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preservation ordinance, but instead wanted the existing Downtown historic preservation policies, guidelines, and processes be re-evaluated, these two sections of the General Plan would be deleted as shown in Exhibit D. Historic Context Statement As described by Marie Nelson from the California Office of Historic Preservation, historic context statements provide the basis for evaluating significance and integrity of a resource. The historic context statement is an organizing structure for grouping information about historic properties that share a common theme, place, and time. A historic context statement focuses on describing those historical development patterns within which the significance of a resource can be understood. The draft Pleasanton Downtown Historic Context Statement prepared for the Task Force in 2012 by Architectural Resources Group, Inc. identifies primary themes in the history of Pleasanton and connects those themes to the built environment by identifying property types associated with each theme. It provides a rationale for identifying historic resources that are important to Pleasanton as opposed to those important only to California history. As noted earlier, the Task Force is recommending it be used to help determine whether a residential structure is eligible for listing in the California Register and considered a historic structure. Each residential property in the Downtown Specific Plan Area that contains sufficient components of a residential property type described in the Context Statement would be determined to be eligible for the California Register, provided they have retained their integrity. Integrity is authenticity, or at a minimum, retention of those physical features that define why a property is significant. Staff is asking that the Planning Commission recommend that City Council accept the context statement. Staff notes that there are some minor edits that need to be made to the context statement which will be done after the Council takes action on the proposed amendments. Process Flow Charts The attached flow charts (Exhibit H) show the City process for a residential addition, a residential tear down and rebuild, new residential construction (i.e., a new house not involving demolition of an existing house), and a residential remodel. The flow charts will be integrated into a new public informational guide explaining the City's historic preservation policies and regulations, submittal requirements, and processes. The informational guide will be completed by staff after the Council takes action on the proposed draft amendments. The Commission does not need to take formal action on the flow charts, but any feedback is welcomed by staff. III. DISCUSSION Staff supports the proposed amendments and believes that they will help protect historic residential properties that are valued by the community from possible demolition. The amendments will also help streamline and eliminate uncertainty in the City's review process and eliminate inconsistencies between the Specific Plan policies and Downtown Design Guidelines. P13-2446/P13-4447/P13-4448 Page - 10- November 13, 2013