DATE ISSUED: April 5, 2018 REPORT NO
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The City of San Diego Report to the Historical Resources Board DATE ISSUED: April 5, 2018 REPORT NO. HRB 18-018 ATTENTION: Historical Resources Board Agenda of April 26, 2018 SUBJECT: ITEM #5 – Old Town Community Plan Update APPLICANT: City of San Diego LOCATION: Old Town Community, Council District 2 DESCRIPTION: Review and consider the Old Town Community Plan Area Historic Resources Reconnaissance Survey (Reconnaissance Survey); the Prehistoric Cultural Resources Study (Cultural Resources Study); the Historic Preservation Element of the Old Town Community Plan update (HPE); and the Program Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) related to Cultural/Historical Resources for the purposes of making a Recommendation on the adoption of the Reconnaissance Survey, Cultural Resources Study, HPE, and the PEIR to the City Council. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Recommend to the City Council adoption of the Old Town Community Plan Area Historic Resources Reconnaissance Survey (Reconnaissance Survey); the Prehistoric Cultural Resources Study (Cultural Resources Study); the Historic Preservation Element of the Old Town Community Plan update (HPE); and the Program Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) related to Cultural/Historical Resources. BACKGROUND The City Council authorized the update to the Old Town Community Plan in 2008. The following year, the City entered into a contract with GPA to prepare a Historic Resources Reconnaissance Survey consisting of a historic context statement identifying the historical themes and property types significant to the development of the Old Town community, and a survey report documenting properties which may associated with those themes in an important way. The information in the Reconnaissance Survey, along with the Prehistoric Cultural Resources Study (AECOM 2015) was used to identify locations in the Old Town community that may contain significant historical resources. The information in these documents was used to shape the Historic Preservation Element of the Old Town Community Plan Update (OTCPU); inform other Plan elements, including Land Use; and prepare the Historical and Tribal Cultural Resources section of the PEIR. 9485 Aero Drive, MS 413 San Diego, CA 92123 T (619) 235-5224 sandiego.gov/historicplanning sandiego.gov The Reconnaissance Survey, Cultural Resources Study and HPE were presented to the Historical Resources Board as an Information Item in March of 2017. Information presented included an overview of the OTCPU process to date, the results of the Reconnaissance Survey and Cultural Resources Study, and an overview of the goals and policies of the HPE. The Staff Report from the March 2017 meeting is included as Attachment 1. At the meeting, the Board was supportive of the documents presented, with only minor comments related to formatting, clarifications, and minor changes to language. No significant issues were identified for any of the documents reviewed. During public testimony, SOHO commented that a potential historic district or Multiple Property Listing (MPL) should be identified for both aerospace related resources and motor courts. Following the hearing, staff reviewed all comments received and completed edits to the Reconnaissance Survey and the HPE. In regard to the HPE, staff also added a Policy to the “Identification of New Historic Resources” section, HP-2.8, which states, “Evaluate the possibility of a multi-community or Citywide historic context statement and Multiple Property Listing related to the aerospace industry in San Diego.” Staff did not add a policy related to motor courts. While motor courts were historically more common in the plan area, only one motor court that retains integrity remains, and has been identified as a potentially significant resource. If the City does pursue a City- wide MPL related to motor courts in the future, Old Town would certainly fall within the scope of such an effort. The Old Town Community Plan Update Draft Program Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) was posted for public review on January 12, 2018, with public review initially ending on March 1, 2018, but extended through March 15, 2018. Limited comments were received in regard to the Historical and Tribal Cultural Resources Section. Staff is currently preparing a formal response to comments, which will be incorporated into the Final PEIR. Because the OTCPU schedule requires HRB review prior to the publishing of the final PEIR, the relevant comment letters received have been included as Attachment 7, and staff responses to those comments are summarized here. In regard to the built environment, a comment letter from the Old Town Community Planning Group concurred with the conclusion of the Draft