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City Beat
Neighbors consider becoming historic area
North WG group to hold board elections in coming weeks
By Kate Carter
Members of the North Willow Glen Neighborhood Association last week debated whether or not to make their neighborhood a San Jose Historic Conservation Area.
By the end of its July 24 meeting, the group decided to get more information about the designation and what benefits and limitations it could have for homeowners. But not everyone supported giving San Jose city officials more control over how their homes are modified.
Association President Alison England raised the possibility of turning the area within the association's boundaries into a conservation area. The area's boundaries are: Bird Avenue to the west, Willow Street to the south, Prevost Street to the east and Fuller Avenue to the north; and it includes both sides of Fuller Avenue between Gregory and Prevost Streets and both sides of Bird Avenue between the railroad tracks and Coe Avenue.
England told the gathering of more than 20 people that she has been looking into the designation change for more than a year and thinks it is a good idea to protect the character of one of the city's largest and most intact areas of older working-class homes from new, inappropriate construction.
"It's another mechanism for getting done what we want to see happen," she said. "With an infill mentality, it's like no place is safe."
The conservation area designation is subject only to local government controls and is the least-stringent of historic area designations, some of which are subject to state and federal controls.
Senior Planner Pat Colombe told The Resident that she isn't sure if the neighborhood could actually become a conservation area similar to others in the city, such as the nearby Palm Haven and Naglee Park neighborhoods. She said city staffers are devising a new policy for neighborhoods to receive the designation, in anticipation of increased interest in it from communities affected by the city's Strong Neighborhoods Initiative improvement process. If a community strongly supported such a designation, it could likely receive it, she said.
Homeowners within a conservation area are required to go through the city's single-family house permit process--commonly known as the "monster home ordinance"--in order to make structural, plumbing or electrical changes to their properties, Colombe said. Plans for such changes must be submitted to the San Jose planning department for review. If the changes were minimal and in keeping with the character of the original structure, the permit would likely be approved, she said.
However, if a large addition or changes out of character with the neighborhood were proposed, the permit must go through a public hearing process and be reviewed at a planning director's hearing and possibly even a city council hearing, Colombe said.
"Many of the things that would require you to go to that second level are things we probably wouldn't approve," she said. "It is really an attempt to balance the homeowners' rights to as much discretion to do what they want with their homes with the community's interest in maintaining the character of the community."
For more information about the single-family house permit, visit www.ci.san-jose.ca.us/planning/sjplan/sfhp.htm.
The advantages to the historic designation, England said, are that trained historians would assist homeowners in making appropriate improvements to their homes that wouldn't result in costly mistakes that could reduce the homes' values. She also said the designation is an "insurance policy" that would ensure other homes aren't modified in ways that detract from the historical appearance of the neighborhood and bring down other homes' values.
"This is close to having a board to assist you to do a good job," England said.
But some neighbors said they were concerned about giving city officials the power to tell them what kind of home modifications they could make. They were also concerned about having to pay money to apply for permits they might not even receive. And they said some inappropriate construction is already coming into the neighborhood. One neighbor, who asked not to be identified, said she was worried the association was becoming more of a homeowners association than a neighborhood association.
But those in favor of continuing to look into the area designation said permits and permit fees are common in many remodels already. This additional step would help to ensure the appropriateness of the remodels by having city staff members working with them through the process, they said.
"I wouldn't want to tell you what to do with your home," England said. "[City staffers] would work with you and give you options."
Colombe said it is common for people to not want the city to review their plans but later on to wish they had.
"Some people would be potentially irritated to do something they don't want to do, but come to appreciate it later," she said. "There's a lot of monetary incentive in keeping [the homes] significant."
Some neighbors suggested it might be possible for homeowners in the conservation area to receive low-interest loans or tax incentives for the maintenance of their homes. But Colombe said she thought those were for areas under more strict guidelines.
England and Colombe both said this was merely a subject of discussion at this point and that nothing is certain about whether or not the area would receive the designation.
In other news, the group announced its first open election, scheduled for its next meeting at the Word of Faith Church, 873 Delmas Ave., at the corner of Fuller Avenue, on Aug. 18 at 7 p.m. The executive board also voted to combine secretary and treasurer positions, eliminate one of two vice-president positions and add two positions for members-at-large.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
