Fresno, CA – The City of Fresno’s Planning and Development Department has been awarded a 2009 Governor’s Historic Preservation Award for its 2008 publication, Architecture, Ethnicity and Historic Landscapes of California’s San Joaquin Valley. Fresno is one of 12 statewide projects that will be honored at a ceremony and reception at the Leland Stanford Mansion State Historic Park in Sacramento on January 20th.

Karana Hattersley-Drayton, Historic Preservation Officer for the City, will accept the award on behalf of the Department. Ms. Drayton served as the Executive Editor for the publication and also wrote several of the illustrated essays. Kevin Enns-Rempel, archivist for Fresno Pacific University who served on the editorial board, will join Ms. Drayton at the ceremony.

Architecture, Ethnicity and Historic Landscapes of California’s San Joaquin Valley is the first-ever published collection of essays, short articles, historic photographs and original art to examine the vernacular architecture and cultural heritage of the region. The work includes 29 essays by 22 authors and is collated into seven sections by themes which were developed for the Vernacular Architecture Forum’s annual conference held in Fresno in May 2008. The preface was written by author Gerald Haslam. Although the publication was produced by the City of Fresno’s Planning and Development Department as a companion volume for the conference, the intent was for this work to have a life well beyond that of the conference. Copies of the publication were subsequently distributed to libraries and archives throughout California.

The publication won a 2008 California Preservation Foundation Award and in a review published last year the work was described as an “extraordinary little volume.” Copies of “Architecture, Ethnicity and Historic Landscapes…” are available for sale from the Planning and Development Department.

For more information contact Karana Hattersley-Drayton, Historic Preservation Project Manager at (559) 621-8520.

Update 10/15/09

A vote Cam Maloy cast in September is being reviewed for conflict of interest after she resigned from the commission. The 4-0 Planning Commission vote approved locked-in fees and requirements of a tentative tract map on a Granville project located just North of Tokyo Garden on Van Ness. Read more from the Fresno Bee.

Original Post

Thursday October 8th, Planning Commissioner Cam Maloy sent a letter of resignation to the City of Fresno after only four months as commissioner. The Fresno Bee writer George Hostetter reports

According to city documents, Maloy received two large personal loans from entities owned by members of the Assemi family. Farid, Darius and Farshid Assemi are brothers who have residential and commercial development interests throughout the city.

The Planning Commission is perhaps the most powerful nonelected body at City Hall, and often is the final word on the regulation and approval of development projects. Maloy had been on the commission for only four months.

Swearengin said she spoke with Maloy by phone Thursday afternoon.

“She offered to resign and I told her I thought that was the right thing to do,” Swearengin said Friday.

In her letter of resignation effective Thursday, Maloy told Swearengin she was resigning “in order to assure there is no real or perceived conflict of interest which will detract from the great work that the city and the planning commission are doing.”

Maloy’s brief stint highlights what city officials acknowledge is a flaw in the vetting process for commission nominees.

Maloy was appointed by Swearengin, and the City Council unanimously approved the appointment in June.

There was no council discussion, and the background information on Maloy dealt mainly with her extensive development experience in the private sector and with nonprofit groups.

Planning Commissioners play a very important role in our development as a city. It is crucial that the mayor, is deliberate in selecting commissioners that will represent the public’s interests equally. It is also crucial that our councilmenbers be more rigorous in vetting these appointments.

The article continues:

Swearengin said Maloy went through a pre-nomination interview, but a thorough check of her financial interests was not conducted.

After their appointments, commission members are required by the state to periodically file a statement of economic interests with City Hall.

When The Bee began asking questions about Maloy’s statement, Swearengin said, “It was the first that any of us knew of her financial connections to people who had development companies as well.”…

In a Thursday interview with The Bee, before she resigned, Maloy said she used proceeds from the Assemi loans to help buy a stake in Kamm South, a farming operation on the Valley’s west side.

She also said the Assemi brothers are among the many stakeholders in Kamm South.

Maloy said the Assemi brothers are friends of hers.

Swearengin said Maloy told the City Attorney’s Office of the loans, and was told she merely had to recuse herself from issues involving the Assemis.

