Planning and Building Agency
City of Santa Ana
20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92701
Planning Commission Staff Report
September 28, 2026
Topic: HRCA No. 2026-3, HRC No. 2026-4, HPPA No. 2026-4 – The Sugden House (2339 N. Valencia Street)
RECOMMENDED ACTIONS
1. Adopt a resolution approving Historic Resources Commission Application No. 2026-3 and Historic Register Categorization No. 2026-4; and
2. Recommend that the City Council authorize the City Manager and City Clerk to execute the attached Mills Act agreement with Carlos Bustamante, for the property located at 2339 N. Valencia Street, subject to non-substantive changes approved by the City Manager and City Attorney.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Carlos Bustamante, Trustee of The Bustamante Family Revocable Living Trust Dated 9- 23-2020, is requesting approval to designate an existing American Colonial Revival-style residence located at 2339 N. Valencia Street on the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties (“Register”), as well as approval to execute a Mills Act agreement with the City of Santa Ana. The property qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties under Criterion 1 as an intact example of an American Colonial Revival-style house. It is worthy of “Key” categorization as it has a distinctive architectural style and quality reflective of the American Colonial Revival style, including its wood shingle siding, wood shiplap siding, brick siding, brick planter, wood sash windows throughout property including wood louvered shutters on the primary facade, recessed front porch with wood post, banisters, and arched beams, original wood paneled and glazed door, square bay window on the south elevation including wood casement window, louvered vent in the gables, and decorative vent openings at the crawl space.
DISCUSSION
Project Location and Site Description
The subject property is located mid-block bounded on the west by North Valencia Street and on the north, south, and east by private properties. The site contains a 1,576-squarefoot, American Colonial Revival-style residence and detached garage on an HRCA No. 2026-3, HRC No. 2026-4, HPPA No. 2026-4 – The Sugden House (2339 N.
Valencia Street)
September 28, 2026
approximately 8,580-square-foot residential lot. The one-story residence has an irregular shaped plan and a concrete foundation and is capped with a moderately pitched crossgabled roof clad in composition shingles and wood louver vents in the side gables. The exterior walls are sheathed in wood shingle, shiplap, and brick siding. Facing North Valencia Street to the west, the asymmetrical main façade is characterized by a wood paneled and glazed front door, recessed under the primary roofline, within a small front porch enclosed by wood banisters and a square post and arched openings. The west, primary façade is also characterized by a tripartite window with a central wood frame fixed pane window with eight panes and flanked by two-over-two wood sash windows, and the tripartite window is covered by an awning. Additionally, the west elevation has two fixed pane windows with six panes each and original wood louvered shutters. The north elevation features an exterior brick chimney, four-over-four and one-over-one doublehung wood sash windows, and a bay window with two four-over-four wood sash windows.
The asymmetrical rear, east façade faces an enclosed backyard. The façade has three secondary entrances: two are located within the enclosed back yard and recessed under the primary roofline each with wood paneled doors with operable sashes. Between the two entrances are a large wood frame fixed pane window with eight panes of glass and a two-over-two double-hung wood sash window. The third secondary entrance is outside the enclosed backyard adjacent to the driveway and garage. The entrance has a wood paneled and glazed door. The east elevation additionally features a small wood frame hopper window along the roofline, a glass block window with eight small glass blocks, and a four-over-four wood sash window. The east-elevation roofline has three small arched louvered vent openings.
The south façade faces the paved concrete driveway, which leads from North Valencia Street to the detached garage. There are two two-over-two wood frame double-hung sash windows and a square bay with a wood frame casement window and window planter box; all of the windows are shaded by non-original canvas awnings. Throughout the residence, there are decorative vent openings along the crawl space.
Just southeast of the residence is an original detached garage, which has an irregular footprint and is situated on a concrete foundation. The garage is capped with a frontgabled roof clad in composition shingles, and the exterior is sheathed in wood shingle and stucco siding. The primary, west façade has a garage opening with an aluminum rollup garage door. The garage has a rear, east elevation addition comparable in size to the garage; the addition’s north elevation extends north from the original garage’s elevation and has an entrance with a paneled and glazed door. The north elevation has three louvered windows with wood louvered shutters.
