REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
January 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 resolutions related to the designation of properties to the Local Register of Historic Resources
1. *** RESOLUTION - Designating the Eugene and Eleanor Risley Home located at 243 N. Van Ness Avenue, Fresno, California to the Local Register of Historic Resources (Council District 3).
2. *** RESOLUTION - Designating the Thomas and Sadie Elliott Home located at 934 E. Mildreda Avenue, Fresno, California to the Local Register of Historic Resources (Council District 3).
3. *** RESOLUTION - Designating the J.H. Waller Home located at 306 N. Park Avenue, Fresno, California to the Local Register of Historic Resources (Council District 3).
4. *** RESOLUTION - Designating the Edwin C. Smith/Dr. K.J. Staniford Home and Lewis Insurance Agency Office located at 431 and 437 E. Olive Avenue, Fresno, California to the Local Register of Historic Resources (Council District 1).
5. *** RESOLUTION - Designating the Parkside Dairy/Golden State Company (Central Valley Cheese) Buildings located at 450 E. Belmont Avenue, Fresno, California to the Local Register of Historic Resources.
Body
RECOMMENDATION
The Historic Preservation Commission recommends that the City Council adopt the attached Resolutions designating the Eugene and Eleanor Risley Home, the Thomas and Sadie Elliott Home, the J.H. Waller Home, the Edwin C. Smith/Dr. K.J. Staniford Home and Lewis Insurance Agency Office and the Parkside Dairy/Golden State Company (Central Valley Cheese) Buildings to the Local Register of Historic Resources pursuant to FMC 12-1607 and 12-1609.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The property owners for the Eugene and Eleanor Risley Home, the Thomas and Sadie Elliott Home, the J.H. Waller Home, and the Edwin C. Smith/Dr. K.J. Staniford Home and Lewis Insurance Agency Office have requested in writing that their buildings be considered for designation to the Local Register of Historic Resources. All four property owners support historic designation of their property. The representative for the owners of the former Parkside Dairy/Golden State Company (Central Valley Cheese) Buildings has requested that the City review the buildings on this parcel for their potential eligibility to the Local Register pursuant to the demolition protocol outlined in Fresno General Plan Policy HCR-2-G. The company, Producers Dairy, proposes to remove the buildings in order to have additional truck parking on site. Although Producers Dairy does not support the designation of the buildings to the Local Register the City Council pursuant to FMC 12-1609(7) may nevertheless designate them as historic resources. The buildings on this site were included in the 1991 Tower District Specific Plan with mitigation measures which addressed their preservation and adaptive reuse.
All five properties were 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 were 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 December 21, 2015 and concluded that all of the properties were eligible for listing on the Local Register. The Commission hereby forwards these nominations to the City Council for consideration.
BACKGROUND
The following properties have been found eligible for the Local Register of Historic Resources through a formal evaluation:
The Eugene and Eleanor Risley Home was constructed circa 1904 in the North Park Subdivision. The parcel (lots 30, 31 and the south ½ of lot 29) was sold to Eleanor Risley in 1903 who in 1904 transferred it to her husband, Eugene W. Risley. Risley was a superior court judge and city attorney. The property was sold in 1914 to E.V. Kelley, a dried fruit broker, in 1919 to Cowan Sample and in 1950 to the Chong family who rented the house to the La Tienda Guild of Valley Children’s Hospital for use as a thrift store from 1952 to 1966.
The home is a rare example in Fresno of the Shingle Style which developed out of the Queen Anne in New England in the 1880s “where the fondness for natural wood shingles reflected post-Centennial interest in American colonial architecture.” Closer to home the Shingle style was also a major design aesthetic in the “First Bay Tradition,” as developed by architects Ernest Coxhead, Willis Polk, Bernard Maybeck and others and which is expressed in both the vernacular “brown shingled” homes as well as in the more refined architect-designed churches, clubs and residences of the San Francisco region. The Risley Home was evaluated in the 2008 North Park Historic Survey as potentially eligible for individual designation and as a contributor to a proposed National Register Historic District. It has since been painted but the 110 year old home still appears eligible for Fresno’s Local Register of Historic Resources under Criteria i, ii and iii. Additionally, a granite hitching post located on the park strip in front of the house is a contributor to this property and is also individually eligible for listing as a rare extant artifact from the days of horse-drawn carriages and wagons.
