Fremont City Council Meeting: 06/06/23 07:00 PM
3300 Capitol Avenue Div/Dept: Community Development
Fremont, CA 94538 Category: Agreements and Contracts
SCHEDULED
Sponsors:
COUNCIL STAFF REPORT (ID # 4858) DOC ID: 4858
Updated: 5/31/2023 8:29 PM by Susan Gauthier Page 1
THE OLD SCHOOL MILLS ACT CONTRACT (PLN2023-00129) - To consider the Historical Architectural Review Board’s recommendation to approve a Mills Act Historical Property Contract for “The Mission Elementary School” (former Mission Elementary School and City Hall) located at 43551 Mission Boulevard in the Mission San Jose Community Plan Area; and to consider an exemption from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), each on a separate and independent basis, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines §15061 (Review for Exemption), §15183 (Projects Consistent with a Community Plan, General Plan, or Zoning), and §15378 (Project).
Contact Persons:
Name: Mayank Patel Dan Schoenholz
Title: Associate Planner Community Development Director Div/Dept: Community Development Community Development
Phone: (510) 494-4450 510-494-4438
E-Mail: [email protected] [email protected]
Executive Summary: The applicant, Mark Robson, is requesting to enter into a formal agreement, generally known as a Historical Property or Mills Act Contract, with the City. The proposed Mills Act Contract would provide the property owner with property tax relief in exchange for restoring, preserving, or rehabilitating the historical and architectural character of “The Old School” (see Exhibit A). The Old School qualifies for a Mills Act Contract because it is listed on the Fremont Register of Historic Resources. Staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution approving the Mills Act Contract, based on the findings and subject to conditions contained in Exhibit B.
BACKGROUND:
Historic Status
The Mission Elementary School (former Mission Elementary School and City Hall) located at 43551 Mission Boulevard in the Mission San Jose Community Plan Area, hereinafter refe rred to as “The Old School,” was listed on the Primary Historic Resources Inventory (1991) for the City of Fremont. In 1998, archival research was completed to gather data on The Old School and to evaluate its historical and architectural merit according to the criteria of the California Register of Historic Resources (CRHR) and the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The structure was evaluated in the field, received a photographic survey, and was documented via a Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) 523 Form (see Informational Item #1). The 1998 DPR found that The Old School qualified for listing on the CRHR and NRHP as shown in Table 1.
Council Staff Report (ID # 4858) Meeting of June 6, 2023 Updated: 5/31/2023 8:29 PM by Susan Gauthier Page 2
Table 1. Potentially Eligible for Listing – Criteria
Events Persons Architecture History
CRHR Criteria 1
Criteria 2
Criteria 3
Criteria 4
NRHP Criteria A
Criteria B
Criteria C
Criteria D
The 1998 DPR concluded that The Old School retains a high degree of integrity as an historic structure. The Old School exemplifies not only large-scale Mission-style architecture, rare in the region, but it was also originally stuccoed with an early, innovative, application technology. The Old School was also designed by an important figure in Niles and Fremont, Mr. Alfred Griffen, who worked as a set designer for Essanay Films, a film company that became well-known for its production of films starring Charlie Chaplin. As such, The Old School is an important landmark in the City of Fremont due to its association with significant persons and events as well as its relatively rare architectural style.
Prior Entitlements and Improvements
In 1998, the City Council approved, with a recommendation from the Historical Architectural Review Board (HARB), a project1 to rehabilitate The Old School, including the creation of 11 live/work units, 15 new single-family dwellings and 10,300 square feet of commercial space in two new buildings. The 1998 project described above involved an exterior renovation and interior remodel of The Old School, including removal of existing floors, drywall, and piping systems as well as addition of stairs for each of the two-story condominiums. Exterior renovations followed the Secretary of the Interior’s (SOI) Standards to preserve The Old School’s Mission-style architecture.
