The Value of Place: The role of Historic Preservation

Part 2 of a 2 part series
Published Originally in The Carmel Pine Cone

We think most people who live in Carmel are Perry Newberryites at heart. They don't want to pave Main Street and like things just as they are (or were!!), thank you. Yet even Carmelites have to face change.

There is the old joke about why Carmelites go on vacation. Rather than escaping reality, the story goes, they try to find it! They don't have to look far these days. Reality has come to town with raging land use debates. For years town planners and planning commissioners have been working with interim design guidelines. A year or so ago the City hired consultants to look at Carmel as a whole and to come up with suggestions for design criteria.

Recently we have been studying the elements of value in Carmel real estate as defined by one of the consultants, Donovan Rypkema. Rypkema concluded that given the high "Carmel Premium," the added value that a property gets by being in Carmel, the city must strive to preserve its unique character. Historic preservation, according to Rypkema, will be a key tool for the protection of the Carmel premium.

Sensitive Issue

It is easy to be in favor of historic preservation in the abstract, especially in a place like Carmel where so much value is wrapped up in the Carmel mystique. If an historic listing of our house, however, has the potential to cost us tens of thousands of dollars, our enthusiasm may ebb. In fact, we might become down right ornery. In short, while historic preservation helps all of us, it may, at the same time, penalize some of us. It is a sensitive land use issue.

Let's see how the process works, and what the trade-offs are. The listing of a house or building as "historic" results from the study of many preservation elements. It begins with a broad survey of historic resources and something called an "Historic Context Statement." This document provides the guidelines for winnowing down the list of potential historic properties. The City several years ago commissioned a consulting firm to prepare this document which serves as a tool for organizing the survey research into historic themes and provides guidance in evaluating properties.

Historic Preservation Committee

The Historic Preservation Committee, a group of five members as established in the municipal code, conducts the research that leads to the identifying of historically significant houses and buildings. Members are selected from candidates who have "demonstrated interest in and knowledge of Carmel's architectural and cultural resources." The mayor appoints the members subject to City Council approval. Members must be residents of Carmel who vote here, i.e., electors. If an insufficient number of qualified electors apply, the mayor may appoint qualified non-residents. A majority of the group, however, must be made up of electors.

Must Be 50 Years Old

The first element of historic designation is age. A structure, residential or commercial, must be at least 50 years old to be eligible for historic designation. The age factor insures that the historic designation process is dynamic and ongoing.

The next level of criteria are as follows:

1. Was the structure built by a well known architect or builder?
2. Was the structure in its history associated with a prominent person or event?
3. Is the design representative of an important architectural style or local theme?

If a structure falls into any of the above categories it is studied further to see if it is worthy of historic designation. It is subjected to a selection process so that properties with only minor historical interest are eliminated.

How Pristine?

Let's look, for example, at category number one from above. Maybe there are 200 houses in Carmel that M. J. Murphy had a hand in. It would not be sensible to designate all of those as historic. The review committee would look first at how much of the original house still existed. The more pristine, in terms of the original structure, the more likely a "Murphy House" would be designated historic.

The same winnowing process applies to categories two and three above. If, for example, Carmel's first mayor, Perry Newberry lived in six Carmel houses, the committee would not designate all six as historic. It is their charge to look at Newberry's life, determine which years he played a prominent role in Carmel politics and life, and consider his dwellings from that period to be candidates for historic designation.

Two important architectural movements are well represented in Carmel, the mission style and craftsman. Structures in those two categories are obvious candidates, but they too will be subjected to the winnowing process.

Your House is Listed Historically Significant -- What Happens?

The path to official historic designation is voluntary. If your property is on the list you may or may not apply for official designation. Once designated, it stays designated and there are some benefits as well as restrictions. First, these are the benefits:

1. You may apply for waivers from existing building codes during remodeling to help you preserve the original character of the house.
2. Non-conforming (i.e. not in compliance with current codes) set backs, roof heights, floor area ratios, guest houses, in-law apartments, second kitchens etc. can become permanent. The rights to rebuild grandfathered non- conformities normally can be lost in a remodel or rebuilding process, even after a fire, in a non-historic house or building. The officially designated historic house can retain the rights to the non-conformities.
3. Although not official yet, Carmel will probably come up with an historic plaque that will be affixed on historic houses and buildings. We can assume that the plaque will add romance to the property and as well as economic value.
4. The City is also investigating financial incentives that may become available in the future.

The disadvantages of historic designation scare many people and make owners reluctant to volunteer. They are:

1. No exterior changes to the house or building will be allowed without Historic Preservation Committee and Planning Commission approval.
2. Applications for demolition permits can take up to one year to process.

Owners who feel their property should eventually be demolished do not want to apply for an historical designation, as they will be subjected to the one-year rule. During the year, the City will consider alternatives to demolition. What the year hiatus does is give the City time to come up with palatable alternatives to demolition. If none of the City's proposals are accepted by the owner, the demolition permit will be issued.

Catch 22

Whew! Now we know we are in the clear if our property has been listed as historically significant, and we have not volunteered for official historic designation. "Call out the bulldozers and scrape the old dog, historic or not," we say to ourselves. We have just saved a year of time and a ton of money.

"Oh, no you don't," retorts the preservationist. "The State has this little trick up its sleeve called CEQA (SEEqwa), the California Environmental Quality Act."

CEQA is the Catch 22. This act says that damage to an historic asset is an environmental impact. Once your property is on the historic list, officially designated or not through your voluntary action, it is an historic asset. When you show up at Planning with your major remodel or demolition application the Planning Commission is obliged to invoke CEQA and may require you to do an environmental impact report before the granting of permits.

This puts you back in the one-year box during which time you will have to pay for the environmental impact report and listen to City suggestions on alternative means to fix up your property. After you have the EIR and the year has passed, if you are still determined to proceed with, say demolition, the permit will be granted.

Expensive

Thus, we have learned that historic designation can be expensive to individual home owners. The disappearance of our historic assets can also be expensive to all of us by altering the unique character of our village.

There is no doubt that historic preservation will be an important part of Carmel's future land use planning. We think, however, the cost of the mandatory EIRs should be shared by all of us. The City of Carmel might have a fund to subsidize the EIRs for those owners who have not volunteered to have their properties sanctioned historic.

What do you think? Let us know by writing to us at PO Box 6633, Carmel 93921, by email at paulnel@ix.netcom.com or send a letter to the Editor.

BACK TO: The Value Of Place, Part 1: The Carmel Premium

We have lived on the Monterey Peninsula since 1978 and in the heart of Carmel since 1986. We know the market, would be happy to evaluate the market value of your house at no charge or to answer your real estate questions. Please call. You can reach us day or night at 831 624-1414 or E-mail us.

PS. If your home is currently listed for sale, this is not intended as a solicitation.