PEIR that the OTCPU would have significant and unavoidable impacts to historical and tribal cultural resources, even after mitigation. The letter also identifies a typo related to the Estudillo House on page 17 of the Reconnaissance Survey and an incomplete sentence on page 18. The typo has been corrected in the revised Reconnaissance Survey; however, the sentence identified was not incomplete. References in the letter to labels used in Figures 3-1 and 3-2 of the Draft Community Plan relate to the Land Use Element, and are not related to portions of the OTCPU within the jurisdiction of the HRB. A comment letter from SOHO reiterated the comments of the Old Town Community Planning Group, and added that a MPL related to motor courts should be identified. However, the motor court MPL was not included for the reasons identified above. In their comment letter, California State Parks concurred with the conclusions related to impacts to historical and tribal cultural resources; identified some requested corrections to the Environmental Setting section of the Draft PEIR; and recommended ongoing tribal consultation regarding any impacts to tribal cultural resources. In regard to Tribal Cultural and archaeological resources, the City received one letter from the Jamul Indian Village of California requesting a follow-up meeting on the AB-52 consultation that had previously occurred. The City’s Tribal liaison met with representatives from the Jamul Indian Village to discuss the project and answer questions to the - 2 - satisfaction of the Tribe. Lastly, the comment letter from the San Diego County Archaeological Society (SDCAS) noted that the Reconnaissance Survey and Cultural Resources Study appear well done, and that the Society does not have any comments on them. Based upon a thorough review of the comments received, the addition of Policy HP-2.8 is the only change to the HPE, and staff finds that no edits to the Historical and Tribal Cultural Resources Section of the PEIR are required in response to public comment. ANALYSIS Historic Resources Reconnaissance Survey The Historic Resources Reconnaissance Survey prepared by GPA (Attachment 2) provides a project overview, including public outreach efforts; discusses the project methods and survey approach; discusses the criteria used for evaluating properties; provides a historic context addressing the themes significant to development of the plan area and the property types that reflect those significant themes; and identifies potential individual resources and potential historic districts which may be eligible for designation based upon the historic context. The following periods and themes were identified in the Historic Context: • Spanish Period (1769-1821) • Mexican Period (1821-1846) • American Period (1846-1970) o Theme: American Transition Period (1846-1872) o Theme: Early American Development and Industrialization (1873-1929) o Theme: Automobile, Early Tourism and Preservation in Old Town o Theme: Great Depression and World War II (1930-1945) o Theme: Post World War II (1946-1970) Based upon the historic context statement and the reconnaissance-level survey, GPA and the City of San Diego identified 21 properties that may be eligible for individual listing. Reflecting a mixture of uses, the majority of these resources relate to the themes Early American Development and Industrialization (1873-1929) and Automobile, Early Tourism and Preservation in Old Town, with 8 properties identified for each theme. The Reconnaissance Survey identified one significant concentration of resources which may be eligible as a potential historic district. Located north of Juan Street and east of the Presidio Hills Golf Course, the George Marston Potential Historic District is an intact grouping of 25 residential properties (24 contributing and 1 non-contributing) constructed between 1938 and 1955 in the Minimal Traditional and Ranch styles. The potential district appears eligible under HRB Criterion C related to the themes under the Great Depression and World War II and Post-World War II, as outlined in the context statement. The Reconnaissance Survey did not find and potential Multiple Property Listings (MPLs) present in the Old Town community. However, should a City-wide context and MPL ever be developed for a resource type present in the Old Town community, those properties could certainly be evaluated within that City-wide MPL. - 3 - Prehistoric Cultural Resources Study The City contracted with AECOM to prepare a constraints analysis and cultural resources sensitivity analysis for prehistoric resources in support of the community plan update for the community of Old Town. The Prehistoric Cultural Resources Study (Attachment 3) provides a discussion of the environmental and cultural setting; defines archaeological and tribal cultural resources; summarizes the results of