November 5, 2009
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ATTACHMENT 2 L ANDMARKSLPC 01-07-10 Page 1 of 18 P RESERVATION C OMMISSION Notice of Decision MEETING OF: November 5, 2009 Property Address: 2525 Telegraph Avenue (2512-16 Regent Street) APN: 055-1839-005 Also Known As: Needham/Obata Building Action: Landmark Designation Application Number: LM #09-40000004 Designation Author(s): Donna Graves with Anny Su, John S. English, and Steve Finacom WHEREAS, the proposed landmarking of 2525 Telegraph Avenue, the Needham/Obata Building, was initiated by the Landmarks Preservation Commission at its meeting on February 5, 2009; and WHEREAS, the proposed landmarking of the Needham/Obata Building is exempt from CEQA pursuant to Section 15061.b.3 (activities that can be seen with certainty to have no significant effect on the environment) of the CEQA Guidelines; and WHEREAS, the Landmarks Preservation Commission opened a public hearing on said proposed landmarking on April 2, 2009, and continued the hearing to May 7, 2009, and then to June 4, 2009; and WHEREAS, during the overall public hearing the Landmarks Preservation Commission took public testimony on the proposed landmarking; and WHEREAS, on June 4, 2009, the Landmarks Preservation Commission determined that the subject property is worthy of Landmark status; and WHEREAS, on July 9, 2009, following release of the Notice of Decision (NOD) on June 29, 2009, the property owner Ali Elsami submitted an appeal requesting that the City Council overturn or remand the Landmark decision; and WHEREAS, on September 22, 2009, the City Council considered Staff’s recommendation to affirm the decision and dismiss the appeal and voted to affirm the LPC decision to designate the property as a Landmark with a remand to LPC requesting further consideration of identifying the “lightwells” as historic amenities to be preserved; and 2120 Milvia Street, Berkeley, CA 94704 ● Tel: (510) 981-7410 ● TDD: (510) 981-6903 ● Fax: (510) 981-7420 E-Mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/landmarks/default.htm ATTACHMENT 2 2525 Telegraph Ave (LM #09-40000004) NovemberLPC 01-07-10 5, 2009 Page 2 Page 2 of 18 WHEREAS, on November 5, 2009, the LPC took public testimony on the remand issue of the “lightwells” as features of significance and determined by a majority vote (8-1-0-0) that they should be properly recognized as partially open courtyards accessible to adjacent apartments but that they do not rise to the level of features of significance for preservation purposes, removing them from the earlier NOD of June 4, 2009; and WHEREAS, consistent with Section 3.24.110.A.1.b, the Needham/Obata Building has architectural merit as an example of a surviving mixed-use structure from a century ago, executed in a vernacular version of the then-popular Mission Revival style; and WHEREAS, consistent with Section 3.24.110.A.1.b, the Needham/Obata Building also has architectural merit because it is locally unique as a mixed-use structure built on a through lot with similar facades on two parallel streets, and because although the building’s footprint covers the entire narrow lot, its upper story provides a locally unique and rather village-like residential environment featuring three quiet semi-private courtyards each of which is shared by a flanking pair of apartments; and WHEREAS, consistent with Section 3.24.110.A.1.c, the Needham/Obata Building has architectural merit because it contributes to the neighborhood fabric by importantly resonating with three landmarked buildings on the same block face, and especially working with the nearest two of them to form a fine and memorable chunk of century-old townscape; and WHEREAS, consistent with Section 3.24.110.A.2, the Needham/Obata Building has had a significant role in Berkeley's cultural life, most notably through its associations with the internationally renowned Japanese American artist Chiura Obata, and because although the Obata family's occupancy in the building was relatively brief, their associations with it and Berkeley's cultural heritage are rich and the end of that occupancy is related to the crucial historical moment when the family and so many other persons of Japanese birth or ancestry were forced to relocate to internment camps during World War II; and WHEREAS, consistent with Section 3.24.110.A.3, The Needham/Obata Building is useful as an educational force because as it held the studio and art store of the Obata family, it is a powerful resource for telling people about Berkeley’s Japanese American history and the impact of World War II internment; because it is an example of a century-old mixed-use structure, rendered in the then-popular Mission Revival style; and because it is especially instructive due to its highly visible location on busy Telegraph Avenue. NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the subject building as well as its site as described below