CITY OF VENTURA HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITT££ Agenda Item: 2 Hearing mate: August 1, 2018 Project No: 10729 Case No: H RA-7-18-45998, H DPR-7-16-35882 Applicant: DKN Hotels Planner: Don Nielsen, Associate Planner, (805) ~~A~ Dave Ward, AICP, Planning Manager ~Y vv- Location: 550 Sanjon Road, 1471 and 1491 Visa del Mar (Attachment A) APNs: 076-0-021-160, 076-0-021-080 & 076-0-021-150 Recommendation: 1. Discuss the property owner's intended use of the building and how to approach exterior and interior modifications to the building; 2. Retain a qualified Landscape Historian to conduct a survey to establish or professionally estimate the ages of landscape features on the property, particularly for the larger landscape features (i.e. trees); 3. Encourage the applicant to revise the local Historic Landmark Designation application per criteria A, B, D, E and F; 4. Encourage the applicant to consider filing an application to list the Main Building on the California Register of Historic Places; and 5. Encourage the applicant to consider filing an application to list the Mattie Gleichmann House (50's Flat) on the National Register of Historic Places and the California Register of Historic Places. Zoning: Commercial Tourist Oriented (CTO) & Urban General 3 (T4.3) Land Use: Downtown Specific Plan (DTSP) Regulatory Review: SBMC Sec. 2.4.30.130 & 2R.450.220 Environmental Review: CEQA Guidelines Section 15306 - Information Collection PROJECT DESCRIPTION The proposed project is a Historic Resources Assessment for a combined 6.16 acre property containing nine buildings, including one designated Landmark, located at 550 PROJ-10729 HPC/08/01/18/DN Page1of19 DRC/HPC-1 Sanjon Road, and 1471 and 1491 Vista del Mar Drive in the Commercial Tourist Oriented (CTO) & Urban General 3 (T 4.3) zone districts with a land use designation of Downtown Specific Plan. The project site contains City Landmark No. 80 (Pierpont Inn). BACKGROUND On February 1, 1993 the City Council approved Resolution 93-03 designating the Pierpont Inn, located at 550 Sanjon Road, Historic Landmark No. 80 due to its association with two prominent Ventura County families, namely the Pierpont's and the Gleichmann's (Attachment B). On May 3, 2016, Building and Safety issued a Stop Work Order and Red Tagged a portion of the Pierpont Inn for work being done without permits and work being done without zoning clearances (Attachment C). On May 9, 2016, Code Enforcement issued a Notice and Order and an Administrative Citation for work being done without permits (Attachment D). On July 18, 2017, the Planning Division received a Historic Resource application from the applicant. This is the first time the project has been scheduled to be reviewed by the Historic Preservation Committee (HPC). HISTORICAL STANDARDS Pursuant to Ventura Municipal Code Section 2R.450.220 a Historical Resource Assessment shall be prepared for a demolition permit of a building or structure more than 40 years old and then, pursuant to Ventura Municipal Code Section 2.4.30.130, review by the HPC for a recommendation to the Community Development Director (Director). One purpose of a preliminary assessment is to enable the HPC to screen properties or projects of no obvious historic value. This is in accordance with: General Plan Action 9.19: For any project in a historic district or that would affect any potential historic resource or structure more than 40 years old, require an assessment of eligibility for State and federal register and landmark status and appropriate mitigation to protect the resource, and General Plan Action 9.20: Seek input from the City's Historic Preservation Commission on any proposed development that may affect any designated or potential landmark. Municipal Code Section 24.455.120.2 defines a landmark as any real property such as building, structure, or archaeological excavation, or object that is unique or significant because of its location, design, setting, materials, workmanship or aesthetic feeling, and is associated with: PROJ-10729 HPC/08/01/18/DN Page 2 of 19 DRC/HPC-2 (a) Events that have made a meaningful contribution to the nation, state or community; (b) Lives of persons who made a meaningful contribution to national, state or local history; (c) Reflecting or exemplifying a particular period of the national, state or local history; (d) Embodying the distinctive characteristics of a type, period or method of construction; (e) The work of one or more master builders, designers, artists or architects whose talents influenced their historical period, or work that otherwise possesses high artistic value; (f) Representing a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction; or (g) Yielding, or likely to yield, information important to national, state or local history or prehistory. Given that the current property contains an existing Landmark this historical assessment is to review and evaluate any subject or area of the existing Landmark for possible additional historic, cultural, or natural significance to determine whether such subject