Victorian Ice Cream Social

On Sunday, July 12 from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm, The Historical Society of the Pomona Valley presents a Victorian Ice Cream Social fundraiser at the historic Phillips Mansion, 2640 Pomona Boulevard (near Temple). There will be a number of family-friendly activities including ice cream with toppings, face painting, flea circus, hot dogs, vintage photos, croquet, bubbles, goldfish, historic tours (the first floor of the Phillips Mansion will be available for tours for the first time in over a decade), and much more!

Games, activities, and food items just $1.00 each!

Free parking in the dirt lot area behind the mansion. Call (909) 623-2198 for further information. For google-map location, click HERE

HPC Meeting Update

Last night, Wednesday, Feb. 4. was the first Pomona Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) meeting since November 2008 and the November elections. We lost three commissioners in the electoral process. Former commissioners Jim Kercheval, Tad Decker, and Scott Hillsman received Goddess Awards at Monday's council meeting and they will be missed. I, personally, wish to thank them for their years of service, at no compensation, in what was often a difficult job.

In addition, Ramon Zavala, is moving away from the area to accept a new job position. While I wish him well, he also will be missed very much. He was a gentleman and always was deliberative in making the tough decisions.

This leaves two seats left to be filled. Councilwoman Christina Carrizosa needs to replace Ramon Zavala, and the Mayor still needs to make his appointment. If you're interested, be sure to fill out an application with the city clerk.

So, out with the old, in with the new.

The new commission retains commissioners Mitch Elias (district 4), Dawn Van Allen (district 5), and Udit de Lange (district 2). New commissioners who were attending their first meeting last night were: Dee Dee Brookshire (district 1) and Ethel Gardener (district 6). Both new commissioners were attentive and worked around a short agenda "learning the ropes" of the electronic voting system and the procedures of the commission.

The first order of business for the new commission was to choose an interim chair for the evening as both the chair and vice chair of the previous commission were no longer there. Dawn Van Allen was chosen to chair for the evening and did a commendable job. At the end of the meeting, the commission chose new leadership and chose Mitch Elias as chair and Dawn as vice chair. Congratulations to them both.

There were two items of interest at the meeting.

TREE REMOVAL: A resident of Lincoln Park, after cutting down a birch tree without a permit, asked to be able to remove 4 trees (including the birch) from their back yard. The residents (bought about 1-1/2 years ago) want to get rid of the trees to "make their yard more usable." Since the trees are living and show no signs of disease or that they are doing damage to the property, the tree ordinance is very clear that cutting down trees should only be a "last resort" measure. Since the birch was deemed to have been dead prior to being cut down, the commission approved that removal and asked that another tree be planted, at a location of the homeowner's choosing, but didn't allow for the removal of the other living trees. A 50+ year old gum tree was of particular concern as it was very mature and a part of the historic landscape. The commission did allow that the resident could move two Queen Palm trees to another location on the property to make their yard more usable. The resident didn't appear happy with the commission's decisions so I'm pretty sure we'll hear more of this in the future.

HISTORIC SIGN ORDINANCE FOR DOWNTOWN SPECIFIC PLAN: Staff gave a report to the HPC on progress toward a sign ordinance to be included as part of the Downtown Specific Plan. This would affect the area of the downtown that includes the Arts Colony and Antique Row, as well as some of the adjacent areas. Staff was just asking for input as the downtown specific plan moves through the process.

An additional public meeting on this subject is in the plans to be hosted by Pomona Heritage and the Historical Society of the Pomona Valley. I'll be sure to let everyone know when this gets scheduled.

All-in-all a good meeting. It looks like the new commission is poised to do a lot of good work. Good luck.

Pomona Photos Survive

A couple of days ago I was aghast when I learned that Ren's Corner had disappeared from the blogosphere. Ren has been providing photos to Goddess of Pomona's site, Pomona Heritage, and Historical Society of the Pomona Valley for most of the past year, so having his blog disappear was disconcerting.