HRCA No. 2026-3, HRC No. 2026-4, HPPA No. 2026-4 – The Sugden House (2339 N.
Valencia Street)
September 28, 2026
Analysis of the Issues
Historical Listing
In March 1999, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. NS-2363, establishing the Historic Resources Commission (HRC) and the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties (“Register”). For more than 25 years, the HRC served as the City’s review authority for matters involving the designation and categorization of historic properties and other historic preservation applications pursuant to Chapter 30 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code (SAMC).
On July 7, 2026, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. NS-3097, which dissolved the HRC and transferred its historic preservation powers and duties to the Planning Commission. Ordinance No. NS-3097 became effective on August 6, 2026. As a result, the Planning Commission now serves as the City’s review authority for historic preservation matters previously considered by the HRC, including applications to designate and categorize properties for inclusion on the Register.
Accordingly, the Planning Commission is considering Historic Resources Commission Application No. 2026-3 and Historic Register Categorization No. 2026-4 pursuant to the applicable provisions of Chapter 30 of the SAMC. The applications require the Planning Commission to apply the selection and categorization criteria established in Chapter 30 to determine whether the Sugden House is eligible for designation and listing on the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties and, if eligible, the appropriate historic categorization. The first criterion for selection requires that a structure be 50 or more years old.
The structure identified meets the selection criteria for inclusion on the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties pursuant to criteria contained in Section 30-2 of the SAMC, as the structure is 77 years old and is a sound example of period architecture. No known code violations exist on record for this property.
The Sugden House is architecturally significant as an intact example of a house designed in the American Colonial Revival with Minimal Traditional characteristics in Santa Ana.
The original building permit indicates the property was constructed in 1949 as a singlefamily residence and detached garage at a cost of $1,000.00 for Floyd B. Rogers. Rogers constructed the property on speculation and advertised the sale of the home in a 1950 newspaper article (The Register 1950a). Rogers was a residential developer in Santa Ana from the 1920s to the 1940s and was one of the builders of the residences within the Floral Park Historic District, among other areas of the city (Almendral et al. 2019).
In 1950, Lt. Anderson E. Sugden and his wife Mary Sugden occupied the property before Lt. Sugden reported to the Army chemical corps in Hawaii then serving in Korea (The HRCA No. 2026-3, HRC No. 2026-4, HPPA No. 2026-4 – The Sugden House (2339 N.
Valencia Street)
September 28, 2026
Register 1950b). They occupied the residence until circa 1956 (The Register 1954; Santa Ana City Directory 1952, 1954, 1956). From circa 1959 to 1960, Mrs. G.F. Taplin occupied the residence (The Register 1959, Santa Ana City Directory 1960). Between circa 1962 and 1994, R.V. Righter occupied the residence (Santa Ana City Directories 1962 and 1979; Ancestry.com 2005). No additional information was identified on Mrs. G.F. Taplin or R.V. Righter.
The Sugden House qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties under Criterion 1 as an intact example of an American Colonial-style home in Santa Ana.
Located in Park Santiago, the house was constructed in 1949. The recommended categorization is “Key” because it has a distinctive architectural style and quality seen in its American Colonial Revival style (Santa Ana Municipal Code, Section 30-2.3).
Character-defining features of the house’s original American Colonial Revival-style construction include, but are not necessarily limited to, wood shingle siding, wood shiplap siding, brick siding, brick planter, wood sash windows throughout property including wood louvered shutters on the primary facade, recessed front porch with wood post, banisters, and arched beams, original wood paneled and glazed door, square bay window on the south elevation including wood casement window, louvered vent in the gables, and decorative vent openings at the crawl space.
Mills Act Agreement
Ordinance No. NS-2382 established the City’s Historic Property Preservation Agreement (HPPA) program, commonly known as the Mills Act program, for eligible historic properties. Historically, the Historic Resources Commission served as the review authority for Mills Act agreements. However, on July 7, 2026, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. NS-3097, which dissolved the Historic Resources Commission and transferred its historic preservation powers and duties to the Planning Commission.
