REPORT TO THE HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
November 24, 2025
FROM: JENNIFER K. CLARK, AICP, Director
Planning and Development Department
BY: ASHLEY ATKINSON, AICP, Assistant Director
Planning and Development Department
SUBJECT
Title
CONTINUED FROM OCTOBER 27, 2025
Consideration of request by property owner to enter into a Mills Act historical property contract pursuant to FMC 12-1706 for:
1. The Maria & JB Cella Home located at 3504 E Huntington Blvd (APN 46118201), in the Huntington Boulevard Historic District.
Body
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The property owner has submitted an application and draft work plan, and provided final confirmation that they wish to enter into a Mills Act historical property contract. Staff has reviewed the application and determined that the property is a qualified historical property under FMC SEC. 12-1704 and that the submitted draft work plan meets the required contract provisions under FMC SEC.12-1705.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the Historic Preservation Commission hold a public hearing and deny the application for a Mills Act historical property contract for the subject property, pursuant to FMC 12-1706.
BACKGROUND
In California, the Mills Act legislation allows local governments to enter into contracts with owners of qualified historic properties providing that in exchange for the restoration and maintenance of these properties, owners receive a reduction in property taxes. Since the City of Fresno adopted the Mills
Act Program, 33 properties have been enrolled. Four new applications were submitted for the Mills Act Program for the year 2025.
The Maria & JB Cella Home located at 3504 E Huntington Blvd. (APN 46118201) is in the Huntington Boulevard Historic District. Designed by a San Francisco architect, Louis Franceschi, and completed in 1939, it is a two-story Italian Renaissance home with an asymmetrical plan on a corner lot, facing diagonally onto Huntington and 5th. The home is clad in stucco ...
Click here for full text