Fortunately, I had his email address and was able to contact him regarding what happened. He and I met yesterday at dba257 (my first meeting with him in person) and I learned what happened. Ren (actually Richard E. Nunez) has some health issues which were being negatively impacted by his working on the computer. The repetitive motion was causing his arms to go numb and he decided that he could no longer maintain the blog. Rather than just let it go dormant as other bloggers do, he was concerned that if it was there that he'd feel compelled to continue to post. So, he unceremoniously shut it down.

However, fear not. He has decided that he can still post his photographs, minus the commentary and it wouldn't cause him health problems. He has created a new blog called Images of Pomona. This blog is dedicated to documenting the things that Ren sees around town. It's only been up for a few days and he already has 83 (and counting) images posted. They cover the gamut from the construction at the Fox, the chalk art on 2nd St., The "swimming pool" that is the Watt project, to a lot of wonderful images of various buildings and things around the city. If you have a chance, take a look at Ren's new home. I, for one, am just happy that he's out there contributing what he can.

Candidates Answer Preservation Questions

Pomona Heritage has just posted the responses to the candidate questionnaires regarding issues of importance to the historic preservation community on their web site (www.pomonaheritage.org). The 5 questions were sent to all 8 candidates for Mayor, and the council candidates for District 1 (which includes Wilton Heights Historic District), District 4 (which includes Lincoln Park National Register Historic District), and District 6 (which includes Hacienda Park Historic District).

UPDATE (10/22 -- 7:45 am): We now have responses from: councilman Stephen Atcheley, running for reelection in District 6, Virgilio (JoJo) Pico Doniza, running for District 1 council seat vacated by George Hunter, Primo Castro running for District 4, Carol Schlaepfer running for District 6, councilperson Paula Lantz running for re-election in District 4, and George Hunter running for Mayor. As others are received, they will be added in the order in which they were received.

While we don't expect that you should make your decisions in these important races based on a single issue, it's always good to understand where the candidates stand on the issues that directly affect you.

It is our hope that the discourse about specific issues will help to create an informed electorate. Be sure to vote on November 4!

Watt's Goin' On?

Metro Pomona, our downtown cheerleading blog (that's not a derogatory statement, we need someone to cheerlead downtown and Metro does a great job of doing so), has posted the most negative item I've ever seen there. The blog post at www.metropomona.com/whatsnew/2008/09/artisan.html tells that the Artisan project in downtown (remember the demolition of two blocks of East Second St.?) has been removed from the Watt website and, with the yellow tagging of the Vault building, we now have a full 3 blocks of chain link fencing.

I said I'd wait until the first of the year to say "I told you so," but it has become much more obvious lately that the project, which was fast tracked, has now been delayed until ????? So we get to look at chain link fencing and a big hole for how long?

Old Home Restoration Workshop--August 9

It's time again for the annual Pomona Heritage Old Home Restoration Workshop. Our 10th workshop will be held on August 9 beginning at 9:00 am and run until 4:00 pm. Additional information is in the press release below:

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The 10th Annual Pomona Heritage Old Home Restoration Workshop will take place on Saturday, August 9 at Trinity United Methodist Church. The program will begin at 9:00 am and continue until 4:00 pm. The program is made up of a series of seminars (four different ones going on simultaneously) and will include a wide array of information on issues of interest to owners of older homes. In addition, there will be a keynote address at noon on the progress of the restoration of the Pomona Fox Theater, and a special seminar on Pomona’s implementation of the Mills Act.

It was 10 years ago that the board of directors of Pomona Heritage decided to extend their outreach program to the entire community. It was felt that they needed to help in the education of Pomona’s citizenry of the value in protecting the historic fabric of our city and ensure that those who were interested in preserving their homes had the tools to do so in the appropriate manner. Thus was born the Old Home Restoration Workshop.

This year’s workshop will include many favorite seminars from the past along with a several new ones. The workshop committee has put together a program that should have something for everyone who lives in a historic districts, or just lives in an older home and wants to know how do simple repairs. Subjects on tap for this year’s workshop include: Repairing and replacement of wood windows, Herb gardening, Planning your restoration project, Gardening with California native plants, Repairing wood floors, Plaster repair, Repair and maintenance of stained glass windows, and several others not confirmed at press time. A full schedule will be available online at our web site once it has been confirmed.