But, Swearengin said, she is not satisfied with a technical compliance with conflict-of-interest laws: “We cannot have the public thinking that anyone has any ties to the projects that are coming before the commission.”

Several City Council members said they want more information on the financial history of future commission nominees. Swearengin said that will be a priority.

Swearengin said she is interviewing candidates to replace Maloy.

My hat is off to the Bee for investigating this and reporting it so well. Cam Maloy has a strong history of serving the community. She serves on the board of the Central Valley Business Incubator. And until recently served on the Historic Preservation Commission. She should be comended for her service. Despite this service we need to be very cautious of potential conflicts of interest.

I recall a Historic Preservation Commission meeting on June 22nd, 2009, Maloy spoke in favor of a Granville Homes proposal given by Darius Assemi. At the time Maloy was no longer serving on the HPC and beginning service on the Planning Commission. Looking back, this does seem inappropriate for a past Historic Preservation Commissioner or current Planning Commissioner to speak in favor of an applicant which she has financial ties to. It demonstrates the potential conflict of interest that may occur if she continued to serve on the Planning Commission.

To apply for the planning commission or other Fresno boards see the City Clerk webpage

From the City of Fresno website:

The City of Fresno Planning Commission is responsible for ensuring that the 2025 Fresno General Plan, Community and Specific Plans and the Zoning Ordinance are properly implemented. In addition, the Planning Commission takes action on various entitlements, as delegated by the legislative body (i.e. City Council). The Commission meets every first and third Wednesday’s of the month (unless otherwise noted below) at 6:00 pm in the City Council Chambers located at 2600 Fresno Street, second floor.

During these public hearings, the Commission takes action on the following entitlements:

* Subdivision tract maps.
* Appeals of Variances, Conditional Use Permit and Site Plan Review Applications
* Makes a recommendation to the City Council on all Rezone and Plan Amendment Applications
* Various policy and code updates, etc.

CITY OF FRESNO PLANNING COMMISSION

AUTHORIZATION: Fresno City Charter Section 906
TYPE: Charter
MEETS: 1st and 3rd Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m.
LOCATION: City Hall, Council Chambers
TERM: Four years
COMPENSATION: $100 per meeting, not to exceed 24 meetings
STAFF REP: Planning and Development Dept., Keith Bergthold 621-8003
Alt. Staff Contact: Joann Zuniga 621-8032
APPOINTMENTS: 7 members appointed by the Mayor with Council approval. Must be a City of Fresno resident.

Name: Term Expires:

Rama Dawar 6/30/2010
Jamie Holt 6/30/2010
Paul Caprioglio 6/30/2013
Serop Torossian 6/30/2011
Hal Kissler 6/30/2012
Rojelio (Roy) Vasquez 6/30/2011
Vacant

On July 17th, Fresno Mayor, Ashley Swearengin proposed changes to the city’s Historic Preservation Ordinance. The changes which City Council approved allowed the mayor to appoint non-city residence to the commission. Before that was not allowed. That applied to residents who lived in county island as well.

That included Joe Moore. If you spend anytime in downtown Fresno and/or listen to 90.7 KFSR, then you know Joe Moore. Currently, he is the president of the Downtown Association and station manager at KFSR.

Last Thursday, City Council approved the Mayor’s appointment of Joe Moore to the Historic Preservation Commission under the amended Historic Preservation Ordinance. He take the place of Kevin Enns-Rempel. Commissioner terms are for 4 years. Kevin had served for 13 years.

I asked both Joe and Kevin to share some thought for this post. Kevin about his experiences and what’s next for him. For Joe, why he had applied for the commission and what is his perspective on Historic Preservation.

Kevin Enns-Rempel

I first applied to be a member of the Historic Preservation Commission in 1995 at the encouragement of commissioner Russ Fey, and was appointed in early 1996 by Mayor Jim Patterson. I had precious little idea at first of what I was getting into. I had come to be interested in local historic resources not as an activist, but rather through my training as a historian. I naively imagined that my service on the commission would be mostly an extension of the research and writing that I had done before that time. I quickly learned, however, that the job had far more to do with negotiating the sometimes-competing demands of community good and individual property rights, and advocating whenever possible for the protection of the community’s historic resources. This would be no calm academic exercise!

