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Newsletter |
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Winter 2010 |
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Don’t Miss the next General Membership Meeting! Don’t miss the next Heritage
Preservation League of Folsom General Meeting at 6:30 p.m. on January 25, at
the Veterans Hall, 1300 Forrest Street. As usual a lot of hot preservation
issues are going on and you won’t want to miss this meeting! We will also be
announcing the recipients of this year’s HPL awards. Chinese Diggings Under Fire: City needs to Hear from the Community The hotel project reported on in the spring HPL newsletter is inching its way toward a Planning Commission hearing. This is the project by Alleghany Properties that proposes a freestanding four-story, 65,000-plus square foot hotel with 109 guest rooms just west of the existing Larkspur Landing Hotel at 203 Iron Point Road. The applicant has made no changes to resolve concerns about the project’s impact on the diggings and on the trees. At this time, the earliest it will be heard is January 2010. The hearing originally scheduled for October 21 was postponed at the request of the applicant (after the staff report was released to the applicant, Planning Commissioners and the public). The staff report includes conditions of approval that would improve the project, but the HPL Board has concluded that the project still remains a serious threat to the Diggings, heritage trees, the Folsom Boulevard scenic corridor, and the entry to Folsom. It is difficult for the Planning Commission and the City Council to deny a project unless there are City standards the project does not meet. The staff report and HPL Board have identified a number of standards the project does not meet. However, the project’s PD (planned development) zoning allows the applicant flexibility not to meet the standards if the failure to fully meet them is balanced by significant community benefit. If the Planning Commission and the City Council know the community objects to the project, it is much easier for them to make findings that there is not enough community benefit to justify relaxing the standards. Letters of support for the diggings have been coming in from Chinese and other history-oriented organizations both in this area and in San Francisco. It is important for the decision makers to hear from individuals also. In general, the message should be 1) that the project’s benefit to the City doesn’t outweigh its unacceptable effects on the diggings, trees, scenic corridor, and entry to Folsom and 2) that if the applicant is unwilling to redesign, it should be denied. The HPL Board will soon send a letter to the Planning Commission detailing our concerns. The letter will be posted on our Web site. Feel free to use any part of it in writing your own letter or e-mail, or just reference it in its entirety if you’re short of time in this holiday season. Another timesaver: you can send your letters in care of the staff planner for the project, Gail Furness de Pardo, Community Development Department, 50 Natoma Street, Folsom, CA 95630, or e-mail her at gdepardo@folsom.ca.us. Sutter St. Facelift To Start In February Work on Sutter Street as part of the Streetscape Project, also known as the Sutter Street Revitalization Project, will be start as early as this coming February if all goes on schedule. The City Council expects to award a construction bid in January 2010 with a completion date before the 2010 holiday season. The work will include removing medians and trees, relocating traffic lanes, creating limited on-street parking and delivery areas, replacing some shed roofs, adding ramps for ADA access and widening sidewalks to accommodate shoppers, outdoor eating areas, and new shade trees. Popular events such as Folsom Live and the Peddler’s Fair will still be held. One of the controversial issues has been the removal of the large trees in the median. The city’s position is that the 40-year-old trees are dying and must be removed for safety reasons. Part of the problem is the trees were planted in just 12 inches of soil atop the original Highway 50 and the roots are growing sideways and posing a hazard to pedestrians. The HPL Board of Directors has been carefully monitoring the streetscape process and will continue to do so. We have provided a list of historic features for the city to try to retain and have worked to raise the consciousness of city staff regarding the value of features that may not be as clean and tidy looking as new ones. HPL’s monitoring has resulted in beneficial changes (such as no rolled curbs on Scott Street) and City Manager Kerry Miller convening a series of meetings to get the public involved in the City’s work in the whole district. The meeting that had been scheduled for December 9 is being rescheduled in January due to the holidays. If you would like to be notified of the next public meeting, please e-mail us at info@folsompreservation.org. Also, as a result of HPL’s involvement and concern that cherished elements of Sutter Street will disappear, a call to artists was put out through the senior/arts center to record how Sutter Street appears today. The call has been enthusiastically received so far and we look forward to seeing their works, which the Folsom History Museum has expressed interest in displaying in an exhibit in the future. Nominations Sought for HPL Awards The Heritage Preservation League of Folsom is currently accepting nominations for their annual “outstanding contributions to preservation” awards to be presented at the January membership meeting. Awards are presented in four categories: * Joseph Folsom Award – This award is given annually to an outstanding civic partner. This would be for someone associated with local or county government now or in the past who has made a difference in the area of local preservation. Last year’s honoree was Glenn Fait. * June Hose Award – given annually to an individual for outstanding achievement in historic preservation. Last year’s honoree was Ellen Hester. * Bud Davies Award – given annually to an outstanding community partner. Last year we had two honorees, the Lincoln Highway Association and Hubbert Booze. * Lifetime Achievement for Historic Preservation – given when an appropriate. Last year’s honoree was Betsy Strand. Nominations must be received before Saturday, Dec. 12. To nominate someone, please submit their name and contact information, indicate which award they are being nominated for and a include a brief paragraph as to why they are deserving of the award. Please also include your name and contact information. Nominations can be mailed to Candy Miller at 303 Crow Canyon Drive, Folsom 95630 or e-mailed to folsomcandy@sbcglobal.net. It’s “An Enchanted Christmas” at the History Museum |
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