RESOLUTION NO. PC 17-26
A RESOLUTION OF THE PLAI\NING COMMISSION OF
THE CITY OF ORANGE RECOMMENDING THE CITY
COUNCIL ADOPT AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE
17 OF THE ORANGE MUNICIPAL CODE TO REPLACE
CHAPTER 17.I7, HISTORIC DISTRICTS, IN ITS
ENTIRETY WITH A NEW CHAPTER I7.I7 ENTITLED
IIISTORIC PRESERVATION AI\D CULTURAL
RESOURCES AND ASSOCIATED DEFINITIONS,
PROVISIONS, AND PROCEDURES TO
COMPREHENSIVELY ADDRESS HISTORICAL,
CULTURAL AND TRIBAL RESOURCES, AND AMEND
SECTION 17.08 TO REPLACE THE DESIGN REVIEW
COMMITTEE WITII A HERITAGE COMMISSION AND
ESTABLISH ASSOCIATED PURVIEW
APPLICANT: CITY OF ORANGE
WHEREAS, the City of Orange is home to two National Register of Historic Places districts; thePlaza Historic District listed in 1982, and the Old Towne Orange Historic District, one of the largest historic districts in the western United States, listed in 1997; and WHEREAS, the City of Orange is home to three local historic districts, the Orange Eichler Historic Districts designated in 2018, as well as numerous inventoried historic properties located outside of designated historic districts that were constructed as scattered farmhouses across the community during its peak era as an agricultural community from the late-1800s through 1940; and
WHEREAS, the geographic area of the City of Orange was home to pre-historic life and Native American populations, with evidence of this presence having been documented through discoveries made through past studies of the City associated with development proposals and historic maps; and
WHEREAS, the City of Orange places a high priority in the stewardship of its historical and cultural resources as expressed in the 2010 General Plan Vision Statement, goals and policies of the Cultural Resources and Historic Preservation Element, and General Plan Implementation Program; and
WHEREAS, the long-standing Chapter 17.17, Historic Districts, of the Orange Municipal Code includes content that is narrowly focused on the procedures and criteria for establishing historic districts, and applicability of the Historic Building Code and Historic District Design Standards for Old Towne, and the Orange Eichler Historic Districts, rather than providing necessary comprehensive guidance pertaining to the historic inventory, and historic register, project review, demolition, relocation, Neighborhood Character Areas, economic hardship, and code violations; and
ATTACHMENT 4
WHEREAS, the purview of the City's Design Review Committee is presently focused on reviewing the design of projects and demolitions as specified in the Orange Municipal Code, the Historic Preservation Design Standards for Old Towne Orange, and the Orange Eichler Design Standards, creating a need to re-establishing the Design Review Committee as a Heritage Commission with expanded authority to encompass duties including, but not limited to, landmark and district designation, Mills Act contracts, review of sites involving archeological and Native American resources.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Planning Commission recommends that the City Council approve the subject ordinance, attached hereto as Attachment A, based on the following:
SECTION 1- FINDINGS
l. The proposed Ordinance implements the Vision Statement, goals and policies of the City of Orange General Plan Cultural Resources and Historic Preservation Element, and General Plan Implementation Plan by establishing comprehensive standards, procedures and requirements needed for the effective stewardship of the City's historic, Native American, and prehistoric resources by providing an enriched policies and procedures for identifuing and preserving historic buildings, sites, districts and tribal cultural resources, and providing a means of preserving neighborhood characters in areas of the city with cultural importance to the City.
SECTION 2.ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This ordinance is exempt from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061OX3) (Common Sense Exemption), because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the ordinance may have a significant effect on the environment because it serves to protect historic and cultural resources from potential impacts, thus avoiding a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change on the environment.
ADOPTED this 17th day of August, 2026.
Isaiah Leslie
Planning Commission Chair
I hereby certifu that the foregoing Resolution was adopted by the Planning Commission of the City of Orange at a regular meeting thereof held on the l7th day of August, 2026, by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
Tucker, Maldonado, McCormack, Benson
Yazquez, Vejar, Leslie
None
Manager
EXHIBIT A
RESOLUTION NO. PCIT-26
DRAFT CITY COUNCIL ORDINANCE XX.26 _
HISTORIC PRESERVATION AND
CULTURAL RESOURCES ORDINANCE