CITY OF LOS ANGELES CULTURAL HERITAGE ORDINANCE REVISIONS

In September 2009 , the City of Los Angeles Planning Commission voted seven to one to approve the Office of Historic Resources' proposed revisions to the city's Cultural Heritage Ordinance. The new ordinance is now being reviewed by the City Attorney's office before going to the City Council.

Thank you to everyone who attended the multiple Planning Commission meetings and who wrote letters in support of the much-needed ordinance overhaul.

The September 2009 meeting alone had sixty members of the preservation community in attendance and around 100 letters submitted! We can't thank you enough for your relentless support throughout this process—we really couldn't have done it without you!

Benefits of the Proposed Ordinance
The Process
For More Information

Benefits of the Proposed Ordinance

Among its many benefits, the new ordinance would help to
clarify the local designation and demolition review processes, while improving owner notification and consolidating preservation incentives and existing maintenance and enforcement provisions all in one place. Key improvements include:

The revised Cultural Heritage Ordinance would protect potential landmarks from demolition while nominations are pending, helping to prevent preemptive demolitions such as Lou Ehlers Cadillac; photo by LAC staff

Allows for the denial, not merely the delay, of a local landmark’s demolition. 
Unlike most big-city preservation ordinances, L.A.’s current ordinance allows the Cultural Heritage Commission to delay – but not deny – the demolition of a designated landmark.  The proposed changes would rectify this extraordinary shortcoming in the city’s preservation law.

Establishes a standard for obtaining approval for a demolition request.  
The revised ordinance imposes tough new hardship standards that must be met before a Historic-Cultural Monument can be demolished.

The 1887 Giese Residence, the last remaining Victorian home on Bunker Hill, demolished illegally in 2003 by developer G. H. Palmer Associates.

Protects potential landmarks from demolition while their nominations are pending. 
If the owner of a historic property opposes its landmark designation, s/he currently has a window of opportunity to demolish the structure before it can be considered for landmark status.  The proposed ordinance would correct this flawed process by imposing an immediate stay of demolition once a nomination has been submitted.

Adds new criterion for designation of socio-cultural historic resources.  
The proposed ordinance adds a new criterion to explicitly recognize properties that exemplify the ethnic and cultural diversity of Los Angeles. 

The Process

The Office of Historic Resources has worked for nearly two years on a comprehensive review and revision of the city's Cultural Heritage Ordinance, which sets in place protections for locally designated landmarks (known in Los Angeles as Historic-Cultural Monuments, or HCMs). This is the first major overhaul of the ordinance since its creation in 1962.

The revised ordinance would dramatically enhance preservation in Los Angeles by clarifying critical, yet often unclear, procedures. The most significant change would allow the city to deny, not merely delay, the demolition of a local landmark. The Conservancy has worked closely with OHR and a range of stakeholders on the proposed revisions.

The Office of Historic Resources announced the proposed changes in February 2008. The Cultural Heritage Commission held public workshops and hearings soon thereafter to gain public input. Over the summer and fall of 2008, the changes were refined in a series of meetings by a diverse working group convened by the OHR and the Office of Council President Eric Garcetti, including representatives of the development and preservation communities, among other stakeholders.         

After a series of public hearings and workshops to further hone its provisions, the Cultural Heritage Commission unanimously endorsed the revamped ordinance in November 2008.

The proposed ordinance revisions then went to the Los Angeles City Planning Commission for review. The commission held two public hearings regarding the changes, on June 11 and July 9, 2009, with substantial public comment at both hearings.

On June 11, the commission asked the Office of Historic Resources to address various issues raised about the proposed revisions, particularly concerns raised by a small group of property owners and business advocates. The continuance allowed for further discussion, with the goal of reaching consensus by July 9.

To address concerns raised by those opposing the ordinance at the initial Planning Commission hearing on June 11, on July 9 the Office of Historic Resources recommended new changes that would curb the city’s ability to designate private interior spaces unless agreed to by the property owner. Publicly accessible interior spaces would still be protected – such as historic theatres, bank lobbies, and restaurants – as would private interiors subject to a Mills Act Contract or Historic Tax Credit project. 

The Conservancy spoke in support of these revisions at the July 9 Planning Commission hearing. However, other members of the preservation community strongly opposed the new limit on the city’s ability to protect the interiors of private properties, particularly single-family homes. In response to these new concerns, the Planning Commission voted on July 9 to continue the hearing on the ordinance until September 10, 2009.

The OHR, the Conservancy, other preservation groups, HCM owners, business representatives, and attorneys met multiple times to try and reach consensus on the single issue of protecting historic interiors. In late August, they reached an agreement to keep the status quo regarding interiors: the City's Cultural Heritage Commission would be able to delay, but not deny, changes to the interiors of HCMs -- as has been the case since 1962.

After reaching this apparent consensus, a few business interests backpedaled on the agreement. Their concerns were raised at the September 10 hearing, but ultimately the commission voted seven to one to approve OHR's recommendations -- thanks largely to the strong support of the preservation community.

The new ordinance has now gone to the City Attorney's office for review before proceeding to the City Council.

For More Information

Office of Historic Resources website

Updated September 2009