Which Way, Covina I

Which Way, Covina?

Part I

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Civic Park and the rest of the historic downtown distr= ict are perhaps the most important social, cultural, & historic assets in Covina. The Town Center Speci= fic Plan’s FEIR promised comprehensive evaluation of the planning area= 217;s historic and tree resources within 24 months of final plan approval on Nove= mber 16, 2004. What’s needed too is a thoroughly integrated district-wide seismic engineering ana= lysis of all those downtown historic structures.= Perhaps the studies will commence after all significant historic resources have been removed?

Must each generation ignore and destroy its heritage?<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Not necessaril= y. This generation appreciates and wa= nts to capitalize on Covina’s rich history.= Will these elected officials and landowners permanently compromise o= ld-town Covina’s potentially lucrative heritage tour & film industry?

If a stand is to be made in= support of an economic future for our Historic Downtown, now is when that stand mus= t be taken, before the buildings and trees that comprise the resource are gone.<= /p>

Economic renewal doesn’t have to flatten old towns. Visuali= ze Azusa, Claremont, Duarte, Glendora, La Verne, and San Dimas. These are all thriving old-town pl= aces where people love to spend time and tax dollars.= Like Covina, these cities formed in the 1880’s. All share a richly interwoven hist= ory and a mostly-intact fabric of early-era downtown construction. After carefully studying the econo= mic development and seismic stabilization options, they chose to identify, eval= uate, rehabilitate, and conserve. T= hose cities are fortifying their buildings and polishing their roots. Other cities with similar histories consider preserv= ation a viable economic decision. <= span class=3DGramE>Shouldn’t Covina at least consider the possibili= ties, while we still have the leisure of that option?

On the day of the recent Supreme Court decision on emi= nent domain, Covina’s code-enforcement officers condemned 100 N. Citrus, f= orcing the eviction of four popular businesses: Alexandria Deli, Sculpt Salon, Aqu= arius Nail Spa, and Corwin Vocal Studio. <= /span>The building they occupied was the remaining southerly 29.5’ portion of t= he Reed Block, a single building that stretched from the NE corner of Badillo = to the northern edge of the old Covina Playhouse.

This downtown building and 67 others were designated P= otentially Hazardous Structures in 1989, and so referenced in the 2000 General Plan. The assumption, largely unstudied,= is that these structures may be built with unreinforced masonry, which may become unstable in a seismic event like an earthquake. Tragically, old town Paso Robles recently had such an experience.

If the County Assessor’s website is to be taken seriously, the old Reed Block building at 100= -104 N Citrus in Covina was built in 1880, making it the oldest standing structure= in Covina. H= ow’s that for an historic resource?

Neighborhood preservation generates substantial econom= ic and social benefits. Private restoration dollars are spent locally, generating local tax revenue. These reve= nue streams were neither assessed nor compared, but = that is where our redevelopment investments belong, where they can do the most g= ood and create local jobs. People= like the evidence of stability that resonates from big old trees and well-mainta= ined historic buildings because it allows them to hearken back to a simpler era = in the midst of an ever more complicated modern world. People like to visit and live in p= laces that take historic sense-of-place seriously and they= 217;ll pay more to enjoy that atmosphere. <= /span>That’s economic revitalization.

Downtown property owners and businesspeople may want t= o consider Covina’s voluntary Historic Preservation Act. This approach to evaluating histor= ic and economic resources allows time for property owners to evaluate building-str= engthening solutions and consider a broader array of commercial financing options, whi= le commercial buildings are full of tenants who are still in business and stil= l paying rent.

Individually designated historic resources qualify for= use of the State Historic Building Code, which would not trigger the code violations tied to the recent condemnation. That may prove useful to protect p= rivate and public property from the Redevelopment Agency’s windfall trifecta: the Potentially Hazardous Structures list, = the red-tag-effect on fair market property values, and the new Eminent Domain law.

Neighborhoods surrounding the TCSP area may want to co= nsider pursuing this option also.

Designated Historic Landmarks and Structures of Merit = receive a whopping 70% discount on building permit fees, welcome breaks for those w= ho embark on seismic analysis and retrofit projects. Furthermore, income-producing prop= erties designated as historic resources may be eligible for federal tax benefits a= nd any designated historic resource may be eligible for a property tax-reducing Mi= lls Act Contract.

Contact your Council and Historic Preservation Board M= embers and come to public meetings to support a citywide preservation-based economic revitalization plan. Locals are encouraged to join us, = listen in, and be heard at the Historic Preservation Board meeting in Council Cham= bers on July 12th at 6:30pm.

Please help fix the TCSP be= fore it stops you in your tracks!

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Pat Duff

Covina, CA

(626) 331-4666

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duff@electduff.org=