STAFF REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
DATE: Regular Meeting of October 22, 2024
TO: Mayor and Members of the City Council
VIA: Dante Hall, City Manager
SUBMITTED BY: Timothy Rood, AICP, Community Development Director SUBJECT: Queen Anne House Demolition
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Adopt a resolution finding demolition of the Queen Anne house to be exempt from CEQA, authorizing its demolition, and amending the General Fund FY 2024-25 Budget for the Public Works Department increasing its appropriation by $50,000 for testing and demolition of the structure.
BACKGROUND:
The City Council has discussed the Queen Anne extensively, including on September 27, 2016; November 9, 2016; September 12, 2017; February 26, 2019; and July 9, 2024.
Historic Designation
The disassembled Queen Anne house now located at the City’s corporation yard was built around 1905 and was identified in 1980 as a contributor to the “Hercules Village” Historic District — a worker village associated with the Hercules Powder Company — which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NR8000079). The Hercules Village was associated with the Hercules Powder Works, which came to be one of the most significant explosives and chemical factories in the west. Today about 27 buildings associated with the former use remain in existence, including approximately 20 houses on Bay and Pinole Streets that were moved and/or restored in the mid-1980s, the Civic Arts building that houses Leila by the Bay, and six other vacant buildings, including the Queen Anne, three of which have been relocated from their original sites.
Prior Relocations and Disassembly
In 2002, to accommodate anticipated site grading, the Bixby Company removed the structure from its foundation and relocated it about one hundred feet west of its original site. In 2010, the City of Hercules acquired the structure from Oso Trabuco, its owner, and moved it about a half mile south to the City’s corporation yard. This relocation required cutting the building in two.
Prior Historic Resource Evaluation
In February 2018, the City obtained a Historic Resource Evaluation of the house from MGroup to support its relocation and rehabilitation. Given that the resource had been removed from its original setting and removed from its former associations, the evaluation determined it no longer retained the ability to convey its district-level significance associated with the Hercules Village. According to the report, the only historic significance that would be retained by the structure once moved and renovated would be that the structure was once occupied by Eugene (Gene) Woodfield, who served as mayor from 1962-1975 and was “instrumental in crafting the City’s first General Plan and creating a blueprint for how the City would evolve following the closure of the Hercules Plant” and for whom the first City park was named.
Failed Relocation Effort
Rockhead and Quarry, the house movers selected by the City in 2016 to move and rehabilitate the Queen Anne, withdrew from the project in May 2024, which voided the bill of sale that was executed in 2022.
Current Historic Resource Evaluation
As directed by Council on July 9, 2024, staff obtained an updated Historic Resource Evaluation (Attachment 1) from M-Group, focusing on the integrity of the structure following its disassembly and continued exposure to the elements. The evaluation found that the structure in its current condition does not retain integrity sufficient to convey its individual significance and thus no longer constitutes a historic resource under CEQA.
ANALYSIS:
The updated Historic Resource Evaluation focusing on integrity that the City obtained from M-Group (Attachment 2) has found that the disassembled Queen Anne house no longer retains sufficient integrity to convey its individual significance. Combined with the structure’s prior loss of its district-level significance due to its relocation, the evaluation confirmed that the structure no longer constitutes a historic resource under the California Environmental Quality Act. The City is now free to file a Notice of Exemption from CEQA and pursue demolition.
The City has received complaints from area residents over the years about the appearance of the dilapidated structure. Staff is seeking the Council’s authorization to obtain bids for the demolition and removal of the structure, and an appropriation from reserves to cover the anticipated cost of hazardous materials testing and demolition.
Demolition Considerations
Based on past City Attorney analysis, demolition would likely be a public project subject to procurement requirements under the Public Contract Code and prevailing wage requirements under the Labor Code. The procurement would also need to comply with the City's policy and procedures for capital projects.
Demolition debris would need to be processed in accordance with the City’s franchise agreement with Republic Services and applicable regulations. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District must be notified and its regulations must always be followed when removing asbestos or demolishing buildings. The 2019 California Green Building Standards Code (CalGreen), as amended in the City’s Municipal Code, requires that at least 65% by weight of job site debris generated by demolition projects to be recycled, reused, or otherwise diverted from landfill disposal. CalGreen requires submission of plans and reports with verifiable post-project documentation to demonstrate that at least 65% of the nonhazardous construction and demolition (C&D) debris generated on the job site are salvaged for reuse, recycled or otherwise diverted.
In October 2021, Phil Joy Housemoving added additional steel I-beams and wood cribbing to support the house and remove the sagging that had been occurring from the prior (2010) temporary shoring equipment put in place by Trost Jacking and Heavy Moving, Inc. Both house movers will need to be notified if and when the house is moved from the corporation yard so that they can retrieve their steel beams from beneath it.
FISCAL IMPACT:
In 2016, staff estimated the potential cost of demolition at approximately $25,000, assuming hazardous material such as asbestos were not present. Staff estimates that cost would be at least $38,000 today, due to general construction cost inflation of nearly 50% between 2016 and 2024, per the California Construction Cost Index published by the Department of Finance.
Because the prior cost estimates excluded hazardous materials testing and abatement, and because lead-based paint was in near-universal use prior to its ban in 1978, staff proposes to first procure independent hazardous materials testing to confirm which regulated hazardous materials are present in the structure.
With these test results in hand, staff would then informally solicit three bids from qualified and experienced demolition contractors to conduct the work in accordance with all applicable regulations, including handling of lead-based paint, asbestos, PCBs and other hazardous materials; complying with the Construction & Demolition provisions of the CalGreen Building Code and with the City’s Franchise Agreement with Republic Services; and obtaining all required permits.
Staff believes the full cost of testing and demolition, as well as a contingency, can be accommodated within the City Manager’s signature authority of $50,000 for capital projects.
Funds are available and will be appropriated in Facilities Maintenance Fund under expenditure account #470-5433-611.90-00. If no contractor provides a responsive and responsible bid within that limit, staff would first contact additional contractors for bids, and, if unsuccessful, return to Council for additional direction.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attach 1 – Resolution
Attach 2 – Historic Resource Evaluation (2024)
Financial Impact
Description: Queen Anne House Demolition
Funding Source: Facilities Maintenance Fund (470-5433-611.90-00) Budget Recap:
Total Estimated cost: $50,000 New Revenue: None
Amount Budgeted: Lost Revenue: N/A
New funding required: Yes New Personnel: N/A
Council Policy Change: Yes No