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CONSIDERATION OF A CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS FOR THE PROPOSED REHABILITATION OF A HISTORIC LANDMARK LOCATED AT 548 E. PARK STREET (Application No. P18-0789)
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RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the Cultural Heritage Board recommend issuance of a Certificate of Appropriateness, based on the findings and subject to the conditions herein.
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Summary
The applicant and home owner, Hendrik Valk, submitted a Certificate of Appropriateness application to make framing and siding repairs on the Benjamin Holt House located at 548 East Park Street. The Benjamin Holt House is a local landmark and is on the National Register of Historic Places. As detailed in the staff analysis below, the rehabilitation conforms to the Secretary of Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation. Therefore, staff recommends that the Cultural Heritage Board (CHB) adopt a resolution recommending that the Community Development Director issue a Certificate of Appropriateness.
DISCUSSION
Background
The subject property is located at 548 E. Park Street (Attachment A - Location Map and Aerial Photo) and is bounded:
• To the North by Vine Street
• To the South by Rose Street
• To the East by San Joaquin Street
• To the west by N. Hunter Street
According to City records, the subject property was built circa 1860. The home was occupied by Benjamin Holt, a notable figure in Stockton History. Benjamin Holt was an inventor and industrialist famous for inventing the Caterpillar Tractor. Holt lived at the residence from 1899-1920. The building was designated a local landmark in 1971 and was nominated and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 (Attachment B - National Register Nomination). The Nomination form indicates that the areas of significance that qualified the structure were related to the owner’s association with agriculture, industry, and invention. The building has been modified over the years and now incorporates elements of Colonial Revival architecture.
The Property also resides in the Midtown Design District (Attachment C - Midtown Neighborhood Summary).
Project Description
The applicant and home owner, Hendrik Valk, submitted a Certificate of Appropriateness application to make repairs on the Benjamin Holt House, at 548 East Park Street. Due to the age of the structure, many timbers in the frame of the southern facing wall on the east side of the property were rotted (Attachment D- Damaged Wall Photos). The applicant has replaced all rotten timbers, replaced the insulation, and applied siding to the area requiring repair. The siding is a manufactured wood product with wood texture that has been cut to match the width of the original planks which ranged in width from 3-5 inches to the weather (Attachment E - Post Construction Photos).
According to the applicant, redwood siding and other moldings were reused or repurposed when possible to fill in missing moldings and other elements. The project is incomplete and requires additional molding to be placed on the bottom portion of the area of repair (Attachment F - molding detail). Additionally, the replacement siding is not continuous at the second-floor level resulting in a smooth gap in the corner, which is distinctly different in texture from the existing wood siding. Staff has recommended conditions in the proposed resolution to address these inconsistencies.
A Certificate of Appropriateness is required in accordance with Stockton Municipal Code section 16.220.060(A)(1) since the extensive exterior repair constitutes an exterior alteration to a structure that is a local and federally listed landmark. Although the Certificate is typically obtained prior to the commencement of work, in this case the work has been completed and the application is being submitted after the fact.
The requested Certificate of Appropriateness is subject to the: (a) Secretary of Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation and Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings; and (b) Citywide Design Guidelines section 3.02 (Single-Family Residential Design Guidelines for Special Districts).
Staff Analysis
Secretary of Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation
The Secretary of Interior’s definition for rehabilitation, as a treatment, is the act or process of making possible a compatible use for a property through repair, alterations, and additions while preserving those portions or features which convey its historical, cultural, or architectural values. The Standards are to be applied to specific rehabilitation projects in a reasonable manner, taking into consideration economic and technical feasibility. Staff’s analysis of the Project under each standard is provided in italics below:
1. A property shall be used for its historic purpose or be placed in a new use that requires minimal change to the defining characteristics of the building and its site and environment.
The historic purpose of the structure is as a single-family dwelling. No request has been made to alter to the use of the structure; it will, therefore, maintain its intended use.
2. The historic character of a property shall be retained and preserved. The removal of historical materials or alteration of features and spaces that characterize a property shall be avoided.
The historic character of the property and all architectural features and materials will be maintained. No removal of historic features is authorized by this Certificate of Appropriateness. Additionally, the project will maintain the integrity and safety of the structure.
3. Each property shall be recognized as a physical record of its time, place, and use. Changes that create a false sense of historical development, such as adding conjectural features or architectural elements from other buildings, shall not be undertaken.
The project excludes alterations with the potential to result in false historicism.
4. Most properties change over time; those changes that have acquired historic significance in their own right shall be retained and preserved.
The project does not propose to alter any changes that have occurred over time.
5. Distinctive features, finishes, and construction techniques or examples of craftsmanship that characterize a property shall be preserved.
The project would change exterior siding and molding details using modern currently available materials. No other historic features would be altered by the project. Staff recommends conditions of approval requiring: (a) the installation of molding consistent with that found adjacent; (b) the continuation of siding to fill the aforementioned smooth gap; and (c) the replacement of exterior siding with a product that is similar in width and texture of the original siding.
6. Deteriorated historic features shall be repaired rather than replaced. Where the severity of deterioration requires replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature shall match the old in design, color, texture, and other visual qualities and, where possible, materials. Replacement of missing features shall be substantiated by documentary, physical, or pictorial evidence.
The rehabilitation of the exterior framing and siding was done using materials currently available as the procurement of period materials is economically infeasible. All distinctive features were intact before construction. Thus, the original structure served as a guide for restoration.
7. Chemical or physical treatments, such as sandblasting, that cause damage to historic materials shall not be used. The surface cleaning of structures, if appropriate, shall be undertaken using the gentlest means possible.
No chemical or physical treatments have been proposed.
8. Significant archeological resources affected by a project shall be protected and preserved. If such resources must be disturbed, mitigation measures shall be undertaken.
The home is significant due its relation to a notable figure, Benjamin Holt. The home itself is not significant architecturally. No other archeological resources are present on the site.
9. New additions, exterior alterations, or related new construction shall not destroy historic materials that characterize the property. The new work shall be differentiated from the old and shall be compatible with the massing, size, scale, and architectural features to protect the historical integrity of the property and its environment.
The project retains the distinctive architectural features added during the period of significance. The project is a rehabilitation of the structure no additions are proposed.
10. New additions and adjacent or related new construction shall be undertaken in such a manner that if removed in the future, the essential form and integrity of the historic property and its environment would be unimpaired.
No additions or new construction is proposed.
Public Notice
Per Stockton Municipal Code section 16.220.060(C)(3) (Noticing for Certificate of Appropriateness), a public notice or hearing shall not be required for the Review Authority’s action on a Certificate of Appropriateness.
Environmental Clearance
The proposed project is a Categorically Exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under CEQA Guidelines section 15331 (Class 31, Historical Resource Restoration/ Rehabilitation) since it consists of the preservation of a home in a historic district consistent with the secretary of interiors standards for treatment of historic properties.
Attachment A - Location Map and Aerial Photo
Attachment B - National Register Nomination
Attachment C - Midtown Neighborhood Summary
Attachment D - Damaged Wall Photos
Attachment E - Post Construction Photos
Attachment F - Molding Detail