Sean Moss, Senior Planner City of El Cerrito Planning Division 10890 San Pablo Avenue El Cerrito, CA 94530
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CEQA Historic Resource Assessment Letter Report: 10167 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito, CA 94530 LETTER REPORT November 14, 2017 To: Sean Moss, Senior Planner City of El Cerrito Planning Division 10890 San Pablo Avenue El Cerrito, CA 94530 John Cook, Director of Environmental Services Circlepoint 200 Webster Street, Suite 200 Oakland, CA 94607 From: Bryan Larson, Partner/Historian Samuel Skow, Research Assistant III JRP Historical Consulting, LLC 2850 Spafford Street Davis, CA 95618 Subject: California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Historical Resource Assessment for the Property at 10167 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito, Contra Costa County, California. PROJECT DESCRIPTION The City of El Cerrito is authorizing a plan to demolish the existing building on the parcel at 10167 San Pablo Avenue (Assessor Parcel Number [APN] 510-034-003) and to construct a new 48,641-square-foot, six-story, multi-family residential building with a total of 62 dwelling units and 31 parking spaces.1 BACKGROUND In 2007, the City began a process to prepare a Specific Plan for San Pablo Avenue. The major goals of the Specific Plan were to articulate a vision for the future of San Pablo Avenue, identify improvements, and adopt context-sensitive regulations that could be applied along its length and to adjacent areas. In 2014, the City certified the Specific Plan Environmental Impact Report (EIR) (State Clearinghouse #2014042025) and adopted the San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan. The Specific Plan includes (1) a Form-Based Code (FBC) to provide clear signals to developers as to the type, location, and shape of desired developments; (2) multimodal transportation goals and policies including streetscape design improvements, and design standards as part of the Complete Streets Plan; and (3) infrastructure improvements to support new development. 1 Project description taken from City of El Cerrito, “10167 San Pablo Avenue: CEQA Environmental Checklist and Initial Study,” November 2017. 1 JRP Historical Consulting, LLC CEQA Historic Resource Assessment Letter Report: 10167 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito, CA 94530 JRP Historical Consulting, LLC (JRP) evaluated the property at 10167 San Pablo Avenue for National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) eligibility and for California Register of Historical Resources (CRHR) eligibility under Section 15064.5(a)(2)-(3) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines, using the criteria outlined in Section 5024.1 of the California Public Resources Code. The results of JRP’s evaluation of the subject property for NRHP and CRHR eligibility is documented in this memorandum and the attached California Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) 523 form (Attachment A). QUALIFICATIONS JRP conducted this survey and evaluation of the property at 10167 San Pablo Avenue under subcontract to Circlepoint. This study was prepared under the general direction of JRP Partner Bryan Larson (MA, Public History, California State University, Sacramento). Mr. Larson has 19 years of professional experience working as a consulting historian on a wide variety of historical research and cultural resource management projects. He provided overall guidance for this project and edited the DPR 523 form. JRP Research Assistant III Samuel Skow has a Master of Arts in History–Public History from California State University, Sacramento, and three years of experience conducting historic architectural inventories and evaluations. Mr. Skow was the primary author of the DPR 523 form and conducted fieldwork and research. Based on their levels of experience and education, Mr. Larson and Mr. Skow both qualify as historian and architectural historian under the Secretary of the Interior’s Professional Qualification Standards, as defined in 36 CFR Part 61. METHODOLOGY JRP conducted research to understand the historic context of the city of El Cerrito and resource- specific research on the history of this property. Developing the historic context consisted of research into the growth and development of the City of El Cerrito. Resource-specific research objectives included gathering information to determine the original date of construction of the former used car dealership, the dates of construction of its associated building and structures, and any alterations. JRP staff conducted research at City of El Cerrito Building Division, El Cerrito; Contra Costa County Public Library, El Cerrito and Pleasant Hill branch locations; and Contra Costa County Recorder, Martinez. Other important sources of information were historic newspaper articles, maps, various online sources, and materials in JRP’s inhouse library and archives. In addition to the historic documentary research, JRP conducted a field survey which documented the property in its entirety on November 9, 2017. JRP took photographs of the lot, the former office building, the pylon-type tower sign, the display platform, and the planter boxes, noting character defining-features and aspects of historic integrity. The recordation is documented on the attached DPR 523 form, which also includes a comprehensive evaluation of the resource’s potential for significance under NRHP and CRHR criteria. 2 JRP Historical Consulting, LLC CEQA Historic Resource Assessment Letter Report: 10167 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito, CA 94530 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS The former used car dealership at 10167 San Pablo Avenue does not meet the criteria for listing in the NRHP or the CRHR, and is not a historical resource for the purposes of CEQA. The rationale for this conclusion is summarized below. Please refer to the attached DPR 523 form for additional information about the property, including a physical description (with accompanying photographs), locational data and mapping, and a historic narrative and contextual discussion against which to analyze the potential historical significance of the resource under NRHP and CRHR (Attachment A). NRHP Criterion A / CRHR Criterion 1 Under NRHP Criterion A or CRHR Criterion 1, the subject property at 10167 San Pablo Avenue does not appear to be significant for associations with important historic events at the local, state, or national level. Although the property was initially developed as a used car dealership as early as 1953, the extant building and structures effectively date to 1963, well after the establishment and initial development of El Cerrito and about a decade after the post-World War II development boom. As such, the property did not make significant contributions to the local economy or to regional commercial development. By the time the Richmond Motor Company took possession of the used car lot in 1962, commercial patterns of development along San Pablo Avenue were well established. This property also lacks significance with the retail automotive industry. By the 1960s, used car dealerships had grown ubiquitous in urban areas throughout California and the United States. Within the El Cerrito area, the Richmond Motor Company appears to have been one of a growing number of used car dealerships when it was established on the subject property, and it does not individually represent an important event or trend in history at the local, state, or national level. NRHP Criterion B / CRHR Criterion 2 The property does not share significant associations with the lives of persons important to history (NRHP Criterion B or CRHR Criterion 2). Historical evidence does not indicate that Bill McNevin, the developer of the lot in the 1960s, or any other individual associated with the subject property made significant contributions to history at the local, state, or national level. While McNevin appears to have been a successful proprietor of used car dealerships in the East Bay region, his accomplishments in business do not elevate the property to the level of historically significant under these criteria. NRHP Criterion C / CRHR Criterion 3 The building and structures at 10167 San Pablo Avenue are not significant as important examples of a type, period, or method of construction, nor are they known to be the work of a master architect or builder (NRHP Criterion C or CRHR Criterion 3). The utilitarian, concrete- block office building is a common building type and a fairly typical example of midcentury utilitarian architecture. Moreover, the building has been altered by the construction of a wood- 3 JRP Historical Consulting, LLC CEQA Historic Resource Assessment Letter Report: 10167 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito, CA 94530 frame, plywood addition. Likewise, the pylon-type sign tower is a common and unremarkable example of its type, and it has also been substantially altered by the regular addition and removal of double-face plexiglass signage over the course of the property’s history as a used car dealership. These alterations and additions have diminished the property’s integrity of design, materials, workmanship, and feeling. Additionally, while historic evidence indicates that Elmer J. Freethy and Nelson Neon were a moderately successful general and electrical contractors, respectively, their accomplishments in their respective fields do not elevate them to the status of master designers or builders. Neither the building nor the structures possess architectural merits that would render them eligible under these criteria, and neither the building nor the associated structures are significant as important works of a master designer or builder. NRHP Criterion D / CRHR Criterion 4 The property is not significant as a source (or likely source) of important information regarding history (NRHP Criterion