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Adjustment to the Task Force's Position on Commercial Properties The City's existing historic preservation policies do not differentiate between and apply equally to residential and commercial properties/structures. The Task Force had initially contemplated changes to the existing historic preservation policies that would apply to both residential and commercial properties/structures in the Downtown. Based on overwhelming response by the Downtown commercial property owners to not include their properties in a historic district or be part of any new regulations, the Task Force reconsidered its position and excluded commercially zoned properties for consideration as part of the contemplated changes. This Task Force position was provided to the City Council on June 4, 2013, when it updated the Council on its work to date (discussed in the following section). City Council Check-In On June 4, 2013, the Task Force updated the City Council on the results of their work since forming and requested direction on specific items the Task Force was considering. The attached City Council staff report(Exhibit E)provides detailed information on each item. The City Council provided the following direction at the meeting: 1. Should a local district be created? The Council did not support creating a local district. The Task Force's recommendation does not include the creation of a local district. 2. Should local standards be created? The Council was generally not supportive of creating local standards, although some Councilmembers wanted more information before making a final decision. Cognizant of the Council's response, the Task Force is not recommending that local standards be created other than setting a cutoff date (1942) and utilizing the Historic Context Statement to help determine whether a residential structure is eligible for listing in the California Register and considered a historic structure. Essentially, if a residential structure built before 1942 provided sufficient components of one of the property types listed in the Historic Context Statement (e.g., Craftsman, Queen Anne, etc.) and the structure retained its integrity (i.e., it had not been altered such that its character-defining features have been removed or destroyed), then it would be considered a historic resource. 3. Should a definition of demolition be created? The Council agreed with the Task Force that a demolition definition was needed and generally preferred the section definition presented in the Council staff report or a similar definition which reduces the need for judgment on the part of the City to determine what is demolition. The Task Force is recommending that the second definition be utilized with some added clarification. P13-2446/P13-4447/P13-4448 Page - 3 - November 13, 2013