The Thomas and Sadie Elliott Home is also located in the North Park Subdivision and was evaluated in the North Park Historic Survey as a potential contributor to the proposed National Register Historic District. This full 2-story American Foursquare was constructed c1904 at the same time as the Risley Home, when the tract was the up and coming place to live in Fresno. The Elliott Home is an excellent example of a property type which was popular for middle class families in early 20th century Fresno. The first owner, Thomas Elliott, was the President and apparent owner of Elliott Manufacturing Co. and Mineral Products Company. The home is currently being fully restored and appears to be individually eligible for listing on the Local Register under Criteria i, ii and iii.
The full 2-story J.H. Waller Home was built in 1911 and is a vernacular expression of the Greek Revival with Craftsman influences. It was apparently constructed by the first owner, J.H. Waller who was listed in the Polk Directories for the years 1911 and 1912 as a carpenter and stair maker. Of interest is that the building permit for this home has an address of 330 N. Park which is the Cowdrey Home, adjacent to and immediately north of the house and a historic property (HP#033). The Waller Home has been fully restored and has excellent integrity to its period of significance (1911). It is a rare example of vernacular architecture constructed for the working class in the Lowell neighborhood and appears to be eligible for listing under Criteria i and iii.
The Edwin C. Smith/Dr. K.J. Staniford Home and Lewis Insurance Agency Office are located on E. Olive Avenue, west of the Tower Theater. The one to two story Arts and Crafts style home was constructed around 1915 and is architecturally distinct, in part due to its complex plan and orientation to the corner as well as the bow roof on the south bay. The home serves as a residence and also as a “tea room” for various community social events. The first owner was Edwin C. Smith. The property was purchased in 1921 by Kenneth J. Staniford and his wife Mary Elizabeth Hixson. Both were Fresno natives and lived in the home at least through 1947. The Stanifords sold the home to Nellie Lewis around 1946 who purchased the property for her son, Besley Arnet Lewis and his wife, June Stockton Lewis. The commercial building on the parcel was constructed in 1946 for the Lewis’ insurance and real estate business. The home and its garage (“carriage house”) are eligible for listing on the Local Register of Historic Resources under Criteria i, ii and iii with a period of significance of 1915-1965. The former insurance office, which is designed in a simple streamline modern style, is eligible for listing under Criteria i, ii and iii with a period of significance of 1946-1965.
Parkside Dairy/Golden State Company (Central Valley Cheese) Buildings fronting onto N. Roosevelt and E. Belmont are masonry brick construction designed in a Mission Revival style. The building wrapping the Belmont/Roosevelt corner was initially constructed in 1929 as a one story Milk Bottling Plant for the Parkside Dairy. A circa 1940 photo from a local high school yearbook depicts additional architectural detailing on the corner property which by that time served as a soda fountain. The one-story complex to the south facing onto Roosevelt was initially constructed in 1932 as an ice cream plant. By 1932 both buildings were owned by Golden State Company Limited and by 1963 the complex was identified as the Golden State Division of Foremost Dairies, Inc. (1963 Sanborn Map). The vacant buildings are now owned by Producers Dairy, which was first incorporated in Fresno on December 22, 1932.
The property owners have requested that the City review the properties for their potential eligibility to the Local Register pursuant to the demolition protocol outlined in Fresno General Plan Policy HCR-2-G. The company proposes to remove the buildings in order to add truck parking that they will need due to a loss of parking from leased property further west because of the High Speed Rail corridor. In 2002 the City’s Planning Department adopted a demolition review policy. This policy was also included in the 2025 General Plan. Policy HCR-2-g in the current Fresno General Plan adopted by the City Council in December 2014 states: “Review all demolition permits to determine if the resource scheduled for demolition is potentially eligible for listing on the Local Register of Historic Resources. Consistent with the Historic Preservation Ordinance, refer potentially eligible resources to the Historic Preservation Commission and as appropriate to the City Council.” It is only when a building appears to potentially meet the threshold for individual listing on the Local Register that it is forwarded to the City’s Historic Preservation Commission for review.