In addition to learning the important hints and tricks for maintaining and updating your historic home, the workshop will offer the opportunity to meet artisans and craftsmen who can assist in answering questions regarding old homes. Members of the city’s building, code enforcement, and planning staff will be available as will artists from Red Wing Glass, Dominguez Floors, and many others.

With the recent revamping of Pomona’s version of the Mills Act, city planners Sandra Campbell and Judy Kollar will be presenting a seminar on how the Mills Act works and what the procedures are for those interested in taking advantage of the potential 40-60% tax savings that the act provides for the renovation and maintenance of historic properties in the city of Pomona. For those planning on ever doing a major renovation project, this seminar is a must as it will show how a good, historically sensitive renovation can be done, using tax savings to do it.

Each year the Restoration Workshop looks for a keynote speaker of general interest to the entire community. In 2007 Jerry Tessier gave a presentation of the plans for the full restoration of the National Register Landmark Pomona Fox Theater. This year, with construction well underway, Ed Tessier has agreed to present an update on the progress being made and a look ahead at what can be expected for the Fox. The focus will be on the challenges of a large-scale historic restoration project and how many of those challenges have been handled. With historic tax credits as one of their methods of funding, all work on the Fox must be approved by the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and the National Parks Service of the US Department of the Interior. This is a project that goes will beyond requirements of city codes and should give interesting insights into to how such projects move forward.

“This is our most important educational outreach program of the year,” stated Mark Gearhart, Pomona Heritage board member and chairman of the Restoration Workshop committee. “We offer this as a way to let the greater community understand the importance of the proper repair and maintenance of Pomona’s important historic resources. We invite everyone in the city to come, learn about historic preservation, and, hopefully, make their homes and our entire city environment better.”

In addition to the seminars, a Silent Auction will be held during the course of the day’s activities. It will include a wide array of goods and services geared specifically toward old home renovation and decorating. For additional information, and a full schedule of seminars, as they become available, please visit our web site at http://www.pomonaheritage.org and click on the Restoration Workshop button at the left.

Mills Act Passes Council / Alternative Materials Policy Maintained

From last night's city council meeting:

The Alternative materials question was debated with most of the public comment in favor of maintaining standards for historic homes in the districts. The final outcome was a 3-1 vote in favor of the HPC's recommendation that they be allowed to review materials on a case-by-case basis. Councilmembers Rodriquez and Carrizossa voted against. This will allow the HPC to review materials so that if at some time in the future a truly superior material is presented, they can consider its use. Councilmember George Hunter noted that this appeared to be the best alternative as it gave the HPC the flexibility that it needed to make good decisions.

Our own Meg spoke eloquently in favor of historic vs. new, even arguing that one would still want to preserve the old family printed bible even though the new digital version had "advanced features," was more compact, and easier to read. I loved the analogy.

Vice Mayor Stephen Atcheley gave a strong show of support, stating that it is important that a hundred years from now that we can look back and say that we took care of our historic properties and have maintained them in historically accurate manner.

Dan McIntire discussed an article that appeared in the Sunday LA Time by an architect saying that the problems with vinyl windows and siding (giving off fumes for years, creating dioxin when burned, and when they are replaced--usual lifespan of 15 years--they go into landfills where they don't degrade). He also noted that wood and other historic materials are just better, concluding that the only advantage of vinyl building products is that they are cheaper.

The Mills Act, was also debated and most of the council agreed that it would be a good program to encourage people to upgrade and maintain their historic homes. Councilmember Carrizossa, had concerns about the amount of property tax money that might be lost to the city's general fund and how the city would ensure that the city's best interests were maintained. John Mendoza spoke about the need to ensure that those who entered into Mills Act contracts completely undertand all ramification, noting that it's not something for nothing.

The application fee question was clarified, with the explanation that the proposed fee was to be .1% of the value of the property (for a $500,000 home that would be $500) and that the maximum $2,400 would only apply to large commercial projects which would potentially be in that price range. Meg once again spoke as a new member of the community and stated that she would be more than happy with the fee (so if you think it's too much, blame Meg :-))

The Mills Act passed with a 4-1 vote with Councilmember Carrizossa voting against, stating that she had concerns about the program. Mayor Torres wasn't there for the entire meeting and Councilmember Rothman left prior to either of these items being discussed.

