plan. However, various building codes, police safety requirements, park and recreation department priorities and play equipment fall zone requirements resulted in the tot lot expanding in size 66% larger than shown in the concept plan. The conditions of the concept plan approval required the HDP to come back to the Commission, so the focus recently has been on the HDP although the entire site plan has been displayed by staff. The issue of a “passive” park not including a tot lot or picnic areas was only recently expressed. In park planning terms, a “passive” park means no ball fields for active use. Having passive play areas for families is also strongly supported by Police Services. The Council weighed the input received from all the reviewing committees, commissions and the public including residents, and ultimately approved the draft working drawings as consistent with the approved master concept plan. The working drawings will be finalized before going back to the Council for bid authorization. Chair Tryon asked staff about the incorrect swallow species on the downtown way-finding signs throughout town. Ms. Delcamp responded that since the sign specifications went through the public review process with that swallow detail before going out to bid, the contractor has performed per the approved specifications on this detail. Staff recently sent an image of the correct swallow species (Cliff Swallow) to the project manager to forward to the designer for an update to the templates. As signs are replaced, the correct swallow will be on the new signs. Dave Adams, City Manager 5 September 4, 2007 Ms. Delcamp updated the Commission on some pending projects. She advised the Commission that the Imlay HDP plaque material and wording should be submitted soon, and that the Shea HDP will be scheduled in the next couple of months. Other projects are proceeding with design concepts for HDPs and should be submitted soon, including the Ventanas and Centra Pointe projects. A new project was recently submitted for the Mission Rectory Garden that will be coming to the Commission in the near future. ADJOURNMENT Chair Tryon adjourned the meeting at 6:25 p.m. cc: Cindy Russell, Assistant City Manager Grant Taylor, Assistant Planning Director Teri Delcamp, Historic Preservation Manager Christina Gomez, Administrative Specialist CHC Members CHC Minutes File Douglas Dumhart, Economic Development Manager