Historic District Commission To Be Abolished
Under Proposed Budget
On Tuesday, Jan. 13, City
of Folsom staff presented a modified Folsom City Budget to the City Council.
The city manager cited the “current economic crisis and Folsom’s budget
constraints” as the reason for the “re-look at the way government works in
Folsom.”
HPL appreciates the challenges faced by the City as local, national, and
international economies falter. We agree with the need for the City to be
frugal and cautious, however HPL is very concerned with some of the staff
recommendations included in the budget proposal, specifically the
elimination of the Historic District Commission (HDC), the Arts and Cultural
Commission, the Redevelopment Citizen’s Advisory Committee, and the Traffic
Safety Committee.
The current responsibilities of those commissions and committees would be
transferred to the Planning Commission, Parks and Recreation Commission, and
city staff. HPL’s Board of Directors believes these moves have less to do
with real cost-cutting measures and more to do with limiting public input
and concentrating power. The proposed elimination of these commissions
reduces your opportunity to express your opinions as Folsom residents.
The commissions to be eliminated under this proposed budget are all
volunteer groups, whose members invest many hours of their time at no cost
to the city. Staff time is required to support the work of these commissions
but the topics and the staff time needed to address them will not go away
because these commissions are eliminated.
Abolishing HDC and adding its responsibilities to the Planning Commission,
when the historic district is in the middle of its greatest changes in 50
years (Sutter Street Streetscape project and Historic District
Revitalization project), also makes no sense. The final designs and plans
for these projects would now be heard by Planning Commissioners who have not
participated in the earlier public dialog.
Also, Planning Commission members are political appointees susceptible to
pressure from the council members who appointed them, whereas the Historic
District Commissioners are appointed on the basis of specific qualifications
by the council as a whole, not by individual Council members.
At the Council meeting last Tuesday, three of the five Council members,
Steve Miklos, Jeff Starsky, and Ernie Sheldon, expressed their strong
support for the elimination of these commissions and committees. If we do
not speak up now and at the Council meeting on Jan. 27, at which the
proposed budget is to be voted on, we will be losing important venues for
our voices to be heard.
HPL needs your support NOW. Here is what you can do to ensure open
governance in Folsom.
First, please call, e-mail, or write your Folsom City Council Members today
(addresses below).
Second, attend the City Council Meeting on Jan. 27 at 6:30 p.m. The public
will have an opportunity to address the Council. Even if you don’t wish to
speak, your presence will speak volumes.
Third, make everyone you know aware of this situation.
Folsom City Council:
Mayor Steve Miklos:
smiklos@folsom.ca.us
Vice Mayor Jeff Starsky:
jstarsky@folsom.ca.us
Council member Kerri Howell: at
corrprincess@ardennet.com.
Council member Andy Morin:
andy@themorins.com
Council member Ernie Sheldon: no e-mail provided. To reach him, call City
Hall at 355-8302.
You can find the proposed city budget at
http://www.folsom.ca.us/default.asp.
You can also watch a webcast of the meeting on the city’s Web site at
www.folsom.ca.us.
Four Recognized For Efforts Above and Beyond
On January 8, for the first time in its five-year history, the Heritage
Preservation League of Folsom presented several awards to area residents and
organizations in recognition of their efforts to preserve Folsom’s history.
Some 50 HPL members and guests were on hand for the presentation that
fittingly took place in the historic Wells Fargo assay office room at the
Folsom History Museum.
“It’s important to recognize people who have gone above and beyond to
protect Folsom’s history,” said newly elected HPL president Loretta
Hettinger as she kicked off the presentations.
Former Folsom mayor, Glenn Fait, was awarded the Joseph Folsom Award for
Civic Partnership, for his many contributions during his time on the City
Council. These included the adoption of the City’s Master Plan for Historic
Preservation and Inventory, the establishment of the Historic District
Commission, and his efforts to save Broder Ranch.
Ellen Hester, a long-time Folsom History Museum volunteer and its former
research department manager, received the June Hose Award for Preservation
of History. As manager of the research department she spent countless hours
directing the massive effort to organize and document Folsom’s history,
especially that of the historic district.
Betsy Strand, received the Award for Lifetime Commitment to Historic
Preservation, in recognition especially of her years of advocacy for the
preservation of the Chinese Diggings, a historic mining site. The site is
now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Strand recalled
being “absolutely amazed” by what she saw the first time she was taken to
tour the diggings by fellow Folsom resident Jim Phillips as she commented on
her own 16-year odyssey to help protect the site.
