Long Beach : Development Restricted on Streets Near Historical Zone

Moving to put a buffer zone around the new Willmore City Historical District, the Long Beach Planning Commission has restricted development in the Drake Park area and portions of 7th Street between Pacific and Maine avenues.

The action is intended to protect additional historic structures and strengthen design controls for renovation and new construction in the downtown-area neighborhood.

At least 10 property owners decried the proposal, saying property values have plummeted and the requirements make renovating or rebuilding financially unfeasible.

Multifamily development will be permitted only on sites where no historic structures now sit or where such buildings have been successfully moved to another location.

Owners of historic buildings will be allowed to convert them to bed-and-breakfast inns, add artists’ lofts or pursue other limited commercial efforts. The new restrictions allow late Victorian, California Bungalow, Mediterranean Revival and Craftsman architectural styles and prohibit Queen Anne, Art Deco and Modern International.

Among the property owners to praise the plan was Councilman Evan Anderson Braude, a Willmore resident since August, 1989. “The value of this property is going up, even with the down-zoning,” he said.