Mills Act Contracts and Historic Landmark Designation
City Council Meeting – October 3, 2023
Mills Act Program 2023 – Background
• A Mills Act contract provides property tax abatement in exchange for rehabilitation and maintenance of historic structures
• Long Beach’s Mills Act program was enacted in 1993
• The program was dormant between 2006 and 2014
• During 2014 both Cultural Heritage Commission and City Council acted to resume accepting new Mills Act Applications
• The program resumed in 2016 and continued through 2020 • The program paused from 2021-2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and reopened in 2023
2 Mills Act Program 2023 – Priority Consideration
3 • Unique or important historic structures that are in particularly poor condition and in need of significant restoration regardless of location. • Potential new landmark properties not within designated historic districts. • 2020 applications that were not awarded and remain eligible. • Applications that include a local (Long Beach) labor or materials component in their work plan will be given priority.
Mills Act Program 2023 – Application Outreach
4 • Letters mailed to all historic landmark and historic district property owners • Press release to local media outlets, email blast to local groups, information on City website
• Specialized website and application guide.
• Held two in-person workshops at Jordan High School Auditorium and the Long Beach Utilities Auditorium
Mills Act Program 2023 – Application Summary
5 Property Types Received Annual Max by
Category* YES NO
Single-Family Residential
(1 dwelling unit) 30 12 17 13
Duplex or Triplex Residential
(2 or 3 dwelling units) 8 3 5 3
Multi-Family Residential or Mixed-Use
Residential/Commercial
(4 or more units)
4 4 2 2
Non-Residential
(Commercial, Industrial, or Institutional) 1 1 1 0
Exceptional Architecture/Culturally Significant/At-
Risk for Demo 0 2 1 0
43 22 26 17
*The program has a maximum allowance of contracts that can be awarded based on property type. However, the maximum allowance can be exceeded if contracts were not awarded in prior application cycles or due to strength of application..
Mills Act Program 2023 – Future Planning Initiatives
6 Preservation Initiatives:
• Citywide Historic Context Statement Update (Completion end of year) • 2022 Race and Suburbanization Historic Context Statement Continuing efforts to expand the historic preservation program to increase recognition and preservation of community histories that are currently under-represented in the historic preservation program in Long Beach.
City staff will be re-evaluating the design of the Mills Act program to identify ways of more equitably awarding Mills Act contracts in future years including with a focus on properties recognized through the context statement updates as well as other equity considerations.
Landmark Request
To be eligible for Landmark designation, a cultural resource must retain integrity and meet one of the following criteria:
A. It is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of the City’s history; or
B. It is associated with the lives of persons significant in the City’s past; or C. It embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or it represents the work of a master, or it possesses high artistic values; or
D. It has yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in pre- history or history.
7 Landmark Request (Cont.)
8 3305 E. 1st Street
4004 Country Club Drive
645 W. 11th Street
622-628 E. Anaheim Street
953 Chestnut Avenue
Landmark Request (cont.)
9 338 Junipero Avenue
1400 Hellman Street
830 Santiago Avenue
151 St. Joseph Avenue
822 Willow Street
Recommendation
10 Request the City Attorney to prepare Ordinances to designate the ten properties located at 3305 East 1st Street, 645 West 11th Street, 622-628 East Anaheim Street, 953 Chestnut Avenue, 4004 Country Club Drive, 338 Junipero Avenue, 1400 Hellman Street, 830 Santiago Avenue, 151 St. Joseph Avenue and 822 Willow Street as Long Beach Historic Landmarks and, Authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute Mills Act historic property contracts with property owners of 26 historic properties. (Districts 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7)
Thank you
11 Christopher Koontz, AICP
Director
Community Development Department
[email protected]