Old Towne Orange Hopes to Get Its Place in History

By LESLEY WRIGHT

Feb. 14, 1997 12 AM PT

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

ORANGE —

For some, it could be the city’s most shining moment.

The eight members of the State Historical Resources Commission, each appointed by the governor, are expected to recommend to the federal government today that Old Towne Orange be designated as the largest historic district in the state. From there, it is almost a shoo-in for the keeper of the National Register of Historic Places to give the mile-square residential area its place in the sun.

“To be on the same rolls as Monticello or the Gettysburg battlefields or the Golden Gate . . . Wow! That’s really something,” said Russ Barrios, a founding member of Old Towne Preservation Assn., the group that nominated the area for National Register status.

But not everyone in the city sees the matter that way. The proposal has prompted a hostile battle between historic preservationists and property-rights advocates decrying what they see as the growing role of government.

“We are having this historic preservation stuff foisted on us,” said Ralph Zehner, an Old Towne resident who belongs to both the preservation association and the Orange Taxpayers Assn., which is leading the fight against the historic designation. “Most of the property owners I’ve spoken to are angry at the way the Old Towne Preservation Assn. has done this. They’re sneaky. They’ve been very deceitful.”

Fears voiced by those against the district range from a general loss of property rights to nightmares of having to commission a full environmental impact report every time they want to change their building in some way.

Preservationists already envision higher property values; the glory of having a freeway sign pointing to nationally recognized Old Towne; and tax incentives to rehabilitate the area’s turn-of-the-century and pre-1940s homes.

City and state officials say the impact lies somewhere in between.

The city already has design review standards, which were passed in 1995 after years of debate, to ensure the preservation of the area’s historic look.

Those standards are actually more strict than state guidelines for historic preservation, said Maryln Bourne Lortie, a historian with the state’s Office of Historic Preservation. “There is no additional [governmental] layer of review.”

Jack McGee, director of community development, said the designation might mean the city will have to apply the state’s environmental quality review act if property owners want to change the outward look of their buildings or tear the structure down. But those alterations would have to be large and significant to require a closer review, he said.

“We will not be asking for a full environmental impact report for changing a light switch,” McGee said. “We will have to put a plan together about how we deal with the state Environmental Quality Review Act.”

But opponents of the historic district said they are just as frustrated with the designation process as the outcome.

The Old Towne Preservation Assn., with more than 500 members, made the application about two years ago. Leaders of the group said they kept members informed of their progress through newsletters. But other property owners were not informed of the project until December 1996.

The state office has decided to recommend Old Towne, which includes about 1,600 structures, although about 500 of those houses have been altered and are considered “non-contributors” to the district, Lortie said.

The state commission will hold its public hearing today and then take a vote about whether to recommend the district to the keeper of the National Register, which is part of the National Park Service. The keeper then makes the final decision in about 45 days.

The rub for opponents is that they can only block the commission vote by persuading 51% of the property owners to send notarized letters of protest to the meeting.

“It’s an undemocratic process,” said Mayor Joanne Coontz, who said she has reservations about the listing.

The Orange Taxpayers Assn. issued a statement to the City Council, which does not have a formal say in the matter, condemning the preservationists for not keeping all those who might be affected informed.

But Barrios and other preservationists said that the people opposing the listing are just naysayers who condemn any kind of change.

“These people are just negative, negative, negative,” he said. “They would be opposed if someone said Jesus was coming back. And God help them if the government said Jesus was coming back. They’d say it was a conspiracy.”

Anyone can comment to the commission. The Old Towne issue is set for discussion at 10:30 a.m. at the Herrick Memorial Chapel and Interfaith Center at Occidental College, 1600 Campus Drive, Eagle Rock.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

A Nod to History

Should the State Historical Resources Commission decide to consider Old Towne Orange for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, it would place the area in line to join more than 70 other Orange County locations.

Some Orange County Historic Places

* Balboa Inn, Newport Beach

* Brea City Hall and Park, Brea

* Fullerton Union Pacific Depot, Fullerton

* Howe-Waffle House and Carriage House, Santa Ana

* Irvine Bean and Growers Assn. Building, Irvine

* George Key Ranch, Placentia

* Lighter-Than-Air Ship Hangars, Tustin

* Mission San Juan Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano

* Modjeska House, Modjeska Canyon

* Newland House, Huntington Beach

* Richard Nixon Birthplace, Yorba Linda