In November 2007, the Planning Commission approved a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) to facilitate a residential condominium conversion of The Old School. The approval of a CUP was necessary because The Old School contained 11 live-work units, a type of residential housing, that the applicant proposed to convert to a condominium form of ownership. Said conversion was subject to requirements contained in the City’s Residential Condominium Conversion Ordinance and applicable State law. In May 2008, the Planning Commission approved Tentative Tract Map 7965 to complete the conversion and allow the sale of the 11 live-work units as condominiums.
HARB Action - April 6, 2023
On April 6, 2023, the HARB held a public hearing and recommended, by a vote of 4-0, approval of the Mills Act Contact.
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS: The applicant is requesting execution of a Mills Act Contract, pursuant to Government Code § 50280 et seq. and Fremont Municipal Code (FMC) §
18.175.320 et seq., for the historic property located at 43551 Mission Boulevard, known as “The Old School.” The Mills Act grants the City the authority to enter into contracts with owners of qualified historic properties who actively participate in the restoration and maintenance of their historic properties. Owners of qualifying historic properties who agree
1 GPA-98-7, P-98-10, EIA-98-73.
Council Staff Report (ID # 4858) Meeting of June 6, 2023 Updated: 5/31/2023 8:29 PM by Susan Gauthier Page 3
to comply with certain preservation restrictions receive a potential property tax savings to help offset the costs to restore, rehabilitate, and maintain their historic property according to the SOI’s Standards and the California Historical Building Code. The City Council approves all final contracts with the City. Once executed, the Mills Act Contract is recorded on the property title and leads to reassessment of the property tax the following year.
The City’s Mill Act program is an important economic incentive for the preservation of qualified historic buildings by private property owners. The Mills Act Contract would be entered into by Mission Square Historic Renovation Partners L.P. and would bind to the successors in interest (i.e., future buyers), requiring the owners to preserve and maintain the character-defining features of the register resource.
The draft Mills Act Contract and exhibit listing the character-defining features is attached as Exhibit C. A proposed 10-year work plan to invest in the maintenance of The Old School’s character defining features is also included in the draft Mills Act Contract. Certain improvements listed in the proposed 10-year work plan may require HARB approval pursuant to FMC Chapters 18.135 and 18.175. A summary of the proposed 10-year work plan in summarized in Table 2.
Table 2. Proposed 10-Year Work Plan – Summary
Timeframe Proposed Improvements Estimated Cost
Years 1 – 3: 2022-2024 Painting $75,000
Year 4: 2025 Front Elevation Balcony/Stairs $16,000
Years 5 – 7: 2026-2028 Concrete Flatwork $14,000
Years 8 – 9: 2029-2030 Roofing $12,000
Year 10: 2031 Exterior Lighting $9,000
General Plan Conformance
The General Plan land use designation for the project site is Commercial – Town Center.
Typical uses in Town Centers include local services, retail, eating and drinking establishments, civic facilities, housing, and mixed-use development. While the character of each Town Center varies, all are intended to be pedestrian-oriented with an attractive and distinct identity, along with amenities such as small parks, public art, and plazas that creates a Main Street ambiance. In some centers, such as Mission San Jose, identity is already well established through the building fabric and streetscape. The requested Mills Act Contract would obligate the property owner(s) to rehabilitate, restore, and maintain The Old School in conformance with the SOI’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.
The Mills Act Contract would be consistent with the following goals, policies, and/or implementation measures contained in the General Plan.
Goal 4-6: Historic Preservation and Cultural Resources
Conservation and enhancement of Fremont’s historic sites, buildings, structures, objects, and landscapes into the 21st century and beyond.
Council Staff Report (ID # 4858) Meeting of June 6, 2023 Updated: 5/31/2023 8:29 PM by Susan Gauthier Page 4
Land Use Policy 4-6.1: Protection of Historic Resources Identify, preserve, protect and maintain buildings, structures, objects, sites, and districts which are reminders of past eras, events, and persons important in local, state, or national history.
Implementation 4-6.6.A: Mills Act
Encourage and facilitate the use of Mills Act historic property contracts.