Now completing thirteen years on the commission, I’m most pleased to see how the climate for historic preservation has improved in Fresno. When I joined the commission, we had very little meaningful voice in city government. Planning decisions were made and building permits issued for historic properties often without the commission being notified. Over the last thirteen years, such situations have largely become a thing of the past. Voices for preservation become part of the conversation much earlier in the planning process now, often resulting in a much more favorable end result. Things still don’t go our way every time, but the climate has greatly improved.

More specifically, I think I’m most pleased to have been part of creating Fresno’s first two (and presumably soon to be three) historic districts. Designating properties one at a time to the Local Register is a good thing too, but providing protection for entire areas is often a much more valuable process. If I had to name one particular building I’m most happy to have been a part of saving, I’d have to say the Santa Fe Railroad Depot. For many years all signs pointed toward the destruction of that wonderful building, but the efforts of many people led to a very different — and much happier — result.

Back in civilian life, I plan to continue maintaining the website “A Guide to Historic Resources in Fresno, California” (http://historicfresno.org), which I began in 1996 shortly after joining the commission. Perhaps with more time available I can think of new content that might be added to the website to make it an even more valuable resource.

Serving on the Historic Preservation Commission has been an honor and a privilege. It has offered me the chance to become acquainted with some of best people in Fresno, and to do my part in making this community a better place to live. I’m very grateful for that opportunity.

Joe Moore

As you know I’ve had a long running interest in historic preservation, specifically in the Downtown area. One of the things that makes a downtown special is the built environment, and in this case, the mix of old and new architecture. I’m going to talk about this in my pecha kucha presentation at the Cultural Arts Conference. The dirt downtown is not special by itself. So why do we care about “downtown” then if it’s not the dirt? It’s because it’s a unique environment, with urban form and an architectural legacy that is the embodied history of the city and its people. Those two things are critical to understand, because they answer two commonly asked questions – 1) why not tear everything down and start from scratch; 2) why not build more suburban type big box stores, with big setbacks, surface parking, etc downtown? If you do either of those things (to a degree) it literally ceases to become a downtown any longer. So historic preservation & good design go hand in hand with urban revitalization.

While we have lost a great deal of our history over the past 50 years, including most of the city’s Victorian era commercial building stock. However, we still have a great collection of historic buildings in the city, especially downtown, and our older neighborhoods are filled with great homes. Once a resource is gone, it’s lost forever, so I think now is really an important time. Today’s generation will leave a lasting impact and will largely make decisions that will determine what our city will look like in another 50 years. Will that include the outstanding and significant resources that have helped define our image as city and link us with past generations? I hope so.

As far as goals, I think anything we can do to raise awareness and appreciation for historic resources would be great. I’d like to see some progress on the minimum maintenance standards issue. I also think we need to see more in the way of historic surveys, and hopefully we will with the Fulton Corridor Specific Plan. Another interesting area is modernism. Fresno has some great mid-century homes and commercial buildings, and as they turn 50 years old, I think it would be great to see some properties by Robert Stevens, Allen Lew, Walter Wagner, or Gene Zellmer (or others) represented as historic resources. I think the general public is beginning to appreciate mid-century modern architecture and design more now, just look at the wild popularity of the TV series Mad Men. A good deal of that program’s appeal is based on the “jet set modern” look of the show, from the clothes to the cars, buildings and interiors. Everything comes full circle. Modernist resources are a part of our heritage too.

I applied because I was encouraged by the Mayor and her administration to serve, as they were looking for someone with a background in history and an interest in historic preservation to serve on the commission. I got my degree in History from Fresno State in 2000. One of my professors in the History Department was Dr. Ephraim Smith, who was instrumental in leading the fight to save the Old Administration Building at Fresno City College. I’ve had a great interest in Downtown and Fresno’s historic architecture for a very long time. I can remember reading Edwin Eaton’s “Vintage Fresno” and the “As Pop Saw It” books in the school library when I was a child, and was fascinated by the city’s history and those great old buildings. I think that was back in the 5th or 6th grade, and I’ve been interested in it ever since.

