Five Glendale homes could join the city's list of historic buildings
at Tuesday's City Council meeting, an honor bestowed upon only 13
properties in the city in the past eight years.
Owners of the five homes, all single-family residences built
before 1930, have applied to have their properties listed on the
Glendale Register of Historic Resources. Under the state's Mills Act,
owners of homes designated as historical buildings qualify for a
reduction in property taxes.
Planning Department staff members are recommending the approval of
two of the requests, English Tudor homes located on Rossmoyne Avenue
and Grandview Avenue. Staff members are recommending that the other
requests, for homes on North Howard and East Mountain streets and on
Cavanaugh Road, be denied.
The Historic Preservation Commission, which also reviews such
requests, agreed with staff members except in the case of the
Cavanaugh Road home. The commission vote on that request resulted in
a tie, and therefore no recommendation was made.
The city charges no fees for the historic designation application,
Planning Director Elaine Wilkerson said, adding that applicants must
prove their homes meet just one of seven criteria in order to make
the list.
"These criteria include that the home be the best remaining
example of a particular architectural type in its neighborhood,"
Wilkerson said. "The home can also have been designed by a
particularly renowned architect, or it can have an architectural
feature that makes it a unique structure in the neighborhood."
Houses or buildings typically have to be at least 50 years old to
be considered for historical resource status, Wilkerson said, though
there are examples of mid-century architecture that is not 50 years
old that has been recommended for approval.
In the case of the Grandview property, the architect was an
important factor in staff members' recommendation for approval,
Wilkerson said.
"You have an architect in the case of the Grandview home, Alfred
Priest, [who] was a very significant architect in the history of our
area," she said.
Priest designed numerous buildings and homes of significance in
the city, including the Security Trust and Savings bank at 100 N.
Brand Blvd.
The Mills Act is a trade-off between the historical resource
applicant and the city in which property taxes are lowered in
exchange for the homeowner agreeing to preserve the historical
integrity of the building, Wilkerson said.
By having their property listed, owners must have any additions or
