BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
The Palo Alto Historic Resources Board will consider adding 66 private properties to an inventory of local historic resources on Thursday, Nov. 9.
The board is trying to preserve houses that represent important architectural styles, but the implications for homeowners aren’t clear. Residents have pushed back throughout the process, worried that the city will make it harder to do renovations or that their property values will fall.
The city’s current rules for historic homes require homeowners to get feedback from the Historic Resources Board before doing a major renovation to their exterior. The board’s vote is non-binding.
But ordinance could be updated in the future, Chief Planning Official Amy French said at a community meeting on Oct. 24. “These projects take place sometimes in what would appear to be an out-of-order way,” board member Samantha Rohman told residents. “Absolutely, it is one of the goals of the Historic Resources Board to address the ordinance.”
The last time the city tried updating the ordinance was in the late 1990s to ban the demolition of historic homes.
But it was overturned by a voter referendum put on the ballot by residents in March 2000.
That’s also when a consultant identified the properties that are now up for nomination.
The homes that will be considered on Thursday are scattered around northern Palo Alto, representing architectural styles such as Dutch Colonial, Craftsman and Queen Anne.
The city mailed letters to the property owners explaining why they’re up for nomination over the last two weeks.
Board members will consider nominating 38 properties associated with important events on Dec. 14, and then 28 nominations associated with important people on Jan. 11.
Palo Alto City Council will be the ultimate decision-maker in the spring. French told residents that she doesn’t think council will add a property to the inventory if an owner objects, but council members haven’t weighed in on the project since March 2022.
Historic Resources Board members also said they’d factor in objections but didn’t commit to honoring the wishes of the homeowner.
Properties with objections could be considered separately at a later meeting, French said.
The city started updating its inventory after the state passed Senate Bill 9 in 2021. The bill requires cities to allow up to four homes on a single-family lot, unless the property is a historic resource.
The following properties are proposed to be added to the city’s historic inventory on Thursday:
2230 Amherst St.
695 Arastradero Road*
162 Bryant St.
541 Bryant St.*
635 Bryant St.*
904 Bryant St.
518 Byron St.
1590 California Ave.
471 Channing Ave.
669 Channing Ave.
751 Channing Ave.
538 Churchill Ave.
570 Coleridge Ave.
643 College Ave.
2115 Cornell St.
2127 Cornell St.
252 Cowper St.
1620 Cowper St.
2150 Cowper St.
75 Crescent Drive
212 Emerson St.
731 Emerson St.
1464 Emerson St.
482 Everett Ave.
446 Forest Ave.
555 Forest Ave.
1011 Fulton St.
132 Hamilton Ave.*
855 Hamilton Ave.
951 Hamilton Ave.
975 Hamilton Ave.
317 High St.
323 High St.*
334 High St.*
342 High St.*
260 Homer Ave.*
469 Homer Ave.
680 Homer Ave.
360 Kellogg Ave.
437 Kipling St.
815 Kipling St.
817 Kipling St.
825 Kipling St.
832 Kipling St.
630 Lincoln Ave.
411 Lytton Ave.
1990 Newell Road
426 Palo Alto Ave.
1757 Park Blvd.
211 Quarry Road*
245 Ramona St.
1056 University Ave.
313 Waverley St.
326 Waverley St.
333 Waverley St.
385 Waverley St.
720 Waverley St.
845 Waverley St.
947 Waverley St.
959 Waverley St.
1545 Waverley St.
251 Webster St.
719 Webster St.
530 Webster St.
1235 Webster St.
1345 Webster St.
* indicates non-residential building