Homeowners may get way to opt off historic inventory list

Laguna Beach residents who want their houses removed from a list of historically significant places, a designation that they say hinders them from making changes to their properties, may get their wish.

The City Council told residents at its March 17 meeting that it will work on a way for residents to opt out when the historic inventory is revised.

Councilman Kelly Boyd suggested the matter be discussed after he received several letters and emails from residents expressing frustration and concern.

“It becomes a property-rights issue,” Boyd said. “Laguna is not a homeowners association. We can’t be telling people yay or nay. It’s up to the people who own the house whether they want it on the list.”

The city decided about two years ago to update the county’s historic inventory list with the help of consultant Jan Ostashay. The list has not been updated since it was created 34 years ago.

It was when this update began that many homeowners found out their properties were on the list. A majority who spoke at last week’s council meeting said city property records did not indicate at the time of purchase that the houses they were buying had a historic rating.

If a home is on the inventory list, the owner could be denied a permit to make changes based on the historic significance of the house. Conversely, the person could benefit through the lifting of certain fees or parking restrictions, but first he or she would have to apply and win acceptance to the city’s separate historic registry, which has a higher threshold for admittance.

Ostashay and the city are reevaluating the historic inventory list, which originally contained more than 800 houses built before 1940, and rating homes based on state and federal preservation standards. They are also revising the city’s Historic Preservation Ordinance to include specific steps for homeowners to follow if they want their ratings changed.

Pat and Bryan Menne, who both spoke at the council meeting, said they bought their South Laguna house in 1995 and saw nothing in the city’s property report to suggest that their home was on the inventory. Pat, a real estate broker, said in an email that she didn’t find out that it was on the inventory until 2005 when she was doing work for a client.

The house was built in 1929 and renovated by previous owners, Pat said. Earlier this week, Bryan Menne agreed to show the Coastline Pilot his 1,500-square-foot home and pointed out that the bedroom used to be a carport and that sections of the house are made of various materials: concrete, brick and shingles.

“How does this represent early craftsman style when you have so many materials?” Bryan asked.

“No one of notoriety has lived in the house,” Pat said. “It was designed as a cheap sugar shack.”

The Mennes’ home currently has a relatively low historic rating. Ostashay is recommending an even lower rating that would make it ineligible for national or state registries.

Also at issue is the city’s historic register. Owners can ask that their homes be placed on the register, allowing them benefits such as waived building permit fees, fewer required parking spaces and reduced property taxes in exchange for preserving and maintaining the structures.

Ostashay and city staff have determined whether houses have historic value based on an association with important historical events or significant people, the rarity of the property type and whether the architectural style is distinctive or the work of a master architect.

After the 1981 county survey, the city added its own rating system for structures. E represented those with outstanding historical architectural integrity; K was for structures that had very good historical integrity; and C was reserved for buildings that contributed to the overall character and history of a neighborhood but were not necessarily unique.

City staffers are not proposing that any houses be added to the historic inventory, but the South Laguna Civic Assn., a private community organization, is concerned that some historic structures may have been overlooked. The organization sent a letter to the city’s Heritage Committee in February about its misgivings.

“The consultant, board and members of the public have noted that there are many structures throughout the city that qualify to be on the inventory that were missed in the 1981 study,” the letter says. “Also, in the years that have passed since then there are new generations of buildings 40 years old or more, including mid-century modern examples. These buildings should be evaluated and worthy ones added to the inventory.”

The letter contains photos of 29 houses, including the Mennes’ home, with the association’s suggested ratings.

City staff has held three workshops to discuss the inventory and ordinance update and sent letters to property owners requesting additional information about their houses to help in the reevaluation, but Boyd said that was not enough. He questioned the method of evaluating a house based on what can be seen from the street view.

“If you’re doing the curb look, you might not see what is taking place,” he said. “If you’re going to reevaluate a house, we should not be doing it from the curb. We should be doing it with the owners of the home.”

The Heritage Committee, Design Review Board and Planning Commission will all review the revised ordinance and inventory before the issue goes before the City Council.