Both Kevin and Joe are outstanding citizens. There will be a reception in honor of Kevin Enns-Rempel at 5 pm today September 28th in the 2nd floor lobby of City Hall.

update 09-29-2009

The owner of the Helm and Newman Homes, One By One Leadership, presented to the Historic Preservation Commission their new plan to move forward with restoration of both homes. They also provided a letter of intent for a $500,000 loan from the Housing Authority to help make it possible.

While the jury is still out on the Newman home, the damage is not as severe as some had feared. Or better put – there is a good possibility it could be saved. The roof collapsed in the fire mentioned below, but the 1st floor, 2nd floor and walls maintained much of their integrity.

Friday night September 18th ABC 30 reported that the fire destroyed historic home at L Street and Divisadero in downtown Fresno.

Fresno Fire Department has not yet discovered the cause of the blaze.

Newman Home at 1743 L Street was built in 1911 in a Colonial Revival style. It is on the Local Register of Historic Resources. Via Historic Fresno website.

View Larger Map

Today on the Fresno City Council agenda is a proposal by Mayor Ashley Swearengin to amending the Fresno Municipal Code relating to the Historic Preservation Commission.

That is not as drastic as it may sound and maybe a good modification. In fact, her bid for election as mayor was supported by several prominent local architects. With that and their continued advisement, Mayor Swearengin is well suited for improving Fresno’s built environment and making changes to City policy to support that.

The proposal by the Mayor is to amend the Historic Preservation Ordinance that governs the Commission to clarify residency requirements.

“The proposed amendment to Fresno Municipal Code Section 12-1605 would require five (5) of the seven (7) members of the Historic Preservation Commission to be a resident of the City of Fresno, but would allow two (2) of the seven (7) commission members, as long as they had the historical background described in Section 12-1605, to reside outside of Fresno but within the State of California.”

The story broke Monday through The Business Journal. This proposal was not a surprise given what I’d heard in the City Hall Lobby after the June meeting of the Commission. I had been there to report about 1, 2 items in front of the commission during that meeting. The commission has all 7 seats currently filled. However, 2 commisioners terms (4 years) are expired. It was a frustration of the preservation community during the Autry administration that there was never a full commission. There has been a change from that with the Swearengin administration, as 3 new members have been appointed since she took office.

Architect and commission co-chair, Chris Johnson AIA stated that:

“My understanding is that filling this commission with the energy and expertise needed to sustain it over a long haul is the issue. Protecting Fresno’s history goes beyond the city ‘boundaries’ and ‘limits’ and currently the Mayor is precluded by the city attorney at having individuals that do not live in the City limits serve on the HPC.” A co-author of the current Ordinance, Johnson continues, “There is no language clarifying this issue in the ordinance so the language proposed will provide clarity and give the Mayor more flexibility to fill the commission with the best possible candidates in and around Fresno.”

If you’re in to this kinda stuff, here is a PDF of the current Historic Preservation Ordinance. And here is a PDF of the Mayor’s proposed amendment to the Ordinance.

The County of Fresno also has a historic preservation counterpart. But I must admit I know little about it. Historical Landmarks & Records Commission

Share your thoughts here:

What are the benefits or pitfalls of allowing county residents on this City Commission?

Could this create more City / County cross pollination?

Could this set precedent for other City of Fresno commissions such as the Planning Commission?

What is needed to spur more civic engagement so that there is actually competition for these commission appointments?

Post updated 7/16/09 with facts from Kevin Enns-Rempel’s comment.

In addition to the L Street & San Joaquin Avenue proposal, also on Monday’s agenda of the City of Fresno Historic Preservation Commission was the proposed demolition of three properties on Broadway Avenue near Tuolumne. The three building were not on any historic registry. However, in a historic survey of the area they were found to be contributors to a potential historic district called Broadway Auto Row. The district included a strip of buildings that where once used as Car showrooms parts suppliers and repair shops.

View Larger Map

The proposed demolition was brought to the Commission by owners Will Dyke and Reza Assemi. Reza developed a building across the street called Broadway Studios which features a restored facade containing 3 commercial spaces in front and 20+ artist work studios in the back.

