SR-040808-1Dfir
;tYo, City Council Report
Santa Monica
City Council Meeting: April 8, 2008
Agenda Item: ,-b
Ta Mayor and City Council
From: Eileen Fogarty, Planning & Community Development
Subject: Statement of Official Action Denying Appeal of Landmarks Commission
Designation of 2219 Ocean Avenue as a City Landmark.
Recommended Action
Staff recommends the City Council approve the attached Statement of Official Action
denying Appeal 06APP-039 and upholding the decision of the Landmarks Commission
to designate the property at 2219 Ocean Avenue as a City Landmark.
Executive Summary and Discussion
This staff report transmits for City Council certification the Statement of Official Action
for Appeal 06APP-039. After holding a public hearing, the City Council denied Appeal
06APP-039 and upheld the Landmarks Commission's designation of the residence
located at 2219 Ocean Avenue as a City Landmark, and of the real property commonly
known as 2219 Ocean Avenue (Lot 4 of Ivar A. Weid's Subdivision of Block 4 of the
Town of South Santa Monica Tract) as a Landmark parcel, based upon revised findings
contained in the attached Statement of Official Action.
Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
The recommendation presented in this report does not have any budget or fiscal impact.
Prepared by: Jing Yeo, AICP, Senior Planner
Approved:
birector, Playning & Comn'iu~iity
Forwarded to Council:
P,
Manager
Attachment: Statement of Official Action
1
ATTACHMENT A
STATEMENT OF OFFICIAL ACTION
Corrected Version
or
CITY COUNCIL
CITY OF SANTA MONICA
STATEMENT OF OFFICIAL ACTION
PROJECT
CASE NUMBER: Appeal06APP-039
LOCATION: 2219 Ocean Avenue
APPLICANT: City of Santa Monica Landmarks Commission
APPELLANT: University of Illinois Foundation
PROPERTY OWNER: University of Illinois Foundation
CASE PLANNER: Jing Yeo, AICP, Senior Planner
REQUEST: Appeal 06APP039 of Landmarks Commission Designation
of the Property at 2219 Ocean Avenue as a City
Landmark.
CEQA STATUS: The project is categorically exempt from the provisions of
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to
15331, Class 31 of the State Implementation Guidelines in
that the project consists of designating a property as a
Landmark thereby aiding in the preservation of a historic
resource in a manner consistent with the Secretary of the
Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic
Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating,
Restoring, and Reconstructing Historic Buildings (1995),
Weeks and Grimmer. The project is also exempt pursuant
to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3). Section
15061(b)(3) provides that-CEQA only applies to those
projects that have fhe potential for causing a significant
effect on the environment. Since the proposed action
would result in the retention of the existing structure and
would not change the existing environmental baseline,
there is no potential that the project would cause a
significant effect on the environment.
3
CITY COUNCIL ACTION
February 26, 2008 Date
Appeal upheld and Landmarks Commission approval reversed
based upon the findings below:
Appeal denied and Landmarks Commission .designation
upheld based on the following findings:
Other.
EFFECTIVE DATE OF ACTION: February 26, 2008
The City .Council, having held a public hearing on February 26; 2008, hereby deny
Appeal 06APP-039 and uphold the Landmarks Commission's designation of the
residence located at 2219 Ocean Avenue as a City Landmark, and of the real property
commonly known as 2219 Ocean Avenue (Lot 4 of Ivar A. Weid's Subdivision of Block 4
of the Town of South Santa Monica Tract) as a Landmark Parcel based on the findings
and determinations below. The detached, garage located at the rear of the parcel is not
visible from the public right-of-way and is therefore excluded from the Landmark
Designation of 2219 Ocean Avenue.
Each and all of the findings and determinations are based on the competent and
substantial evidence, both oral and written, contained in the entire record relating to the
Project. All summaries of information contained herein or in the fihdings are based on
the substantial evidence in the record. The absence of any particular fact from any
such summary is not an indication that a particular finding is not based in part on that
fact.
Findings and determinations for Desionation of the Landmark Parcel and Structure Per
SMMC 9.36.100(a)
(~) It exemplifies, symbolizes, or manifests elements of the cultural, social, economic,
political or architectural history of the City.
The single-family residence at 2219 Ocean Avenue is a good example of a turn-of-the-
Twentieth-Century, massed-plan vernacular cottage constructed in the Ocean Park area
of Santa Monica circa 1905. The cottage exhibits a high degree of integrity of design,
workmanship, and materials on its primary (west) elevation,. including the retention of
form, massing, and scale associated with early, turn-of-the-century vernacular cottages.
These features include the following: its simple hip roof, narrow clapboard siding, wood
sash, double-hung windows, multi-pane sash windows and doors, a stained glass
window, and conversion of the open porch on the primary elevation. The subject
residence was a "pioneering" structure in its neighborhood along Ocean Avenue
between Pacific Street and Hollister Avenue in that it was one of the first structures built
4
in the immediate area after the turn of the Twentieth Century. Moreover, the residence
at 2219 Ocean Avenue is the last remaining turn-of-the-Twentieth-Century, massed-
plan vernacular cottage that is visible from the beach and also has abeach-facing
(west) orientation in the immediate Ocean Park area along Ocean Avenue. As a result,
fhe property exemplifies the. early beach resort and residential development pattern in
fhe City's Ocean Park area during the years immediately following the turn of the
Twentieth Century and also represents one of the earliest phases of Ocean Park's
multi-layered and diverse historical legacy in terms of the ages, styles and building
types found in the area.
(6) It has a unique location, a singular physical characteristic, or is an established and
familiar visual feature of a neighborhood, community or the City.
The subject turn-of-the-Twentieth-Century massed-plan vernacular cottage located at
2219 Ocean Avenue has been located in the Ocean Park area since its construction
circa 1905. For the first half of the century after its construction, the cottage at 2219
Ocean Avenue was the only structure on its block. Since then, very different building
forms have been constructed around the cottage. As the last remaining building of its
type in the area, the cottage is a unique structure that evokes its period and makes it
possible to visualize a time when the cottage stood alone on the block, which was
characteristic of the sporadic development of Ocean Park. The architectural character of
the cottage exemplified by its simple roof form, narrow clapboard siding, fenestration
and its overall scale, west-facing orientation, and visual presence as viewed along
Ocean Avenue make the cottage an established and familiar visual feature of its
neighborhood on Ocean Avenue, which is the main corridor in the Ocean Park area of
Santa Monica. Furthermore, due to its visibility as viewed from the beach, the cottage
has a unique location that further establishes it as a familiar visual feature of the
community.
5
VOTE
Ayes: Bloom; Genser, Holbrook; McKeown, Shriver, Mayor Katz
Nays: O'Connor
Abstain:
Absent:
NOTICE
If this is a final decision not subject to further appeal under Article 9 of the Santa Monica
Municipal Code, the time within which judicial review of this decision must be sought is
governed by Code of Civil Procedures Section 1094.6, which provision has been
adopted by the City pursuant to Municipal Code Section 1.16.010.
I hereby certify that this Statement of Official Action accurately reflects the final
determination of the City Council of the City of Santa Monica.
~-~ -o ~
MARIA M. STEWAR ,City Clerk Date
F:\CityPlanning\Share\COUNCIL\STOAS\2008\06APP-039 Council STOA (2219 Ocean Avenue re-hearing):doc
6