The Historic Preservation Commission found that the original (1929-1932) brick buildings at this site, versus any additions, are of particular architectural interest as a late and rare expression in masonry brick of the Mission Revival style in Fresno. Mission Revival developed first in California in the late 1890s as an attempt by architects and contractors to create an American style, based on an indigenous building tradition. Character-defining features include the curvilinear gables (roof parapet or dormer) red tile roof, visor roofs, coping at the cornice line, wide overhanging eaves and bell towers on larger commercial buildings or homes.
There are relatively few commercial examples of the Mission style in Fresno: most striking is the 1896 Santa Fe Depot followed chronologically by the Bank of Italy (Chinatown, 1903), the San Joaquin Grocers Wholesale Warehouse (1913) and the Tinkler Mission Chapel (1917), located two blocks east of this complex. Notable residential examples in Fresno are the Helm Home (1901) and the Johnson Home (1921).
Producers Dairy has a long and colorful history in Fresno. However, these buildings have no particular association with that company as this parcel was not developed by Producers and apparently is used by the company only for storage. The red brick buildings form a unique streetscape in this neighborhood. Demolition of the buildings will adversely impact City form and create a “street wall of trucks,” to quote one Historic Preservation Commission architect. Neighbors have also raised concerns about the impact of additional truck noise and fumes. The original masonry brick buildings (1929/1930/1932) have the potential to be restored and adaptively reused and appear to be eligible for listing on Fresno’s Local Register of Historic Resources under Criterion iii.
Additionally, both buildings on this parcel were specifically addressed in the Tower District Specific Plan (1991). Section 7.0 attachment to the Environmental Impact Report No. 10108 which was adopted for the purpose of the Plan and subsequent modifications thereto, identified the following mitigation measures:
1. the building at the southwest corner of East Belmont and North Roosevelt shall be retained and
2. the façade of the building to the south of the corner shall be retained and renovated “as is physically possible and economically practical” (Tower District Specific Plan, Attachment 7.0 Table B).
Local Register Criteria and Protocols:
The City’s Historic Preservation Ordinance is located at Chapter 12, Article 16. 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:
1. Is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history; or
2. Is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past; or
3. 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
4. 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 10 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. Should the Council find that the two brick buildings located at 450 E. Belmont are NOT worthy of historic designation this action will facilitate their possible future demolition. However, the question of demolition is not before the City Council.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference was not considered because this does not include a bid or award of a construction or services contract.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no additional impact beyond the expenditure of staff time.
Attachments:
1. Designation Criteria for the Local Register of Historic Resources (FMC 12-1607).
2. State of California Primary and BSO Forms for the Eugene and Eleanor Risley Home, 243 N. Van Ness Avenue, Fresno.
3. A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Fresno, California Designating the Eugene and Eleanor Risley Home Located at 243 N. Van Ness Avenue, Fresno, California to the Local Register of Historic Resources.
4. State of California Primary and BSO Forms for the Thomas and Sadie Elliott Home, 934 E. Mildreda Avenue, Fresno.
5. A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Fresno, California Designating the Thomas and Sadie Elliott Home Located at 934 E. Mildreda Avenue, Fresno, California to the Local Register of Historic Resources.
6. State of California Primary and BSO Forms for the J. H. Waller Home, 306 N. Park Avenue, Fresno.
7. A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Fresno, California Designating the J.H. Waller Home Located at 306 N. Park Avenue, Fresno, California to the Local Register of Historic Resources.
8. State of California Primary and BSO Forms for the Edwin C. Smith/Dr. K.J. Staniford Home and Lewis Insurance Agency Office, 431 and 437 E. Olive Avenue, Fresno.
9. A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Fresno, California Designating the Edwin C. Smith/Dr. K.J. Staniford Home and Lewis Insurance Agency Office Located at 431 and 437 E. Olive Avenue, Fresno, California to the Local Register of Historic Resources.
10. State of California Primary and BSO Forms for the Parkside Dairy/Golden State Company (Central Valley Cheese) Buildings, 450 E. Belmont Avenue, Fresno.
11. A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Fresno, California Designating Parkside Dairy/Golden State Company (Central Valley Cheese) Buildings Located at 450 E. Belmont Avenue, Fresno, California to the Local Register of Historic Resources.
12. Section 7.0 Attachment to the Draft EIR Tower District Specific Plan.