Mills Act is NOT a Tax on Historic Districts

I guess we live too far on the edge of Lincoln Park. I received a couple of emails about a flyer that was being passed out in the district (but not on my street) warning residents of a new TAX that was going to be discussed at next Monday's city council meeting. The flyer is attributed to John Mendoza, who has run a series of petition drives for various subjects and was a candidate for School Board in the last election.

His scare flyer is wrong on many of the details, although to his credit he did include the notice for the issue.

Monday's meeting actually does include two items of importance to the residents of Lincoln Park as well as the other two districts, but it's NOT a new tax. The Mills Act was created as the main tool by the state to encourage owners of historic properties to renovate and maintain their property in a historically accurate manner. The Act allows property owners to enter into contracts with the city whereby the property will be taxed, not by the value of the property, but as if it were a rental business. This can result in tax savings of up to 60% depending on the assessed value of the property and the rental rates within the area.

In exchange for the property tax savings, the property owner agrees to use those savings to do an approved (within the contract) number of renovation projects. The idea is that this is a win-win as the property owner can use tax savings to improve the property and the city ensures that their historic properties are maintained in a historically accurate manner.

Pomona has had the Mills Act in place for some time. However, the original city version of the act was so restrictive that we only have three current contracts in the city. Pomona's Mills Act requirements were much more difficult than any of the surrounding cities. Pomona Heritage worked hard with city staff to review and revisit the act and to see how it could be improved to make it a better tool for historic Pomona.

The version of the Act that passed the Historic Preservation Commission will greatly enhance the way that Mills Act contracts are done in Pomona. Monday's meeting does have a twist that had not previously been discussed. Under the current Pomona version of the Act there is no fee. However state law allows cities to charge an application fee to recoup the costs of processing Mills contracts. The City Clerk has determined that cost to be around $2,400. Pomona Heritage is concerned that this upfront cost would be onerous, and hope to argue at Monday's meeting that the fee be more in line with other cities in the area whose fees range from nothing to under $500.

The other issue on Monday's agenda will be the use of alternative materials in the historic districts. This is an issue that was supposed to be discussed in the study sessions that were postponed and then canceled. So this will be the first opportunity that the council will have to hear this issue, and they're planning on voting on a policy.

If you're interested in either of these issues, we hope that you will be at the council meeting on Monday, April 21. Council meetings start at 7:00 pm in the council chambers at city hall.

Mills Act to be discussed at HPC

I know that this is quite late in being posted, and I apologize for that. I was SURE that Ed would post with his great maps, but I guess it's up to me this month. (just giving you a hard time Ed.)

Tonight at 6:30 pm in the council chambers will be the monthly meeting of the Pomona Historic Preservation Commission (HPC). There are only two public hearings this evening. The first is the issue of the changes to a home on Preciado Street in the Hacienda Park Historic District, which has been agendized several times in the past. The second is yet another case of a homeowner, this time on Wisconsin in the Wilton Heights Historic District who put in 10 vinyl windows without a permit and now wants the city to allow it, when if they had just gotten a permit, they would have been told what they could and couldn't do.

However, there is a third item, under New Business, which is of major importance to those of us in historic districts and single historic homes. The HPC will be presented with a proposed ordinance for approval (They don't approve it, they recommend it to the city council) which will significantly change the qualifications, requirements, and terms of Mills Act contracts in the city.

This was one of the issues what was SUPPOSED to be discussed at the canceled joint Planning Commission/City Council meeting last month. The Mills Act is used to encourage preservation and maintenance of historic properties. Entering into a Mills Act contract can reduce property taxes by up to about 60%, which funds are then used by the homeowner for preservation and renovation of the subject property.

Again, this meeting potentially may have an impact on the historic districts. If you're interested in this, I encourage you to attend this meeting.

Hope to see you all there.

Special Meeting on Monday

There will be a special joint Planning Commission / Council meeting on Monday, Feb. 25 at 7:00 pm. It is being held at the Ganesha Park community center. This is the remaining items from the meeting that was held at Ganesha on Feb. 11.

