Historic districts to be publicly debated
The neighborhoods north of Montana Avenue may soon officially become a piece of history.
A report completed by a historic preservation consulting firm will be released to the public in two weeks, which may suggest that some areas north of Montana should be designated as historic districts.
The study, conducted by West Los Angeles-based Historic Resources Group, is part of an effort to update the city’s historic resources inventory. The last time an inventory was taken was in the late 1980s, according to Liz Bar-El, a city planner and the liaison to the landmarks commission.
The north of Montana neighborhood may be just one of several areas in the city that could be designated historic. The idea is to preserve the city’s oldest structures so the city’s character and history is preserved, Bar-El added.
“Every 20 years or so, a city really should update its inventory,” she said.
Many of the residents who live north of Montana are gearing up to fight the anticipated designation, arguing that it’s government intrusion at its worst. They say if homes are labeled historic, homeowners will be limited in what they can do to their properties because the status will prevent homes from being torn down or significantly changed on the outside.
“If you get caught in one of these, it’s going to be a real problem,” said Tom Larmore, a homeowner north of Montana.
Last month, about 200 homeowners gathered at Franklin Elementary School to discuss the possible changes to their neighborhood. Several homes now adorn lawn signs that read, “Say no to historic districts.”
Roger Ginser, a member of the city’s landmarks commission and a local historian, said the homeowner “hysteria” is unwarranted. He said the city wants to grant historic status to small clusters of homes and some individual houses that are important to the city. He added that the city is not attempting to change the status of entire neighborhoods.
Landmark designation only establishes design guidelines so that changes do not remove architectural features of a building, officials say. They also say that property values actually increase in historic districts because people know their neighborhood will always stay the same and be protected from developers that may want to build structures that are incompatible with the area.
But the idea that historic landmark restrictions devalue properties is a very real threat to homeowners, said Larmore, who pointed to a few cases that went before the landmarks commission earlier this month.
One woman wanted to add a garage to her home in a designated historic district in the Third Street neighborhood. But she had to meet with neighbors to discuss her plans and then go back to the commission for approval, making the process difficult and burdensome, Larmore said.
Another woman bought property in the Sunset Park neighborhood on Santa Monica’s southeast side, but the commission frowned upon her request to tear down the old, dilapidated home because it was designated historic. One commissioner suggested she rehabilitate the structure instead of building a new one.
4A5,“It’s like they want your house to be a museum so they can drive by and look at it,” Larmore said, adding he thinks the commission has too much power over private citizen’s homes. “What’s kind of scary is that these commissioners think they are doing the right thing but it’s almost too radical.”
“It’s like they want your house to be a museum so they can drive by and look at it.” — — TOM LARMORE Santa Monica homeowner
There are 256 homes in the neighborhood north of Montana. Some city officials fear that over time, developers will buy up the land, demolish the old houses and build bigger ones.
Bar-El has said in the past that historic districts are not generally designated if there is no support for them. There will be many community meetings to gauge the public’s support after the study is released at the city’s landmarks commission meeting scheduled for April 2.
There are two historic districts in Santa Monica currently — the Third Street neighborhood, which extends from Beach Street to Hill Street and the Bay Street cluster, which is four properties on Bay Street.
The next in line to be studied for historic designation could be Ocean Park, although that has not yet been determined.
(Editor’s note: Tim Murphy contributed to this article).
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 18, 2002. Read the original PDF.