The discussion by the Commission did get heated and even jumped to the controversial demolition by Will Dyke of the Nationally Registered Ice House Building. (1, 2, 3, 4) At one point architect and commissioner said “Downtown keeps getting it teeth knocked out.” Also as coauthor of Fresno’s Historic Preservation Ordinance, he disagreed with staff abou the intent of the Ordinance.

The only action the committee could talk was to recomend the the buildings are individually eligable for the Local Registry. That is a higher threshold than a building that is a contributor to a historic district. It was a 4 to 2 vote to not rocomend the buildings for the Local Registry. That vote cleared the path for Will and Reza to pull a demolition pemit for the three buildings.

I had written about the demolition of the two buildings next door to these properties. The building on the end was commonly known as the Nightmare Building. On Fresno Famous the post was title Eulogy of the Nightmare.

Today is the City of Fresno Historic Preservation Commission meeting. There are several interesting items on the agenda, but I’d like to focus on one. Darius Assemi of Granville Homes has asked to meet with the Commission to present a conceptual plan for a mixed-use project at the corner of L Street and San Joaquin Avenue in downtown.

click for larger image

The report to the Commission states that Assemi is seeking Commission and public input prior to incurring additional research and expense. If you are not familiar with the Assemi family and Granville Homes, they have made substantial investments in Downtown, specifically in the Cultural Arts District.

I believe we are at a point in development in downtown Fresno that the question is no longer “development or no development?” The question now is “How do we measure successful development?”

Last week I posted theory thursday: authenticity alluding to some projects that do not evoke authenticity. I believe that this project falls into that category. Some of the things that triggered this is that the proposal included two styles which remind me much more of tract home models than that historic Art & Crafts and Italianate which they are named for. Below are the renderings included in the proposal.

Arts & Crafts

Italianate

While this neighborhood has many vacant even severely damaged buildings, several are historic. And the common style represented is Colonial Revival of various forms. Beyond missing the mark historically, I’m of the philosophy that building faux historic buildings near real historic buildings is actually detrimental to the built environment.

There are several reasons I believe this: The level of craftsmanship of the historic resources is unmatched by the economics of and process building today; the history a neighborhood should be a patchwork of different eras leading to today’s contemporary buildings. This should be easily read. By building cheap knock offs of yesterdays buildings today with foam details once hand carved out of solid wood history become very muddy for the passerby.

A contemporary building in this location should take cues from its surroundings. What is the scale of its neighboring buildings? Is there a rhythm set by how the land was parceled? What are the materials used? How do the buildings address the street? All of these elements can help a new building fit into the context of its surrounding without trying to mimic the past.

Beyond style, the planning of the project should be such it builds community. Street life is essential as is pedestrian focus. The plan proposed feels much more like a gated apartment complex. That does not fit the downtown context.

In summery, I encourage Granville Home to continue investing Downtown, however this proposed project marks a turn in the wrong direction.

UPDATE 6-23-09

The Historic Preservation Commission meeting was interesting. I was surprised how willing the commission was to accept the fact that the 3 historic buildings on the site of the Granville proposal would most likely be demolished. They were more interested in preserving the buildings on the West side of the street that were outside the bounds of the proposal.

I found some glimmer of hope in a comment made by architect and commissioner, Chris Johnson AIA “This is not the Historic DemolishionCommission.”

To Mr Assemi’s credit he was open to all input about the design. Comments from the public including a member of the Fulton/Lowell Design Review Committee, a former HPC Commissioner Cam Maloy, and even Historic Preservation project manager, Karana Hattersly-Drayton, were in favor of a third alternative not shown above.

The third design broke the long building in two with a pedestrian walkway and each building used detail elements pulled from different styles. Most notably was a center building that quoted the parapet detail from the Helm Home on the west side of the street. Granville is also planning to renovate the Helm Home.

I spoke publicly about some of the design concerns that I had that are listed above. My comments focused around authenticity, trying to preserve at least one of the building as an anchor to the project and some of the urban planning issues that needed to be addressed regarding activating the street with entry porches activating the street.

The Commission formed a subcommittee that will further advise Granville Homes about the design