They’d Like Registry to Be History
The two-story Santa Ana house with the white picket fence and the lavish king palms dotting the front yard has been in the Scott family for 54 years.
Built in 1911 and once owned by one of the city’s pioneer families, the house on North Broadway is considered a key property on the city’s historic registry.
But the fact that the family home had landed on the city’s registry was unknown to the Scott family until they tried to get a new roof. And now, three years later, they have learned another lesson: There’s little chance of getting off the list.
“They’ve taken our property away from us, is what they’ve done,” said James Scott of Paradise, Calif., one of three brothers who now owns the house. Although some cities ask owners if they would like their property listed on an historic registry, Santa Ana does not.
City officials survey properties with historic value and send notices to the owners. If the owners object, they can make their case before the city’s Historic Resources Commission. The commission--and ultimately the City Council--decides the homes’ fate.
In the case of the Scott brothers, the commission and the council last week rejected their request to pull the house from the registry, meaning the brothers must submit plans for major home improvements to a committee. That group decides if the desired alterations are in line with standards for preserving the historic integrity of the neighborhood.
“It’s the only way we have to preserve our dwindling number of historic homes,” said Councilwoman Lisa Bist, who led the council’s 5-0 vote against the Scott brothers.
“You may be great owners, but what happens when you sell the property to someone else?”
The Scotts’ parents, now deceased, bought the house in 1948. Their father planted the king palms. Once residential, the 1300 block of Broadway where the house is located now has a mix of uses. The Scott property is sandwiched between a law office and a church. The brothers rent out the home, but want to keep it in the family.
The house was cited by the city in the 1980s as an historic property, both for cultural and architectural reasons. It was one of the early Craftsman houses, and its first owner, James Weisman, was one of the city’s leading businessmen. Since the Historic Resources Commission was created five years ago, more than 250 properties have been listed on its registry. The brothers’ property was among a handful given the status of “key” historic properties, making it even more unlikely that officials would take it off the registry.
City officials concede the Scotts have some grounds for complaint.
The notice telling the brothers that their house had been added to the list was inadvertently sent to a property they no longer own and was never forwarded.
The brothers discovered the historic designation three years ago when Ferris Scott, who lives in Laguna Beach, asked for a city permit for a new roof for the home. He was told to submit samples of roofing material to a city preservation committee.
That’s when the brothers began fighting to have their house taken off the list.
Rose Ann Kings, chairwoman of the Historic Resources Commission, said she is sympathetic to the Scotts. “We didn’t handle that very well,” she said. “When the Scotts brought their objection to us, we didn’t really have a process in place for handling their complaint. They’ve sort of become our guinea pigs.”
Only one other property owner has objected to being on the city’s registry, and that was a church. Its request was approved.
Laguna Beach gives homeowners a choice, as do other cities. In Laguna Beach, more than half those invited to be on its registry readily agreed. Most cities--Santa Ana included--offer the owners of these designated homes some tax breaks, low-interest loans and other incentives.
In recent years, only two requests to de-register were made in Laguna Beach. Those were granted, said John Montgomery, a city community development planner, on condition the owners returned any fees that had been waived because of their historic registry status.
In Fullerton, property owners are not forced onto the registry. But Bob Linnell, a city planner, said the city has had difficulty convincing many homeowners to agree to have their homes put on the list. There are 170 properties designated as historic, but fewer than half of the owners have agreed to registry status, Linnell said.
“There is a perception among many of them that their property values will go down,” Linnell said. “We’re convinced just the opposite is true.”
In Anaheim, residents are not given a choice. More than 1,100 homes are registered as part of an historic “colony district” inside the city’s original borders. But Phyllis Mueller, the city’s neighborhood development coordinator, said not only have there been no official complaints, residents are enthusiastic about participating. “They have block parties and help each other with their homes,” she said. “They see it as a status symbol, one that adds value to their property.”
In a few instances, she said, her office has had to suggest to homeowners that they were proposing the wrong kind of building material for upgrading their property.
But the neighborhood office’s policy is “advise and educate.” It doesn’t force anything on a resident, though it does make its views known to city officials who have final say on property alterations.
Mueller pointed out that preservationists have a powerful ally on their side--California’s courts.
In a case decided last year, the state Supreme Court barred Sierra Madre from removing 29 properties from a list of historic properties through a ballot measure. That case, Mueller said, will make it less likely that cities will be sympathetic to homeowners.
The brothers agree with the preservationists that the home they own is historic; they are adamant about preserving it. They simply don’t like a committee telling them how to do it.
“This goes against the fundamental American rights of the property owner,” said Al Scott, who lives in Palm Springs.
“It’s the Big Brother approach.”
But Kings of the Historic Resources Commission said the Scotts may come to recognize the value of the registry.
“We lost a lot of homes along Broadway before we began this registry process,” she said.
“To ever lose that house, where the Scotts were raised, that would be a loss to all of us.”
