Q&A
A number of buildings of historic significance to Davis have suffered the fate of "demolition by neglect" due to failure of the property owners to maintain those structures. Recent examples are the Terminal Hotel, the Hunt-Boyer Mansion Tank House, and the row of B Street cottages slated for demolition under new zoning.
- Using the standard of "all buildings 50 years of age or older," write a Minimum Maintenance Code for the City of Davis that will protect its historic/older buildings from structural deterioration.
- Defend or criticize your ordinance for its ability to prevent the loss of the remainder of our historic structural legacy.
[Don's response:] I am reluctant to create an ordinance from whole cloth.
Our community has a number of historically significant structures. We have sound policies in place at the local, state and federal levels for review of the use and adaptive reuse of those structures and we have a very strong process for review of any proposed demolition or relocation of such structures. We also have a very strong code enforcement ordinance in place.
While some general discussion of the phrase "demolition by neglect" has occurred within our community, the Historical Resources Management Commission has not to my knowledge actually defined this or considered alternative approaches. I would look to that Commission and the Planning Commission for advice on whether an additional ordinance would be helpful in this area.
The California Environmental Quality Act sets a standard that any structure 50 years old or older must have an environmental review prior to modification or demolition to assess historical significance. The City of Davis ordinance uses a specific year of construction of 1945 or earlier as triggering certain reviews and policies. There may be a need to make these dates consistent at some point.
Regardless of age, some buildings have specific characterstics or context that warrant special consideration while others may have reached their life expectancy. A building contructed in 1970 may well have unique historical context if it featured prominently in the historical context of the community; the Arneson home may be an example of this as discussed in a recent HRMC meeting. Other structures, such as the temporary "Surge" buildings on the UCD campus are at or near 50 years in age and may not have historical significance.
The history of our built environment is an essential part of our community identity. Our planning must be guided by the historical significance at every turn and balanced with other planning considerations. I participated in the Council discussion of the tank house and the B Street visioning examples and am comfortable that the historical context was a major component and guiding factor of those discussions.
