REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
July 28, 2016
FROM: JENNIFER K. CLARK, AICP, Director
Development and Resource Management Department
THROUGH: DANIEL ZACK, AICP, Assistant Director
Development and Resource Management Department
BY: KARANA HATTERSLEY-DRAYTON, M.A., Historic Preservation Project Manager
Development and Resource Management Department
SUBJECT
Title
HEARING to consider adoption of a resolution related to the designation of a property to the Local Register of Historic Resources
1. ***RESOLUTION- Designating the A. Emory and Cora Wishon Home located at 1284 N. Wilson Avenue, Fresno, California to the Local Register of Historic Resources (Council District 1)
Body
RECOMMENDATION
The Historic Preservation Commission recommends that the City Council adopt the attached Resolution designating the A. Emory and Cora Wishon Home located at 1284 N. Wilson Avenue to the Local Register of Historic Resources pursuant to FMC 12-1607 and 12-1609.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The property owners for the A. Emory and Cora Wishon Home have requested in writing that their home be considered for designation to Fresno’s Local Register of Historic Resources. The property was evaluated with respect to the historic resource criteria of the City’s Historic Preservation Ordinance, Fresno Municipal Code (FMC) Article 16 of Chapter 12 and was publicly noticed in the Fresno Bee as required by the Ordinance. The City of Fresno’s Historic Preservation Commission held a noticed public hearing on May 23, 2016 and concluded that the property was eligible for listing on the Local Register. The Commission hereby forwards this nomination to the City Council for consideration.
BACKGROUND
The new owners of the A. Emory and Cora Wishon Home have requested in writing that their property be considered for listing on Fresno’s Local Register of Historic Resources. The full two-story Arts and Crafts inspired residence was initially built in 1913 and significantly altered by a major addition in 1921. The residence was apparently a “surprise” for A. Emory Wishon from his wife, Cora, who was pregnant with the couple’s second child at the time. In 1922 the reconstructed home was featured in the Journal of Electricity and Western Industry in an article, “The Electrical Home for the Electrical Man.” A. (Azro) Emory Wishon was the son of Albert Graves Wishon, and like his father, worked his entire life in the development of electrical energy, both for the San Joaquin Light and Power Company (SJLPC) and for Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), when the earlier SJLPC was absorbed by the San Francisco based corporation. Upon his death in 1948, Wishon was eulogized as a “national eminent figure in the public utility field and a pioneer in the development of the power industry and a civic and industrial leader in California” (Madera Daily Tribune 3 January 1948).
Because of its early construction and its association with the A. Emory Wishon family, the home (and garage) appear eligible to the Local Register of Historic Resources under Criteria (i) and (iii).
Local Register Criteria and Protocols:
The City’s Historic Preservation Ordinance is found at Article 16 of Chapter 12 of the Fresno Municipal Code. Section 1607 outlines the criteria for designation of a resource to the Local Register of Historic Resources. A “historic resource” is “any building, structure, object or site” which is generally more than fifty years of age and “possesses integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association, and:
(i) Is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history; or
(ii) Is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past; or
(iii) Embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period or method of construction, or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values; or
(iv) Has yielded or may be likely to yield, information in prehistory or history.
The City’s criteria for assessing significance are patterned after the National Register of Historic Places (1966 as amended) which uses letters A-D for significance. Fresno’s Local Register is also similar, although not equivalent, to the California Register of Historical Resources which uses a numbering system of 1-4 for criteria. Although the concept of “integrity” is not specifically defined in the City’s Ordinance, it is implicitly understood to follow the National Register which defines “integrity” as “the ability of a property to convey its significance.” “To retain integrity a property will always possess several and usually most, of the aspects.” (“How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation” 1988:44).
The process for designating a historic resource is outlined in FMC 12-1609. In brief, a request to designate a resource to the Local Register may be made by the Council, the Commission, the Secretary to the Commission, the property owner, or an authorized representative of the owner (12-1609(a)). Applications for listing use the state protocol for survey forms with both a DPR 523A (Primary) as well as a DPR 523B (Building, Structure, Object Form) (12-1609(a)(1-9)). A notice must be published in a local newspaper at least ten days prior to the hearing and sent to the property owner as well. Commissioners must also physically visit the property prior to the Commission hearing (12-1609(c)(1)).
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
The designation of historic properties is not a “project” for the purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) as it will not result in a direct or indirect change in the environment.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference was not considered because this agenda item does not include a bid or award of a construction services contract.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no additional impact beyond the expenditure of staff time.
Attachments:
Designation Criteria for the Local Register of Historic Resources (FMC 12-1607)
State of California Primary and BSO Forms for the A. Emory and Cora Wishon Home, 1284N. Wilson Avenue, Fresno.
A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Fresno, California, Designating the A. Emory and Cora Wishon Home, 1284 N. Wilson Avenue, Fresno, to the Local Register of Historic Resources.