Conservancy News

Mills Act Incentives Threatened

The Mills Act, the state program that reduces property taxes on designated historic properties with approved restoration and maintenance plans, is Santa Monica’s only concrete incentive for historic preservation.  The Landmarks Commission has been working to improve Santa Monica’s application and monitoring process by proposing explicit standards that ensure that contracts fulfill the intent and public purpose of the Mills Act.  In March, the City Council will be asked to consider those recommendations, and to place limits both on the value of any individual contract and on the total value of contracts approved each year.

The Conservancy Board supports the Landmarks Commission recommendations, but is adamantly opposed to the proposed limits on the number and value of Mills Act contracts.  To date, 57 historic buildings have awarded these contracts, at an average cost to the city of $2,300 per contract per year.  The City’s total annual cost of this investment in the preservation of its historic properties is less than 0.3 % of property tax receipts!

Given Santa Monica’s high property values, some are concerned that the impact of the Mills Act on the City budget could be much greater in the future.  We believe that the data does not support that concern.  Fewer than 10% of the City’s properties are potentially eligible for the Mills Act, and only a small percentage of these are likely to seek designation.  Furthermore, we do not see evidence of a rush to apply.  In the 22-year life of the program, only two years – 2005 and 2006 – had more than 5 contracts approved.

Why, then, is the Conservancy so concerned about a cap on the contracts?  We believe it will create a disincentive to designate and apply for a contract because of factors out of the property owner’s control.  After investing the significant funds necessary to produce an application, the owner of a modest property could find that the number of submitted applications exceeds the cap and be forced to wait for some time to re-apply.  A limit on the value of a contract could also discourage a buyer from the purchase and rehabilitation of a valuable property in poor condition, resulting in another loss to Santa Monica’s historic character.

Please watch your email and the Conservancy website for additional discussion of this issue once the staff report is published!

New Zoning Ordinance

By Barbara Kaplan

The creation of a new Zoning Ordinance is an immense effort intended to incorporate the land use goals of the LUCE into a document that will govern growth in Santa Monica over the next twenty years. A subcommittee of the Landmarks Commission will work closely with the Commission as a whole, the Planning Commission, planning staff and members of the public to advocate for language in the ordinance that supports historic preservation. Along with the Santa Monica Conservancy, the group will work to include language that recognizes the importance of protecting historic resources in Santa Monica and that provides guidance, flexibility and incentives when any historic resource is a part of a building project.

In other reports, the Landmarks Commission has recently initiated actions on several historic resources. The Junipher Building, at 301 Wilshire Boulevard, was nominated for landmark designation last December 9, and is slated for review March 10. The Post Office building at Fifth and Arizona was nominated for landmark designation on January 13 and will also be considered March 10. The Home Savings Bank building at 2600 Wilshire Boulevard, with artwork by Millard Sheets, was designated a Santa Monica Historic Landmark in December, but has been appealed to the City Council. An appeal to overturn the designation of the Mayfair Theater terrazzo sidewalk paving at 210 Santa Monica Boulevard as Santa Monica’s 106th city landmark has been withdrawn. Lastly, the 100-year-old Bundy House at 401 25th Street was nominated for landmark status at the February Landmarks Commission meeting.

The Landmarks Commission is also pleased to congratulate the Santa Monica Conservancy and their perseverance in completing the entitlement process for the Shotgun House, a Designated Historic Landmark, thus allowing its relocation and restoration process to proceed.

At its August 27 meeting, the City Council approved a preservation covenant for the former Post Office building at 1248 5th Street and assumed responsibility for the enforcement of the covenant.  This cleared the way for the Postal Service to put the property up for sale, and the sign went up on the Arizona Street side of the building the next morning.

The Conservancy Board of Directors strongly supported this action by the Council, which addresses concerns that the Post Office might have been sold without a mechanism in place to prevent inappropriate alterations to the building. The new owner will be required to submit any proposed changes for the exterior and the lobby for review, as would be required of any structure designated under our Landmark Ordinance. The covenant’s description of the building’s character-defining features was developed by the Landmarks Commission, which is expected to nominate the building as a City Landmark once it is privately owned.  This action will make the property eligible for preservation incentives such as the Mills Act.