The fourth award--The Bud Davies Award for Community Partnerships--went to
the Lincoln Highway Association and Hubbert Booze for their work to protect
and preserve the Orangevale Avenue Bridge and their continuing efforts to
discourage development in its immediate environs.
The awards program was established in 2008 to recognize meaningful
achievements by individuals or organizations in the preservation of Folsom’s
historical heritage.
HPL members and guests attending the Jan. 8 general membership meeting were
treated also to two very informative presentations. One by Betsy Strand on
the Chinese Diggings and her efforts to protect the site and a second by
Northern Wintu Sage LaPena, an ethnobotanist and lecturer on local Native
American culture. Both presentations were well received by the audience.
Chinese Diggings Site Is Shrouded in Mystery
One of the issues closely being followed by HPL is the proposed development
of a hotel next to the historic, and mysterious, Chinese Diggings site. This
article is meant to provide you some background on the Diggings and proposed
development.
Gateway to Folsom
Just along the light rail tracks, after they pass under Highway 50 on Folsom
Boulevard, lies a narrow 2.9-acre parcel of land studded with ancient oaks.
The parcel is one of the last–if not the last--undeveloped parcels in the
massive 483-acre Natoma Station Residential and Commercial Development,
first proposed by the Natomas Company in 1980.
Above the parcel lies a 5-acre fenced lot that includes a large portion of
the historic mining site, known as the “Chinese Diggings.” Throughout
the 1980s, the Folsom Historical Society and other community groups
struggled to preserve the unique mining site. Finally, the “Diggings” were
certified as eligible for the National Register of Historic Places in 1990,
but were not actually listed because the private property owner objected.
The owner deeded the 5-acre parcel to the City in 1997, but the City has
made no effort to finalize the National Register status of the Diggings
(although it has explored interpreting the site).
The hotel proposal
In September 2002, an application was filed for the development of a hotel
on the 2.9-acre parcel. In March 2004, the Natoma Station Community
Organization and the Friends of the Folsom Parkways submitted a Landmark
Tree application to designate all of the oak trees on the hotel site as
Landmark Trees to preserve the cultural past and gateway to Folsom. In
June 2004, the City Planning Director requested an extension in time to the
age-old Development Agreement, to allow time for the hotel application to be
processed. This extension was approved by City Council, effective July 8,
2004.
The 97-room, 126-parking space hotel application was approved by the
Planning Commission on May 4, 2005, and, on May 9, an appeal of the approval
of the hotel project was filed by the Natoma Station Community Organization.
The City Council, on June 28, 2005, directed the planning staff to work with
the applicant to preserve 24 trees, to try for another 23 trees, and
remanded the project to the Planning Commission for further design review.
The Council indicated it might be interested in purchasing the property to
save the trees. The matter is under appeal.
In June of 2006, HPL informed the City Parks & Recreation Department of a
one-time funding source (a State grant) that would have matched City funds
to acquire the hotel site parcel, and would have provided funds to develop
an interpretive center. The funds were available for land acquisition only
if there was a “willing seller.” As the deadline for the grant approached,
the City ascertained from the hotel applicant that the site was not for sale
to the City.
The Diggings mystery
The 5-acre Chinese Diggings site has visible trenches, as deep as 30 feet
and approximately 18 inches wide, that are laid out in a herringbone
pattern. The herringbone is a traditional form for ground sluice mining.
From 1980 to 1990, during the decade that local groups were trying to secure
protection for the site with a National Register Designation, one question
was never answered to anyone’s satisfaction. How were these trenches dug?
Archeologists, geologists, mining engineers and historians did extensive
studies and were unable to agree on whether the trenches were hand-tooled by
Chinese miners, as locals believed, or created by mechanical means. Unable
to resolve the question, the site was placed on the National Register as the
Natoma Ground Sluice Diggings.
Where we stand
As of late fall, a new application for the hotel, and parking on the
2.9-acre site had been received. The newest application has fewer parking
spaces than the City requires for the size of the Hotel and more road space.
It also features a very tall retaining wall. HPL is concerned that the
extensive grading and excavation will damage the fragile “diggings.”
Further, the Hotel Project would virtually land-lock the “diggings” making
it impossible to do any interpretation at the site. The hotel project is way
too big for the location and topography of the site. The Heritage
Preservation League of Folsom is in strong opposition to this project and
monitoring any developments.
