The Historic Preservation Review Commission (HPRC) voted to adopt design guidelines to the Downtown Historic Conservation Plan (DHCP). The guidelines will now go to the City Council for approval.

The DHCP was adopted in 1990 with amendments in 1992, 2008 and 2009. Principal Planner Suzanne Thorsen said the biggest changes were the adoption of the Downtown Mixed Use Master Plan (DMUMP) in 2007 and the completion of a historic survey in 2009. In 2014, the HPRC began having discussions about the design guidelines, procedures and potential changes. Thorsen said discussions were held to “gauge whether there was interest in pursuing money from the state for a design guidelines update.”

The city applied for funds from a Certified Local Grant in 2015 and 2016, with approval in 2017. After numerous drafts and public hearings, the final draft for design guidelines in the downtown historic district was published on June 15. The document includes guidelines for both historic and non-historic buildings as well as new construction.

Thorsen said the goals of the updates were to provide a user-friendly document written in plain English with pictures, reflect the best practices on a national level for historic preservation and comply with Secretary of Interior standards, which she said “are not currently reflected in our guidelines, though we still have to evaluate under the California Environmental Quality Act.”

The document consists largely of guidelines, which Thorsen said are “the bulk of the document.” It consists of an introduction, general guidelines as well as rules for historic structures, new construction and signs. The appendix includes a glossary with definitions of terms, a list of historic properties and guidelines for environmental sustainability.

There were a number of updates to the public review draft. These included improving the organization of the document, updating images and maps, adding an appendix, clarifying comments received, elucidate how the document relates to the DMUMP and Historic Building Code, align historic properties to Secretary of Interior standards, provide information about preservation briefs, and updated guidelines on outdoor dining, masonry, storefronts, canopies, awnings, building materials and more.

Thorsen also provided an overview of the amendments to the DHCP. Currently, the document includes the guidelines but also design review procedures, context and history.

“We had to think about the way that these design guidelines would be adopted and what that means for the Downtown Historic Conservation Plan,” she said. “There is a lot of valuable content in the Downtown Historic Conservation Plan that does need to be updated but should not go away.”

Therefore, Thorsen said the DHCP would keep its preface, plan overview and historic resources. However, the design review procedures would be removed as they are already addressed in the zoning ordinance. The guidelines for commercial and residential guidelines would be taken out and replaced by the new Downtown design guidelines. Finally, the appendices would be removed and included in the new guidelines, as they have been superseded by the adoption of the historic survey or are included in the new guidelines.

Commissioner Steve McKee asked if the document was finished or if it would be revised. Thorsen said staff hoped to take additional comments from the HPRC and Planning Commission and then give them to a consultant for a final set of revisions before it goes before the City Council.

McKee said he was pleased with the draft but was disappointed at the lack of an index. This sentiment was echoed by other commissioners.

“Sometimes you have to slog through the info, take notes and turn it into something,” McKee said. “An index would really help.”

Commissioner Jack MacCoun suggested adding “preservation” to the title of the document “Downtown Historic Design Guidelines & Design Review Procedures.”

“At least 50 percent of our interest is significantly around preservation,” he said.

The commission voted 4-0— Gilbert von Studnitz was absent, and Tim Reynolds and Jon van Landschoot drew cards to recuse themselves due to conflicts of interest— to consider the guidelines with a number of conditions. These included providing an index, allowing flexibility for outdoor dining on a new building, adding phrases regarding discouraged materials, making clear alternative materials are not encouraged materials, consider whether the DHCP needs to remain a plan or become something else and revise language to reflect that not all buildings were surveyed. The guidelines will next go to the Planning Commission for a public hearing and then the City Council for adoption.

In other business, the HPRC approved modifications to Bella Siena and approved a design review for exterior modifications for a proposed crematorium at 2045 Camel Road.

The HPRC will next meet Thursday, July 26.

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