REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
February 25, 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
CONTINUED HEARING to consider adoption of resolution designating the Parkside Dairy/Golden State Company (Central Valley Cheese Buildings) located at 450 E. Belmont Avenue, Fresno to the Local Register of Historic Resources (Council District 3) Continued from January 28, 2016
1. *** 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 Resolution designating the Parkside Dairy/Golden State Company (Central Valley Cheese) Buildings (original 1929-1932 buildings only) to the Local Register of Historic Resources pursuant to FMC 12-1607 and 12-1609.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Five properties considered for designation to the Local Register of Historic Resources were presented at the January 28, 2016 meeting of the City Council. Four of these properties were found eligible during the hearing and were subsequently listed on the Local Register. A decision regarding the two Mission Revival style brick buildings, located at 450 E. Belmont Avenue, was continued by Council to February 25, 2016 in order to address questions posed by Council Members.
City staff was directed to meet with the High Speed Rail Authority to ascertain whether HSR funds could be available for the restoration or relocation of the buildings. The High Speed Rail Authority has responded that they have no responsibility for the restoration or preservation of these buildings, in part because the parcel is not within the Project’s Area of Potential Effects (APE).
Additionally, DARM staff clarified the current standing of mitigation measures for these buildings which were included in the Environmental Impact Report No. 10108 for the Tower District Specific Plan. The mitigation measures, requiring the preservation of the buildings, as adopted in the 1991 Environmental Impact Report No. 10108 still apply. Therefore, demolition of the buildings would require an environmental assessment whether they are designated as historical resources or not. The assessment would need to include an analysis of why the former mitigation measures are being deleted and include substantial evidence in support of that decision.
BACKGROUND
Producers Dairy proposes to remove the two masonry brick buildings located on the southwest corner of E. Belmont and N. Roosevelt Avenues-known as the Parkside Dairy/Golden State Company (Central Valley Cheese) Buildings-in order to place additional truck parking on site. This truck parking must be relocated from its current location due to the State of California’s High-Speed Rail project. All demolition proposals must be assessed by the City’s historic preservation officer for potential historic significance. If potential significance is found, the structure must be considered for designation as a historic resource. It should be noted that staff review 50-100 demolition permits a year with little or no further review. 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 property was evaluated by staff with respect to the historic resource criteria of the City’s Historic Preservation Ordinance, Fresno Municipal Code (FMC) Article 16 of Chapter 12. Staff concluded that the property was potentially eligible for the Local Register. The City of Fresno’s Historic Preservation Commission held a public hearing on December 21, 2015, which was publicly noticed in the Fresno Bee as required by the Ordinance. The Commission concluded that the buildings were eligible for listing on the Local Register. On January 15, 2016 the Tower District Design Review Committee also reviewed the proposal and passed a resolution supporting the retention of the street elevations of these buildings.
The Historic Preservation Commission and the Tower District Design Review Committee found that the original (1929-1932) brick buildings at this site, excluding later 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.
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.
There are relatively few commercial examples of the Mission style in Fresno. The 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 history in Fresno. However, these buildings have no particular association with that company as this parcel was not developed by Producers. The red brick buildings form a unique streetscape in this neighborhood. The original masonry brick buildings (1929/1930/1932) appear to 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.
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 its criteria. Although the concept of historic integrity is not specifically defined in the City’s Ordinance, it is implicitly understood to follow the National Register which defines historic 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). Please note that historic integrity and structural integrity are separate issues. A structure may retain its historic integrity while having lost structural integrity, and vice versa.
Designation offers benefits to property owners, including the use of the California Historic Building Code (which is more flexible and better-suited for older structures) and exemption from some zoning standards.
While property owner consent is not required for designation, it is generally preferred. Producers Dairy does not support the designation of the buildings to the Local Register; however, the City Council pursuant to FMC 12-1609(7) may designate them as historic resources if they determine that this is appropriate.
Additional Information Requested by the City Council on January 28, 2016:
At the January 28, 2016 hearing the Fresno City Council continued the consideration of the historic designation of these buildings to February 25th. The Council requested that staff meet with the High Speed Rail Authority about potential funding to restore or even relocate these buildings.
On February 3, 2016 Diana Gomez (High Speed Rail Authority) in a telephone call to staff addressed the question of the Authority’s responsibility to provide funding due to perceived impacts to these buildings. The Authority’s position is that this is an “owner’s project;” the parcel located at 450 E. Belmont is NOT within the HSR Project Area of Potential Effects. These buildings have not been evaluated in the environmental reports prepared previously for the High Speed Rail Project. Therefore, the Authority has no way to make use of federal dollars to pay for any restoration or preservation costs of these buildings. Ms. Gomez noted that a 6-month temporary parking site has been secured for Producer’s Dairy trucks. Once work is completed at the current leased site (302 N. Thorne) truck parking will again be available. However, the parcel, which is adjacent to the company’s ice cream plant, will not accommodate as many trucks as it currently does due to a take of 123 feet of the parcel for the High Speed Rail corridor.
Council staff asked about other creative measures to potentially save or relocate the buildings. Although masonry brick buildings have in fact been relocated in the past (German Cross Church as an example) it is an extremely difficult and expensive process. Demolition of the non-eligible portions of the structure is also a potential creative solution, however the applicant has stated that the site is unsuitable for the truck parking unless all portions of the structures are removed.
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).
Staff has determined that the mitigation measures included in the EIR No. 10108 still apply. Once adopted, they became a mechanism of implementing the plan and are integral to the plan itself. Under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), mitigation measures must actually be fully enforceable. (CEQA § 15126.4(a)(2)). Mitigation measures may be modified or even deleted but to do so a lead agency must be able to state a legitimate reason for the deletion and must be able to support that reason with substantial evidence in a subsequent environmental document.
Therefore, this property is somewhat unique because whether it is listed by the City Council as a historic resource or not, demolition of the buildings would require an environmental assessment. The assessment would need to include an analysis of why the former mitigation measure is being deleted and include substantial evidence in support of that decision.
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 buildings located at 450 E. Belmont are NOT worthy of historic designation this action will facilitate their possible future demolition and an environmental assessment (as discussed above) will be required. 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. State of California Primary and BSO Forms for the Parkside Dairy/Golden State Company (Central Valley Cheese) Buildings, 450 E. Belmont Avenue, Fresno.
2. 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.
3. Section 7.0 Attachment to the Draft EIR Tower District Specific Plan.