Analysis
The General Plan calls for the protection of historic structures that provide significant examples of architectural periods and styles of the past. Treated as irreplaceable assets, the General Plan encourages safeguarding historic structures to provide present and future generations with examples of the physical environments in which past generations lived and worked. Furthermore, historic resources enrich a community by providing it with a unique identity and a sense of place. The preservation of The Old School, facilitated under a Mills Act Contract, would help ensure that the subject resource will remain operable as a live/work use and maintained as a historic building.
Zoning Regulations
The subject site is zoned Town Center – Pedestrian (TC-P) and is part of the Historic Overlay District (HOD) and Hillside-Combining District (H-I). The TC-P district comprises areas which were developed before Fremont’s incorporation, and which are characterized by small parcels, a mix of older and newer structures, and a mixed-use context. The TC-P district includes historic cores, such as Mission San Jose.
Pursuant to FMC §18.175.320, a Mills Act Contract may be approved at the discretion of the City Council for a property that is designated historic by the City Council or listed on any official federal, state, or county register for the purpose of preservation, rehabilitation, and maintenance of a designated historic resource. In recommending approval of the Mills Act Contract, the HARB found said approval to be consistent with the City’s General Plan goals and policies for historic preservation as well as the City’s Historic Resources Ordinance (FMC Chapter 18.175).
Analysis
As discussed under the General Plan Conformance section of this Staff Report, the Mills Act Contract would facilitate preservation of The Old School in a manner that is consistent with Fremont’s General Plan goals and policies for historic preservation.
FISCAL IMPACT: By entering into the Mills Act Contract, the City would allow for the County Assessor to use an alternative property tax calculation for The Old School, resulting in a decrease in state and local property tax revenue while requiring the property owner to maintain the Fremont Register resource. Based on estimated calculations, the Mills Act Contract for The Old School would result in a reduction in the annual property tax payment between 30- to 50-percent. The reduction varies based on property-specific assessment factors. As noted earlier in this report, in return for reduction, the property owner would commit to investing in the property as summarized in Table 2 above and further described Council Staff Report (ID # 4858) Meeting of June 6, 2023 Updated: 5/31/2023 8:29 PM by Susan Gauthier Page 5
in Exhibit C of the draft Historical Property Contract for The Mission Elementary School (see attachment).
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW: The approval of a Mills Act Contract is exempt from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), pursuant to, without limitation, each on a separate and independent basis, CEQA Guidelines:
1) §15061 (Review for Exemption) in that the activity is covered by the common-sense exemption that CEQA applies only to projects which have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA.
2) §15183 (Projects Consistent with a Community Plan, General Plan, or Zoning) in that the proposed project is consistent with the land use envisioned for the site as established by the General Plan for which an Environmental Impact Report (SCH#2010082060) was previously prepared and certified. Per CEQA Guidelines §15162 and §15163, none of the circumstances requiring calling for the preparation of a subsequent or supplemental EIR have occurred.
3) §15378 (Project) in that the requested Mills Act Contract will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment.
ATTACHMENTS:
• Exhibit A_Photo Documentation
• Exhibit B_Findings & Conditions
• Exhibit C_Draft Mills Act Contract
• Informational Item 1_DPR - The Old School
• Informational Item 2_Draft Meeting Minutes_HARB (2023.04.06) • Draft Reso- Mills Act Agreement Old Mission Elementary School
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. Hold public hearing.
2. Adopt a Resolution that:
a. Finds that the project is categorically exempt from the California Envi ronmental Quality Act (CEQA) under CEQA Guidelines §15061, §15183, and §15378. b. Finds that the proposed Mills Act Contract (PLN2023 -00129), as shown in Exhibit C, is consistent with and supportive of the City of Fremont’s General Plan goals and policies for historic preservation and the provisions of Fremont Municipal Code Chapter 18.175, the Historic Resources Ordinance.
c. Approves the Mills Act Contract, as shown in Exhibit C, based on the findings and subject to the conditions in Exhibit B, and authorize the Mayor or designee to execute the final contract.