Since the Postal Service announced its intention to close the Downtown Post Office over a year ago, the Santa Monica Conservancy has played an active role in opposing the closure and insisting on detailed plans for the preservation of the building. When appeals of the decision to close the Post Office were denied, the Conservancy was granted Section 106 Consulting Party status, giving us an advisory role in the process for determining conditions on future alteration of the building.  We have made numerous statements to the Landmarks Commission urging a proactive role in protection of the building and expressing our support for the City’s assumption of responsibility for the covenant.  The City of Los Angeles did the same when the historic Venice Post Office was sold in 2012.

The Conservancy has also made every effort to make the public aware of the process which was taking place and the importance of protecting the structure in any future adaptive reuse. A Conservancy rally at the 5th Street location on its last day of operation drew nearly 100 people, some of whom were unaware that the facility was to be closed.

Santa Monica is a city that prides itself on preserving its historic places. The Post Office building, as one of three Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects in the City, is an important a part of our history. The City’s acceptance of responsibility for the covenant ensures that the building’s future adaptive reuse will retain its historic character and will continue to communicate the story of the WPA era to our community.

The Santa Monica Conservancy announces a $1.6 million capital campaign to create a new, professionally staffed Preservation Resource Center in a rehabilitated shotgun house. Campaign funds will also be used to expand programming, including an innovative local history curriculum in Santa Monica schools, and support the ongoing operation of the new Center. To date, the Campaign has raised $860,000 in contributions from the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, the Mark Benjamin Foundation, the National Trust of Historic Preservation, the Friends of Heritage Preservation, and the City of Santa Monica, as well as from generous businesses and individuals. The campaign will enter its public phase as the Conservancy begins a year-long celebration of its decade of leadership in preservation.

Click here to donate to the campaign!

“We have accomplished a great deal in 10 years as an all-volunteer organization. The time has come to hire professional staff and open a site easily accessible to those who want to learn more about historic preservation,” said Carol Lemlein, President of the Santa Monica Conservancy. After a successful bid to lease the landmark 1890s shotgun house owned by the City, the Conservancy agreed to rehabilitate the house and relocate it to city property across from the Ocean Park Library at 2nd Street and Norman Place, a neighborhood with other landmark buildings reflecting the history of Santa Monica. “By establishing our Preservation Resource Center in this small historic house, we will provide an instructive model of the adaptive reuse of a structure that many might have thought had long outlived its usefulness,” Lemlein added.

Rendering of the Preservation Resource Center by Fonda-Bonardi and Holman Architects

The local history curriculum, “Building a Neighborhood,” is the brainchild of Santa Monica Landmarks Commissioner and Conservancy board member Nina Fresco. Geared to third grade students and fulfilling California Standards for social studies and the visual arts, the curriculum gives students an understanding of how the story of a community and its residents is reflected in the changing materials, styles, and uses of its buildings. The lessons are interactive, using kits that provide students the opportunity to build models of actual homes in the city’s Third Street Neighborhood Historic District.

Click here to donate to the campaign

For more information about the Preservation Resource Center or other aspects of the Campaign, send email to [email protected] or leave a message at 310-496-3146.

About the Santa Monica Conservancy: Founded in 2002, the nonprofit Santa Monica Conservancy works to promote public understanding and appreciation of the cultural, social, economic and environmental benefits of historic preservation. The Conservancy developed the weekly Historic Walking Tour of Downtown and the popular docent program at the Beach House, as well as tours of Adelaide Drive, the Third Street Historic District, Palisades Park, mid-century homes in Santa Monica Canyon, and most recently “Living in a Landmark,” demonstrating how landmark homes have been adapted to meet the needs of their current owners. In addition to these educational programs, the Conservancy has led efforts to improve incentives for preservation and make the processes for landmarking and adaptive reuse easier and more attractive to property owners, and has advocated directly to save buildings that connect us more closely to our community’s heritage.