Accordingly, the Planning Commission now reviews Mills Act applications and makes a recommendation to the City Council regarding approval of the agreement.
To be eligible for a Mills Act agreement, a property must be listed on the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties. The Historic Resources Commission Application and Historic Register Categorization actions proposed for this site would designate and categorize the property for inclusion on the local register, thereby establishing its eligibility for a Mills Act agreement. The agreement provides monetary incentives to the property owner in the form of a property tax reduction in exchange for the owner’s voluntary commitment to maintain and preserve the property in a good state of repair and in a manner that maintains its historic character and appearance.
Once recorded, the agreement provides for an alternative method of determining the property’s assessed value, which may result in property tax savings for the owner. In addition to potential tax savings, the benefits of a Mills Act agreement include:
HRCA No. 2026-3, HRC No. 2026-4, HPPA No. 2026-4 – The Sugden House (2339 N.
Valencia Street)
September 28, 2026
• Long term preservation of the property and visual improvement to the neighborhood • A mechanism to provide for property rehabilitation
• Incentives for potential buyers to purchase historic structures • Discouraging inappropriate alterations to the property The property has no identified unauthorized modifications. Upon consideration of the application, it is recommended that the City enter into a Historic Property Preservation Agreement subject to a completion of future improvements as described in an attached Work Plan.
Overall, future improvements (Work Plan) proposed by the homeowner and Planning Division staff during the initial ten years of the Mills Act Agreement include the following:
1) assess all siding (wood shingle, wood shiplap, and brick) for cracking and other damage; replace or repair in-kind with staff approval; 2) assess condition of windows and shutters; replace in-kind, as necessary with staff approval; 3) assess condition of roofing (composition shingles) and overhanging eaves and repair or replace in-kind, as necessary with staff approval; 4) assess condition of exterior brick chimney and repair or replace in-kind, as necessary with staff approval; and 5) assess hardscaping, including driveway, walkways, and porch/patio steps and flooring, throughout the residence and repair or replace in-kind, as necessary and with staff approval.
As part of the Mills Act approval process, staff will work with the applicant to ensure that a bronze plaque is installed honoring and recognizing the structure. The plaque will include the historic name, address, year built, and local historic register designation.
Lastly, the site will be subject to general maintenance and upkeep requirements including, but not limited to, replacement or restoration of damaged character-defining features, landscaping upkeep, painting, etc. Upon consideration of the application, it is recommended that the City enter into a Historic Property Preservation Agreement to enable the Mills Act.
Public Notification
The subject site is located within the Park Santiago Neighborhood Association. The president of this Neighborhood Association was notified by mail 10 days prior to this public hearing. In addition, the project site was posted with a notice advertising this public hearing, a notice was published in the Orange County Reporter and mailed notices were sent to all property owners within 500 feet of the project site. At the time of this printing, no correspondence, either written or electronic, has been received from any members of the public.
HRCA No. 2026-3, HRC No. 2026-4, HPPA No. 2026-4 – The Sugden House (2339 N.
Valencia Street)
September 28, 2026
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the CEQA Guidelines, the project is exempt from further review pursuant to Section 15331 of the CEQA Guidelines (Class 31 – Historical Resource Restoration/Rehabilitation) as these actions are designed to preserve historic resources. Based on this analysis, a Notice of Exemption, Environmental Review No. 2026-060, will be filed for this project.
FISCAL IMPACT
The Historic Property Preservation Agreement will reduce the Property Tax revenue account 01102002-50011 to the City by an estimated $1,270.50 annually, for a period of not less than ten years.
EXHIBITS
1. Resolution
2. Mills Act Agreement – 2339 N. Valencia Street
3. 500-Foot Radius Map – 2339 N. Valencia Street
4. Copy of Public Notice – 2339 N. Valencia Street
Submitted By: Pedro Gomez, AICP, Principal Planner
Approved By: Ali Pezeshkpour, AICP, Executive Director of the Planning and Building Agency