or area may warrant a revision to the Landmark Designation. Consequently, if the HPC concludes that the application contains sufficient information to make a determination that the existing Landmark is sufficient and that the additional buildings and landscape are not historically significant or potential landmarks, no further analysis will be required. If the HPC concludes that there are additional potentially historically significant structures or landscapes, then any future project at the subject property that may cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of those historical resources may be potentially considered to have a significant effect on the environment. If the HPC concludes that the scope of work that has already occurred on the subject property may cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of that historical resource, the alter~tions may be potentially considered to have a significant effect on the environment. The HPC may require a Phase 2 Historic Resources Report, which would be required to determine detailed project impacts, evaluates alternatives and proposes feasible mitigation measures intended to reduce or eliminate impacts. 1983 Cultural Heritage Survey The property was not identified within the 1983 Cultural Heritage Survey as it was located outside of the survey boundary. 2007 Historic Resources Survey Update The property is identified in the 2007 Historic Resources Survey Update as an existing Landmark with an Arts and Crafts architectural style that was the work of prominent Los Angeles Architect Sumner P. Hunt. The property is identified as a good example of early PROJ-10729 HPC/08/01/18/DN Page 3 of 19 DRC/HPC-3 20th Century resort architecture in Ventura. The Survey also notes that Josephine Pierpont-Ginn, a wealthy Ojai socialite, purchased Tract 25 of the Beach Tracts to build the Pierpont Inn. DESIGN REVIEW STANDARDS The property currently contains Landmark No. 80, Pierpont Inn, therefore any new construction would be subject to compliance with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation (SOI Standards) and the DTSP Historic Resource Design Guidelines. Any demolition on the property is required to be reviewed by the HPC and shall conform to SOI Standards. STAFF ANALYSIS Per the Policies and Procedures for Historic Resources Protection (PPHRP), for a resource to be designated as historically significant, an historical resource evaluation of the property must define the property's historical context, meet at least one of the City's Historical Resource Designation Criteria and then demonstrate that the property retains integrity. Additionally, the PPHRP exempts "Like for Like" replacements from further Historic Resource Assessment review; staff conveyed this process to the applicants in order to address any potential hazard, but the applicant decided to proceed with the Phase I Historic Resources Report. Landmark Analysis According to the information included within the Historic Resource Assessment Report prepared by Historic Resources Group dated November 3, 2016 (Attachment E), and subsequent Peer Review prepared by San Buenaventura Research Associates dated April 17, 2017 (Attachment F), which includes photos, found that the building meets the criteria for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, the California Register of Historical Resources, and as a City of Ventura Local City Landmark. Staff notes that while a Local Historic District could be sought by the applicant, revising the Landmark Designation might be a more appropriate procedural path forward as the "Historic District" would consist of a single parcel (550 Sanjon Road), and a Landmark Designation would provide the same level of protection that a Historic District would provide. The format below will analyze the project site first as a Revised Landmark Historic Analysis (consisting only of the buildings on 550 Sanjon Road as the buildings at 1471 and 1491 Vista del Mar are identified as non-contributors to the historic significance of the Pierpont Inn), then at the two Identified Individual Resources (Main Building and Mattie Gleichmann House) with an integrity analysis following each assessment. PROJ-10729 HPC/08/01/18/DN Page 4 of 19 DRC/HPC-4 Comment Associated with events that have The property is associated with the made a significant contribution to the eastward expansion of the City and broad patterns of local or regional development of the Beach Tracts in history or the cultural heritage of the first decades of the 20th Century. California of the United States. Associated with the development of the tourist and hospitality industries in Ventura during the early- and mid- 2oth Centuries. B/2 Associated with the lives of persons The property is associated with the important to local, California, or pioneering Ventura County families of national histo . the Pier ant's and Gleichmann's. C/3 Embodies the distinctive The Main Building was designed by characteristics of a type, period, the firm Hunt, Eager and Burns; region or method of construction or Sumner P.