Posted September 05, 2012

Help Shape the Future of the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium!  If you have experience managing, building, booking, restoring or financing an entertainment venue – or know someone who does – the City of Santa Monica needs you!

A Civic Working Group (CWG) is being formed which will meet monthly to provide professional and community input on the renovation, programming and long-term operation of the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. The CWG’s objectives are to work with City staff and consultants to:

• Draft a vision for the future cultural and community use of the Civic as the hub of a cultural campus
• Explore an appropriate mix of compatible adjacent uses, from open space to additional facilities as identified in the Urban Land Institute report
• Evaluate potential financing options and programming and operating models for the Civic
• Convene a community process to gather input and to build consensus regarding the future of the Civic
• Provide Council with recommendations regarding the vision, feasible renovation options and the preferred long-term operating model for the Civic.

The City seeks members who collectively demonstrate expertise in the areas of strategic planning, policy development, performing arts production, real estate development, construction, fundraising and event management.  All applicants are welcome, but those who live or work in Santa Monica will be given priority.

Members of the CWG will be appointed for (1) two-year term.  Five of the nine members will be selected by City Council in October.  The remaining four will be current or former members of the Arts, Landmarks, Planning and Recreation and Parks Commissions, to be selected by the Commissions in September.

A three member Technical Advisory Subcommittee is also being formed.  Members will possess extensive professional and technical expertise associated with the CWG objectives, in particular the financing, management and programming of venues similar to the Civic.

Follow this link for details and the application.  Completed applications must be submitted by September 16. Santa Monica City Council will appoint the five positions on October 22, 2013.

Do you know someone who qualifies?  You can post this information on a website, Facebook page or Twitter feed to reach interested people! Please share the link today!

If you would like to see who has applied so far, the Civic Working Group (CWG) now has its own listing on the Boards and Commissions page of the City website under “Task Forces” with links to the CWG applicants (click here) and the Technical Advisory Sub Committee (click here).

Thank you to Board Member Nina Fresco and the “Save the Civic” group for everything they have done to get us moving toward a plan for the future of this important building.

*Image by Brian Thomas Jones

Preservation as a “community benefit” in City development agreements moved a step forward in April as the Planning Commission forwarded the Century West Partners proposal for 1318 2nd Street on to City Council with a recommendation that $25,000 of approximately $500,000 in community benefit funding be allocated to historic preservation.

The project is a 4-story mixed-use building and involves the demolition of a property listed in the current Historic Resources Inventory as a potential contributor to previously identified historic districts. The Landmarks Commission approved demolition because its members did not see the building as having the level of significance that would merit consideration as an individual landmark. The Conservancy did not advocate for the project; our position was that, if the project moved forward, funding for preservation should be included in the agreement.

This positive vote was the culmination of months of effort by the Conservancy.  The rationale for inclusion in the agreement was the stipulation in the Land Use and Circulation Element (LUCE) that preservation was one of five priorities for potential community benefits, as well as the fact that many of the highest priorities set forth in the City’s 2002 Historic Preservation Element remain unrealized.  Seeing that current budget constraints limit the City’s ability to make progress against these priorities, we have been working with members of the Landmarks and Planning Commissions, Planning staff, and members of City Council to propose that a small portion of the total community benefits associated with development agreements might begin to address the needs stated in the Historic Preservation Element.

Examples include:

• A Preservation Resource Center for the community at the landmark Shotgun House
• Heritage education in our schools
• A program to support heritage tourism
• Inclusion of historic and cultural information in the Downtown Wayfinding Program
• A Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) program which would encourage preservation and adaptive reuse of historic structures

As of May 14, 2013, the ordinance defining the 1318 2nd Street Development Agreement was approved by City Council on first reading with the funding for preservation in place. The ordinance requires a second reading and vote at a subsequent Council meeting for adoption.  This is schedule to take place on June 11, 2013

Whatever the outcome for this project, the Conservancy will continue to advocate for preservation funding to bring the priorities of the 2002 Historic Preservation Element much closer to reality.