I have posted additional information on the Pomona Heritage Web Site.
If you have any interest in the Mills Act (tax breaks for historic homes), Fences in the historic districts, or alternative window materials in historic districts, please come to this meeting and let the council know how you feel.

2 Meetings

There were two important meetings last night.

First is the previously mentioned meeting to discuss the possible closure of Monroe Street at Orange Grove. This meeting was held with the city public works department at the Ebell Museum and saw approximately 20 residents of the 2-block long Monroe Street in attendance.

The city showed three possible alternatives for consideration. The problem on Monroe is that it is a short street that does not go directly through the neighborhood. It goes a block and curves back onto McKinley Avenue and is used as a high-speed short cut for a lot of folks, many of whom also run the stop sight at Bradford.

The first alternative was to create a "traffic diversion" at the intersection of Monroe and Bradford. This would force any car, coming from any direction, to make a right turn when they came to that corner. My own take on this was that it would probably stop the cut-through traffic, but would also cause difficulty for those who were trying to get around in the neighborhood.

The second alternative was to close Monroe to traffic coming off of Orange Grove traveling east, but allow traffic to exit the neighborhood when travelling west onto Orange Grove. This would certainly stop the cut-through traffic, as most of it is coming off of Orange Grove, not going onto Orange Grove, which is difficult to make turns onto at that point.

The third alternative was to completely close off Monroe and create Lincoln Park's only cul-de-sac. This would completely eliminate traffic in the 100 block of Monroe, except for residents.

The residents offered other alternatives such as enhanced signage with flashing lights, or creating an "island" at the very wide entrance to Monroe from Orange Grove to slow traffic down as it enters the neighborhood.

This now goes for further study with the input from the residents and city staff has promised another meeting to further discuss these issues, expanding the notification to other surrounding streets that might be impacted.

The other meeting of the night was a special study session of the Pomona Historic Preservation Commission. This meeting, which was not very well noticed (Pomona Heritage received information on it in Tuesday's mail), was called to discuss three items, 1) Possible changes to the Mills Act, 2) Fencing in the historic districts, and 3) Alternative materials for windows in the historic districts.

Mills Act. The Mills Act allows citizens in historic buildings to have their property taxes recalculated so that they might have significant savings, up to 40%, to apply toward preservation and maintenance of the historic nature of the property. This is used by many cities to encourage residents to keep their properties in good shape and conform to historic standards. The citizen enters into a contract with the city that they will do certain things with their tax savings which are put directly into the structure. Pomona's version of the Mills Act was so onerous that to qualify you had to spend 10 years worth of savings within the first five years, making it a financial burden rather than a saving, and projects were very restricted. The city is looking to bring Pomona's Mills Act to be more like other cities who have successfully used it as a tool for preservation of their historic neighborhoods.

Fencing. With the city adopting the "picket fence" program and updating fence codes citywide, there is a move to amend to the historic ordinance to ensure that fencing within the historic districts is not out of character with the historic nature of the districts. It would, like the rest of the city, restrict the use of chain link and "garbage materials," as well as suggesting that more modern materials such as vinyl would be out of place in the historic setting.

Windows. This is a major issue for the city council. The historic ordinance says that repairs to historic buildings should use similar materials to the original. However, the current "fad" is for vinyl windows which are not similar in any way to the materials on our historic homes. Use of such materials would take structures from contributing status to non-contributing status under state and federal historic guidelines. The problem is that all over the city, people are putting in new windows without getting permits. In non-historic areas, when this is caught, the homeowner has only to pull a permit retroactively and they're done, but in historic districts, because of the requirements for maintaining the historic integrity of the buildings, thy need to come into conformance with the rules of the ordinance. So a large number of these cases, where unpermitted work was done, come before the commission and ultimately before the city council. Residents moan and cry about the cost of coming into compliance and it is a bad situation all 'round. So, the city council asked if alternative materials could be considered. However, it is Pomona Heritage's stance that the ordinance and the Secretary of the Interior's guidelines are clear and that alternative materials would have a significant effect on the historic character of the districts.

All of these issues will now be discussed at a special City Council workshop scheduled for next Monday, Feb. 25. I certainly hope that those interested will attend and add their voices to the debate (on either side fo the issues).