Getty Conservation Institute's Historic Preservation Guidebook & Support for Historic Resources Survey

Kathryn, with your leadership, the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI), has just published a guidebook for homeowners clearly defining the incentives for the preservation of historic homes in Los Angeles. Elaborate on the need for such a guidebook, and comment on how it fits into Getty's support of a historic resource survey for Los Angeles.

This guidebook is indeed a part of a larger project started about two years ago by the Getty to assess the value of a historic resource survey in Los Angeles. The adaptive use movement was burgeoning. The movement to establish historic preservation overlay zones was growing and expanding into all parts of the city. And the Getty recognized that despite very important advances, preservation was still characterized by a lot of conflict and confusion over simple questions about what is historic. So, the larger project that GCI is involved with is to help develop a comprehensive citywide historic resource survey. And as a part of that, we realized that people will want to know what happens if their homes are identified as historic or culturally significant.

One of the first questions is what are the economic consequences and what are the potential benefits? We decided that it would be useful to have a guidebook for homeowners to detail what incentives are available when you own or want to purchase a historic home. We are also now at work on a second guidebook for owners of historic commercial property.

The historic research survey project described by you is dependent on the city of Los Angeles doing a historic resource survey. When might we expect this survey to take place?

That will be the city's decision and it will happen under their time frame. Over the past year, the GCI has done further research on a citywide survey and we've researched the various components of a survey: from the historic context statement to the standards and criteria that might be used, how information could be processed, how different public agencies use survey material, as well as further research on incentives and sources of financial support for undertaking a citywide survey.

Do we have enough incentives in place to encourage meaningful historic preservation of homes? And if we need more, what would justify more incentives being adopted by the public sector?

We observed in developing this book that there are a wide range of incentives available from the public sector and conventional lending sources. But, more use should be made of them, whether it's the state historic building code or the Mills Act. Taking the Mills Act for example, less than 15% of the tax reductions authorized by the city council are being used. So, we hope this guidebook and this general effort by the city will educate people to know what the benefits are so that they can be fully utilized.

Within your report is a section entitled "historic preservation incentives in other cities and states." Could you elaborate on those examples and note which might be useful for Los Angeles to consider?

We identified those historic preservation incentives available in other cities and states and we included these so that people could consider whether this makes sense in Los Angeles. We have seen across the country how effective local revolving funds can be-pools of money that either can be used to acquire, rehabilitate, and resell properties, or to make loans, with the proceeds flowing back into the fund. We were intrigued with the design and rehabilitation assistance programs that are offered in many communities by groups like the LA Conservancy. In the guidebook, we describe the work of the Cleveland Restoration Society to provide rehabilitation guidelines and even consultation on rehab design and methods. Or in Dallas, where Preservation Dallas has worked with the local real estate brokerage community to train them to advise prospective homeowners on the value of their historic properties and the appropriate rehabilitation practices for those properties.

So in Los Angeles, I would say the first step would be to get the existing incentives better known and better used. And as the number of historic districts increases and the conversation among and between them increases, I'm sure that we'll start seeing some interest in expanding the range of incentives.

To help our readers better appreciate your guidebook, what is an "historic home"?

A historic home is one that has architectural or historical features or where significant persons have lived or significant events have occurred, or one that is recognized for being a distinctive or unique example of that type of architecture or building, with significance to the city, state or to the country.

What's the legal significance of designating a home as "historic?"

Well there are three existing levels of designation. There is local designation, which includes designation as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument or a contributing property within a historic preservation overlay zone. There is the state level designation, which is a listing in the California Register of Historical Resources. And there is the federal level designation, which is a listing in the National Register of Historic Places, either as an individual property or as an historic district. And each one of those affords the property owner the eligibility to take advantage of incentives. Primarily, designation affords recognition of the significance and value of the property or district. And finally, there are protections that are associated with those designations. It is the local designation that provides for a review of changes to the distinguishing features of a property. At the state and federal level, those designations provide a review if any federal or state funding is involved.

You have an eloquently written section in the introduction describing the origins of Angelino Heights. You go on to describe the craftsman houses of West Adams District, the modest bungalows in the Highland Park, the Spanish colonial revival and other exotic, historic revival styles in the Miracle Mile, as well as the San Fernando Valley's subdivision of California ranch homes. Are these preservation examples the impetus for your work?

Right now, the city has 17 historic districts (HPOZs) and there are 16 more in the pipeline. We've included a list of all of them in the book. The residents themselves have identified these. Preservation in Los Angeles has been absolutely a wonderful grassroots movement, involving a community of neighbors and property owners of all income levels and social and ethnic backgrounds. We expect that there will be other historic properties and HPOZs identified.

So, why have we seen so little investment or involvement by homeowners in this historic preservation program? Only 86 contracts of single-family homes have been approved through 2002 for the Mills Act. And, given the quality of the neighborhoods in LA, few historic overlay zones have been adopted. What needs to happen in terms of outreach to enlarge the historic preservation movement in Los Angeles?

The Mills Act is a relatively new program. It was passed by the Los Angeles City Council in 1996 and has taken a little time to gear up. These are contracts between the property owners and the city. These contracts require careful thought and work between the city and the property owner to make sure both can abide by terms of the contract. One of the things that has been recognized is that the administrative capacity for the program is limited. To some extent, that limits the availability of the Mills Act's use throughout the city. However, it is being widely used for commercial property investment throughout the region. The numbers we include in the guidebook are from 2002 and in the last two years there has been an increase in the use of Mills Act.

As to HPOZs, Los Angeles has done a good job with the total number of designations already made. The number will grow, but LA's record on designating historic districts has impressed leaders in the city and the public.

Returning to the status of the historic resources survey, there are many, including the Conservancy, who believe that with only 15% of the city's 465 square-mile surveyed, the most strategically important effort is to finish that survey if we are going to preserve or maintain these historic homes. Wouldn't you agree? If so, what do we have to do to encourage more than 15% of the city be surveyed?

We definitely agree. When we issued the survey assessment report, we were delighted with the coverage that The Planning Report provided with the findings. At that point, the City Council was very responsive and a motion was initiated and passed under the leadership of Jack Weiss and Janice Hahn for the city to look at developing a professional, comprehensive citywide survey and preservation program.

How should GCI evaluate its investment in historic preservation in Los Angeles to date? What is success? And what do you expect the Getty's role will be in support of like efforts going forward?

To have a comprehensive citywide survey completed and to have the property owners recognize the value and the joy of owning an historic home or commercial property-and use incentives to invest in their preservation.

We've been working on the various components of this project and we are still hard at work. And, there has been steady progress. With the support of the Conservancy, the HPOZ Alliance, the City, and ULI, there are many organizations and city leaders who recognize the value of having a citywide survey. As I mentioned earlier, the Getty will publish a " Guidebook to Preservation Incentives for Owners of Historic Commercial Property," and we will publish our Report on Survey Methods and Management.

Information on the Los Angeles Historic Resource Survey Project and copies of the guidebook, "Incentives for the Preservation and Rehabilitation of Historic Homes in the City of Los Angeles" and the "Los Angeles Historic Resource Survey Assessment Project, Summary Report," are available free of charge in PDF format on the Getty Website at wwaw.getty.edu/conservation/field_projects/lasurvey.