Saving city’s heritage can be confusing

Barbara Diamond

Vision 2030 Committee recommendations clearly viewed a future that

preserved Laguna’s past.

“Our goal was to preserve as much as possible the diverse

architecture and qualities that contribute to the unique character of

Laguna Beach,” said Planning Commissioner Anne Johnson, chair of the

Vision 2030 Community Character-Place strategy team.

“We knew change was inevitable, but we wanted landmarks and

neighborhoods preserved and preserved well and we recommended shoring

up the Heritage Committee powers. From the beginning, I asked the

team to think about what they would want to see here if they came

back in 30 years. Everyone bought into it.”

The team recommendations re-enforced the Historic Resources

Element, in the city’s General Plan since 1983.

The plan is being reviewed by the Planning Commission and a draft

of an updated historic preservation element has been prepared.

Preservation is the goal. Exactly what is to be preserved is open

to interpretation -- on which the various committees that deal with

projects do not always agree, sometimes causing confusion and

resentment. At one extreme is support for exact replication,

preservation of original materials to the extent possible, monitored

for compliance and uses. At the other extreme: preservation of the

structure’s style with little regard for authentic materials and none

at all for previous uses.

The remodel of a historic structure can involve the city’s

Heritage Committee, the Planning Commission, the Design Review Board

and the City Council.

They juggle design, use, neighborhood impact, the structure’s

historic value and how best to preserve it. The Pottery Shack on

South Coast Highway is a case on point.

A proposal to remodel the Laguna Beach landmark will run the gamut

of red tape, not to mention neighborhood scrutiny. The commission

hears the application for a conditional use permit, including parking

plans. The Heritage Committee oversees applications for Heritage

Register status, which allows reductions in the parking requirements,

as well as makes recommendations for keeping the integrity of the

original design and materials. The Design Review Board will be asked

to approve the design of the project, including the parking lot and

materials. The City Council has the final word and must approve the

parking reductions.

The Heritage Committee withheld heritage registration from the

Pottery Shack until some other issues were resolved. The commission

approved a 55% reduction in parking, subject to acceptance on the

Heritage Registration. The City Council is expected to hear the

parking reduction request at the July 6 meeting, after which the

project will go the Design Review.

Meantime, the neighbors have organized opposition to the project

based on exacerbation of traffic woes in the area and individuals and

members of groups who oppose the rumored loss of the pottery sales

and name of the complex of buildings have expressed opinions.

Former Mayor Ann Christoph said that pottery sales should be

emphasized as an important component in the remodel and should be on

the corner where it is now.

“If the business [pottery sales] is leaving and name is leaving, I

question what is historic and not deserving of parking incentives,”

said Heritage Committee member Molly Bing.

However, that is not the stated goal of the Historic Resources

Element, which is first of all to preserve and enhance buildings and

structures of historic significance in Laguna Beach.

Bing is the element’s strictest constructionist. She believes that

if the original wall was not quite true and the floor dipped, that is

how it should be when renovation is completed. All original materials

should be reused when at all possible, not just when convenient and

exact duplicates substituted only as a last resort, in her opinion.

That is a bit harsh for some.

“A lady from the state [preservation office] said we should

encourage preservation, not discourage it, make it easier, not

harder,” Johnson said.

However, the city’s element is not state-mandated and local

policies take precedence over state and federal standards.

As for changes in use: many of the older historic homes have been

converted to commercial property. Madison Square and Garden Cafe is

an example.

Councilman Wayne Baglin said that exterior preservation is the

goal. He backed up that position when he voted against the use of

faux wood on the remodel of a registered historic home, the owner of

which had been granted parking reductions and allowed intrusions into

the setbacks -- the distance between buildings on the sides and rear

and from the street in the front. Work had been ordered stopped on

the project and the owner had appealed to the City Council.

Heritage Committee members testified at the appeal that they never

would have approved the use of faux wood nor would they have

recommended the property for historic status if they had known the

owner would use the plastic siding.

One of the issues addressed in the historic resources draft is the

lack of oversight of approved modifications to historic structures.

Staff said the key architectural elements are removed and replaced

during construction. Johnson said the most egregious violations from

approved rehabilitation comes from a lack of monitoring.

The council, except for Baglin, said the faux siding looked fine

to them and the city’s development department red tag (work stoppage)

was not justified.

Heritage Committee members were up in arms. Some critics of the

project recommended the home be taken off the register, but the

committee, and the council for that matter, does not have the power

to do that without the approval of the property owner.

The draft of the Historic Resources Element includes a proposed

policy to allow the committee to approve or deny alterations on

historic structures and a way to remove the structures when they no

longer meet the criteria. Of course the City Council would have to

sign off on the Heritage Committee’s vision for the Board of

Adjustment/Design Review and Planning Commission. It isn’t clear that

that the council will see it that way.