City Council

1.\nPUBLIC HEARING TO ADOPT AN ORDINANCE APPROVING ZONING TEXT\nAMENDMENT AMD-25-03, AMENDING TITLE 23 (ZONING) OF THE ALHAMBRA\nMUNICIPAL CODE TO INCORPORATE CHAPTER 23.23\n(HISTORIC PRESERVATION) AND OTHER ASSOCIATED AMENDMENTS, AND AMENDING\nCHAPTER 2.41 (HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION); AND DETERMINE THIS\nACTION IS EXEMPT FROM CEQA – F2M20-51, N2M25-101, O2M25-4848, M2M25-130\nThis is the time and place set by Notice No. N2M25-101 for the City Council to hold a\npublic hearing to consider an application for Zoning Text Amendment AMD-25-03 to adopt\na Historic Preservation Ordinance. Zoning Text Amendment AMD-25-03 is a City-initiated\napplication to adopt a Historic Preservation Ordinance establishing regulations and\nstandards for designating historic resources within the City and regulating designated\nresources as part of a comprehensive Historic Preservation Program, as well as amending\nvarious sections of the Alhambra Municipal Code to establish consistency with the\nproposed Historic Preservation Ordinance. Adoption and implementation of a Historic\nPreservation Ordinance aligns with the goals, policies, and objectives set forth in the City’s\nGeneral Plan and the City Council 2025 Strategic Plan. The revised Historic Preservation\nOrdinance establishes regulations and standards for the treatment of historic resources\nCity-wide that are intended to: 1.) Balance the interests of the community and individual\nproperty owners; 2.) Provide recognition of and protection for existing historic resources;\n3.) Establish incentives to encourage rehabilitation and preservation of historic resources;\nand 4.) Add predictability to the local development process. The Ordinance, which will\napply City-wide, establishes the process for determining a property’s status as a historic\nresource. Statuses include: (1) eligible or potentially eligible individual resource; (2)\ncontributor or non-contributor in an eligible or potentially eligible historic district; (3)\ndesignated landmark; or (4) contributor or non-contributor in a designated historic district.\nThe City’s Historic Resources Survey preliminarily identified potentially eligible individual\nresources and potentially eligible historic districts; however, further evaluation in the form\nof a Historic Resource Assessment would be necessary to determine whether a property\nis an eligible resource, and a historic resources survey report would be necessary to\ndetermine if an area with a grouping of resources qualifies as an eligible historic district.\nWhile the Ordinance does provide procedures which allow an owner to object to a\ndesignation nomination, it does not allow a property owner to “opt-out” of being subject to\nthe regulations and requirements implemented under the Ordinance.\nAt their July 7, 2025 regular meeting, the Planning Commission conducted a public\nhearing to review the updated Historic Preservation Ordinance and adopted Planning\nCommission Resolution No. 25-04 (Attachment 2 of the Staff Report dated 8-25-25) by a\nvote of 7-0, recommending City Council approval of Zoning Text Amendment AMD-25-03,\nwith three (3) additional recommendations. The Planning Commission’s recommendations\nare identified in Section 3 of Planning Commission Resolution No. 25-04 which is\nAttachment 2 of the Staff Report for this item. The proposed Historic Preservation\nOrdinance, along with the recommendations of the Historic Preservation Commission and\nPlanning Commission, are being presented to the City Council for final consideration and\nadoption. Staff is also recommending the City Council consider an additional suggested\nrevision, which would provide additional clarity in Section 23.23.090, Alterations to Historic\nResources. Staff’s recommendation is to clarify that all contributing and non-contributing\nresources in potentially eligible and eligible Historic Districts are exempt from review;\nhowever, any designated historic landmarks, eligible individual historic resources, or\npotentially eligible individual historic resources within the Historic Districts would still be\nsubject to the applicable review requirements for these types of individual resources.\nFinally, The City reviewed the environmental impacts of this Ordinance under the\nCalifornia Environmental Quality Act (Public Resources Code §§ 21000, et seq. “CEQA”)\nand the regulations promulgated thereunder (14 Cal. Code of Regs. §§ 15000, et seq.,\nthe “CEQA Guidelines”). This Ordinance is not subject to further environmental review\nbecause: (1) it will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change\nin the environment (14 Cal. Code Regs. § 15060(c)(2); (2) there is no possibility that this\nOrdinance will have a significant effect on the environment (14 Cal. Code Regs. §\n15061(b)(3)); (3) the proposed amendments will assure the maintenance, restoration,\nenhancement, or protection of the environment (14 Cal. Code Regs. § 15308); and (4) the\nOrdinance, by itself, does not constitute a “project” as defined in section 21065 of the\nPublic Resources Code and the CEQA Guidelines (14 Cal. Code Regs. § 15378). It can\nbe seen with certainty that there is no possibility that this Ordinance may have a significant\neffect on the environment.\nRecommended Action:\nCity Council:\n1.\nConduct a Public Hearing to receive public testimony\n2\nDetermine which of the Historic Preservation Commission’s and Planning\nCommission’s recommended revisions to include in the proposed ordinance;\nprovide further direction to staff on the Planning Commission’s recommendation to\nconsider financial assistance for the preparation of Historic Resources\nAssessments; provide further direction to staff on the Historic Preservation’s\nrecommendation to consider a reduction in Building Permit fees; and introduce and\ngive first reading by title only, waiving further reading to the following ordinance\nentitled:\nOrdinance No. O2M25-4848: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY\nCOUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ALHAMBRA ADOPTING ZONING TEXT\nAMENDMENT AMD-25-03, AMENDING TITLE 23 (ZONING) OF THE\nALHAMBRA MUNICIPAL CODE TO INCORPORATE CHAPTER\n23.23 (HISTORIC PRESERVATION) AND OTHER ASSOCIATED\nAMENDMENTS, AND AMENDING CHAPTER 2.41 (HISTORIC\nPRESERVATION COMMISSION)\nwhich ordinance shall return for a second reading and adoption at the next City\nCouncil meeting on September 8, 2025; and,\n3.\nDetermine this action is exempt from CEQA. (M2M25-130)