Advocacy Committee Report February 2009

In this edition of our Advocacy Committee report, we would like to briefly review the proposed changes and offer our general support, with caveats, to the amendments to the Cultural Heritage Commission Ordinance (CHCO).

Long Beach Heritage Advocacy Committee (LBHAC) members reviewed and suggested recommendations to the proposed amendments to the CHCO. We were pleasantly surprised with the request for our opinions, observations and recommendations. Many of our comments and concerns, based on "real life" incidents and observations, were incorporated into the CHCO. Additionally, when the item was scheduled for the first hearing to the City Council, we requested that it be pulled so we could meet again with city staff and prepare our remarks to the City Council. You can access the city's web site and watch the February 17 City Council meeting to hear our concerns. 

There are three major proposed amendments to the CHCO that we analyzed:

1. Reduce the number of CHC members from fifteen to seven. LBHAC views these suggestions as a step toward aligning the CHC with the Planning Commission and Redevelopment Agency as a more manageable body to ensure adequate and fruitful discussion. Many CHC members were often unable to discuss items fully for the benefits of the applicants due to the length of time each member was allotted. Meetings often lasted hours with only a few items on the agenda. This reflected poorly on the CHC, the process and the City, regardless of the outcome to the applicant. Members of the CHC were rushed to judgment and didn't have time to fully explore options or mitigations for projects. LBHAC is concerned that the new CHC members have the necessary credentials in accordance with the recommendations contained within the Certified Local Government (CLG) document. The CLG empowers the CHC to conduct preservation related business, including landmarking resources and forming Historic Districts. Long Beach Heritage is very concerned that appointments made by the Mayor's office should be evaluated using the strict guidelines and recommendations of the CLG. This is clearly an issue of quality vs. quantity.

2. Amend procedures to obtain Certificates of Appropriateness (COAs) for applications within historic districts (HDs). The current procedures for some minor COAs require the review and approval of the CHC. In many other cities, this level of review and approval is performed by frontline staff over the counter, along with the general permitting process. The current process has delayed and frustrated many well intended homeowners who need  minor permits to work on homes within HDs. In addition, the process of hearing  applicants' request for minor work has distracted the CHC from larger policy issues and more proactive and programming for our HDs. LBHAC has heard from many HDs over the years that the process for minor work should be streamlined and done "over the counter" to promote voluntary compliance by homeowners. We agree with some stipulations. First, staff performing the review and approval of minor work  described in the proposed ordinance must be properly trained, supervised and