are hereby designated a City of Berkeley Landmark; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in this case the landmark site (as this term is used by Section 3.24.100.A of the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance) is located at 2525 Telegraph Avenue and 2512-16 Regent Street, and is coterminous with Assessor’s parcel 055-1839-005; and ATTACHMENT 2 2525 Telegraph Ave (LM #09-40000004) NovemberLPC 01-07-10 5, 2009 Page 3 Page 3 of 18 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the particular features that should be preserved are the following: a) these features of the Telegraph Avenue façade: the three piers (but not necessarily their present cladding and specific overall height), solid bulkheads of the present approximate height (but not necessarily with their present cladding and specific horizontal extent), the horizontal band of clerestory windows with their wooden sashes, the plain wooden beams above and below that band, the twin wood-framed arches, the large clerestory windows with wooden sashes that occupy the spaces under those arches, the façade’s stuccoed surfaces, the upper story’s three pairs of windows (but not necessarily their present sashes), the continuous projecting rooflet with its wooden brackets and clay tiles, the scalloped parapet, and the quatrefoil blind window with its turned wooden spindles; and b) these features of the Regent Street façade: the first story’s plain wooden piers, the plain wooden bulkheads, the sizable storefront-type window openings with the wood frames around them, the recess at the middle of the first story, the several doorways (but not necessarily their present doors or gate), the plain horizontal wooden band that runs immediately above the doorways and storefront-type windows, the three wood-framed arches, the clerestory windows with wooden sashes that occupy the spaces under those arches, the wood-framed porthole window, the façade’s stuccoed surfaces with their present texture, the second story’s windows with their one-over-one double-hung wood sashes with ogee stops, the scalloped parapet, and the quatrefoil blind window with its turned wooden spindles. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Landmarks Preservation Commission recommends an interpretive display, including an exterior plaque, be installed commemorating the contributions of Chiura Obata and his family to the City of Berkeley. VOTE: 8-1-0-0 Aye: Hall, Johnson, Linvill, Ng, Olson, Pietras, Parsons, Winkel Nay: Wagley Abstain: None Absent: None ATTEST: Jay W. Claiborne Secretary, Landmarks Preservation Commission ATTACHMENT 2 2525 Telegraph Ave (LM #09-40000004) NovemberLPC 01-07-10 5, 2009 Page 4 Page 4 of 18 DATE NOTICE MAILED: November 16, 2009 THE APPEAL PERIOD EXPIRES (15 DAYS) AT 5 PM: December 1, 2009 Appeal must be filed with City Clerk by this date. TO APPEAL THIS MATTER: Pursuant to Section 3.24.300 of the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance: “An appeal may be taken to the City Council by the City Council on its own motion, by motion of the Planning Commission, by motion of the Civic Art Commission, by the verified application of the owners of the property or their authorized agents, or by the verified application of at least fifty residents of the City aggrieved or affected by any determination of the commission made under the provisions of this chapter”. Any appeal submitted by the public must be in writing, specifying the reasons for the appeal. The appeal fee if filed by the applicant is $1156. If filed by a person other than the applicant, the fee is $63.00. The City Clerk's Department is located on the first floor at 2180 Milvia Street, Berkeley, CA 94704; Phone (510) 981-6900. NOTICE CONCERNING YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS: If you object to a decision by the Landmarks Preservation Commission to approve or deny a Landmark/Structure of Merit Designation, the following requirements and restrictions apply: 1. You must appeal to the City Council within 15 days after the Notice of Decision of the action of the Landmarks Preservation Commission is mailed. It is your obligation to inquire with the Land Use Planning Division (981-7410) to determine when a Notice of Decision is mailed. 2. No lawsuit challenging a City decision to deny (Code Civ. Proc. Section 1094.6(b) or approve (Gov. Code Section 65009(c)(5)) a Landmark/Structure of Merit Designation may be filed more than 90 days after the date the decision becomes final, as defined in Code of Civil Procedure Section 1094.6(b). Any lawsuit not filed within that 90-day period will be barred. 3. In any lawsuit that may be filed against a City Council decision to approve or deny a Landmark/Structure of Merit Designation, the issues and evidence will be limited to those raised by you or someone else, orally or in writing, at a public hearing or prior to the close of the last public hearing on the project.