City of
Placerville Regina O'Connell <[email protected]> City Council Meeting Letter for tonight
Paul Coggiola <[email protected]> Tue, Oct 10, 2023 at 9:57 AM To: Regina O'Connell<[email protected]>, Kristen Hunter <[email protected]>, Pierre Rivas <[email protected]>
Good Morning Regina,
I am hoping you can distribute this to the city council members tonight before the meeting. It is from a council member who was part of the council when the ordinance was enacted. We really appreciate the help.
Thanks so much,
Paul and Andrea Coggiola
Letter to City Council By Tustin.docx
13K
1769 Country Club Dr.
Placerville, CA
October 9, 2023
Placerville Council
Re: Item #11.1 - Appeal of Paul & Andrea Coggiola re vinyl windows Dear Mayor and Council Members:
I was a member of the Placerville City Council when the historic district ordinance was passed, and possibly later amended. In fact, I may be the only living Councilmember from that era.
The ordinance was created to preserve the integrity of "historic residences" in Placerville, however that was defined. Our main focus at the time was to preserve the beautiful old Victorians in the Cedar Ravine, Bedford Avenue, Spring Street and Coloma Street areas. It was never our intention to prevent homeowners from improving their property. It was also not our intention to designate a house as "historic" simply because it was old.
The house that is the subject of this appeal may be old, but it certainly is not historic in my mind. It's basically a boxy small house in need of substantial updating. If the owners wish to improve the property with vinyl windows replacing the original wooden ones, more power to them! Anything they do to the current status of the property would be an improvement.
I have no idea how the boundary lines of the historic district were determined, or who was in charge of making such a determination. However, common sense would tell us that the boundary should stop when the Victorians cease to exist, and that is further north on Cedar Ravine. Across the street (Darlington) is an accountant's office, and further up the street is a non-historic but old business and an apartment complex. Maybe the City Council needs to revisit the boundary lines.
In any event, I don't see the harm in permitting the applicant to proceed with their plans as submitted.
Nitpicking is not conducive to good community relations.
Sincerely,
Karen Tustin
Placerville City Council Member, 1977-1987, 1990 - 1994 (Mayor 1982 - 84)