Woodside takes step toward historic preservation Woodside takes step toward historic preservation (November 20, 2002)

** Council goes for least controversial part of plan.

By Andrea Gemmet

Almanac Staff Writer

Just one year after a prickly and divisive meeting on the subject, the Woodside Town Council is set to cautiously go forward with creating a policy on preserving historic structures in town.

Figuring out what the town considers historically valuable and what should be done to preserve and protect such structures are the first in several sets of challenges facing Woodside. Following a November 12 study session, council members agreed that the expertise of a consultant would be needed, and directed Town Manager Susan George to bring them back a proposal for the work.

Historic preservation is a contentious issue in Woodside, which has seen some high-profile controversies in recent years, particularly when notable people want to tear down notable structures. Oracle founder Larry Ellison, who successfully fought to dismantle and remove a Julia Morgan-designed house from his property, and Apple Computer founder Steve Jobs, who is seeking to demolish the Jackling mansion, are two such examples.

There's widespread consensus that the town's current system for assessing a property's historic value is time-consuming, expensive and confusing -- even town staff agree.

However, an attempt last October to hire architectural consulting firm Page & Turnbull to draft a historic element for Woodside's general plan and complete an inventory of historic structures devolved into an ill-tempered impasse when the council meeting filled with angry property owners worried that their rights were being eroded.

Ms. George said she will approach Page & Turnbull again about working with the town and creating a refreshed proposal for the work. The consultants would hold public hearings and create a draft historical preservation element for the council, she said. Woodside still has the $25,000 the council set aside to pay for the work last year.

This time around, the council meeting was notable for its lack of tension and sparse audience, composed mainly of Woodside History Committee members. The council avoided the more controversial aspects of historic preservation by breaking up the project into three pieces, and moving forward on only the first one: a historic element to outline general goals and objectives, which would become part of the town's general plan.

"We need to get to some point where people know what to expect," said Ms. George. "A historic preservation element is not law, but it does give tools to the planning department and the planning director."

The second step would be the creation of an inventory, which would assess and document historically significant structures and sites. The next step would be developing implementation measures, which could include incentives, enforcement provisions, and review and appeals processes.

Those last two steps are sure to provoke some spirited meetings, should the council pursue them. A draft inventory of the town's historic structures and sites put together by volunteers in the 1970s raised the hackles of property owners at last year's meeting, despite Woodside History Committee members' assurance that it served as little more than an index to their town history files.

Ms. George researched historic preservation practices in more than a dozen California cities, and said that practices ranged from formally designating structures as historic resources, to drafting an inventory that requires the property owner's consent, to creating informal surveys.

"What impresses me is [the concept of] owner consent," said Councilman Joe Putnam.

Having an inventory could make life easier for property owners with obviously historic houses and for those who have houses that are obviously not historic at all, said Councilman Paul Goeld. Council members agreed that they want to come up with something that will be beneficial to property owners, make the process easier to understand, and possibly save people from having to pay for their own historic reviews.

"We do need to do something, because right now it's a messy and cumbersome process," said Thalia Lubin, chair of the History Committee.

Doing nothing at all about historic preservation isn't much of an option, as the town still has to comply with historic preservation provisions in the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which states that any structure over 50 years old must be reviewed for historic merit.

The real political hot potato is bound to be the ordinances, which typically include enforcement provisions and outline the review process for property owners who want to demolish or substantially alter a historic building. Ordinances might also include incentive programs, such as tax breaks, fee waivers or exemptions from height, parking or setback requirements, said Ms. George.