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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJuly
12, 2006 City
Council Adopts Revised Landmarks Preservation Ordinance
New law
provides strong protections for historic properties, conforms to state
law, creates firm deadlines for landmark decisions, and sets clear
definitions for new landmarks Berkeley,
CA – After a six year effort, the Berkeley City Council voted 6-2 with
one abstention to revise the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance at its
meeting last night. The new
ordinance will help bring the City into general compliance with state law
by requiring decisions regarding landmarks be made in a timely matter as
well as require all new landmarks meet standards for integrity. “It has
been a long and often controversial process, but we have finally arrived
at a solution that I think will meet with broad acceptance,” said Mayor
Tom Bates. “I am proud that
Berkeley will continue to have one of the strongest landmarks ordinances
in the State of California. We
will also have a law with clear definitions and clear timelines.
Perhaps most importantly, our ordinance will allow the City to
generally meet our obligations under state law.” The
revisions come after months of effort by the Mayor’s office, city staff,
members of the preservation community, and others to resolve the
disagreements over previous draft revisions.
Those discussions led to the revised version, which passed the
Landmark Preservation Commission in late June by a 7-2 vote.
In 2000, the City Council directed staff and commissions to draft
revisions to the landmarks ordinance to bring it into compliance with the
State Permit Streamlining Act’s requirements for timely land use
decisions. Failure to meet
the state law can allow a property owner to have their project approved
automatically, depriving the city of the ability to disapprove the project
or mitigate any impacts.
The new ordinance must be approved in a “second reading” at the
July 18th Council meeting. A
ballot initiative to lock in most of the components of the old ordinance
has qualified for the ballot in November.
If the voters approve that initiative it would overturn the
revisions passed by the Council. Major
components of the revised ordinance include the following: ·
Creates Clear
Timelines. The
ordinance would provide clear timelines and deadlines for decisions
regarding the historic significance of a site so as to generally conform
to the state Permit Streamlining Act.
The timelines would apply to both structure of merit and landmark
designations. ·
Finding of
Integrity. The
ordinance would require that all landmark and structure of merit
designations meet standards of “integrity” as defined by the state. · Retains Structure of Merit. The ordinance retains the Structure of Merit designation but creates clear criteria for designation at a Structure of Merit. ·
Tightens Criteria for
Demolitions. The
Landmarks Commission will be provided authority (with an appeal to the
Council) over applications for demolition of a historic resource. · Allows for Historic Determination without a Project Application. The new ordinance will allow a property owner to ask for a determination regarding their site. That determination must be made within a prescribed timeline. # # # |
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