HomeMy WebLinkAbout23937 RESOLUTION NO. 23937
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA, DESIGNATING THE
BUILDINGS AT 600, 650, 700, AND 750 EAST TAHQUITZ
CANYON WAY (COLLECTIVELY KNOWN AS THE
TAHQUITZ PLAZA) AS A CLASS 1 HISTORIC SITE
(HSPB 97).
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALM SPRINGS FINDS:
A. On June 1, 2015, the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation (PSPF), "applicant"
filed an application with the City pursuant to Article III of Section 8.05 ("Procedure for
Designation of Historic Sites or Historic Districts") of the Palm Springs Municipal Code
requesting Class 1 historic site designation for the parcels located at 600, 650, 700 and
750 East Tahquitz Canyon Way, collectively known as "Tahquitz Plaza".
B. On June 9 2015, the Historic Site Preservation Board (HSPB) voted 7-0 to initiate
study of Tahquitz Plaza for possible Class 1 historic designation and voted 7-0 to place
a 120-day stay of demolition on the site.
C. On June 24, 2015 the owner of Tahquitz Plaza filed an appeal to the City Council
of the HSPB's action to initiate study and place the stay of demolition on the sites. Prior
to the City Council hearing on the appeal, the appellant withdrew the appeal.
D. The proposed historic site designation is considered a "project" pursuant to the
terms of the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA"), and has been determined
to be Categorically Exempt as a Class 31 exemption ("historic resources restoration /
rehabilitation) pursuant to Section 15331 of the CEQA Guidelines.
E. A notice of public hearing of the HSPB to consider Case HSPB #97 was given in
accordance with applicable law.
F. On September 8, 2015, the HSPB held a public hearing in accordance with
applicable law to consider the application for Class 1 historic designation. At said
hearing the HSPB carefully reviewed and considered all of the evidence presented in
connection with the hearing on the project, including, but not limited to, the staff report,
and all written and oral testimony presented and continued the hearing to a date certain
of October 13, 2015 and extended the stay of demolition an additional 60 days
(terminating on December 6, 2015).
G. At said meeting, the HSPB requested that staff reach out to the building owner to
discuss possible adaptive reuse of Tahquitz Plaza and to work with the building owner
to find economically viable ways of retaining the Tahquitz Plaza structures and
integrating them into any future development plans the owner may be contemplating for
the site. Staff corresponded twice with the owner's representative via e-mail on
September 23, 2015 and September 24, 2015, but received no response.
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H. On October 13, 2015 the HSPB carefully reviewed and considered all of the
evidence presented in connection with the hearing on the project, including but not
limited to the staff report, the Historic Resources Report dated June 2015 (the "Report"),
prepared by the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation, and all written and oral
testimony presented and voted 6-0-1 (Dixon absent) to recommend Class 1 historic
designation to the City Council based on the board's acceptance and findings in the
Report.
I. The City Council finds the following are defining historic features of Tahquitz
Plaza:
• The "campus" that is created by the two pairs of connected buildings with a
common aesthetic.
• The open space between the front property lines and the fronts of the buildings,
which allow the buildings to be seen as a single composition.
• The open, but covered porches, breezeways, arcades and walkways attached to
the buildings and the two paved plazas between the pairs of buildings.
• The retaining wall at the edge of the sidewalk along Tahquitz Canyon Way.
(original elevation drawings denote this wall in what appears to be a smooth
cementitious surface, thus the wall was part of the original design, but its
material or surface treatment need not be retained as unfinished concrete block).
• The exposed dark-stained wood: including posts, porch surfaces, vertical lapped
siding, "Gludam" timbers, natural timbers, soffits, fascias, and other exterior wood
surfaces.
• The rounded stucco "hoods" over the long horizontal windows on the south
fagade.
• The steeply sloping roofs clad in flat clay tile.
• The inset wall panels of earth-tone-colored ceramic tile.
• The rounded corners and radiused stucco at the parapets with no exposed
flashing or drip edge.
• The texture of the stucco wall surfaces.
• The angular stucco "wing walls" flanking deep set windows and walls.
• The deeply-set "slot" windows and the "M-shaped" windows.
J. The City Council also finds the following are non-contributing elements at the
site:
• The surface parking lots to the north of the buildings and the paved driveways,
carports, and parking areas between the two pairs of buildings.
• The existing landscape (which is due to a lack of maintenance, improper pruning
and loss of much of the original plant palette that once likely existed.)
K. Pursuant to PSMC 8.05.165, the City Council finds that the designation of
Tahquitz Plaza as a Class 1 Historic Site will further the purpose of the historic
preservation ordinance because it reflects elements of the City's architectural, social,
and cultural history as follows:
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Criterion 1: It is associated with events that have made a meaningful
contribution to the nation, state or community; or
The Report notes that the subject site is associated with the pattern of
events associated with the gradual rise of Palm Springs' prominence in
midcentury architectural excellence. It notes that Tahquitz Plaza is an
outstanding example of commercial design and the construction of
buildings within the context of midcentury desert modernism.
Criterion 2: It is associated with lives of persons who made
meaningful contribution to national, state or local history; or
The Report does not identify any known persons of significance
associated with the subject site. However, the HSPB noted that significant
local businesses had once occupied the site.
Criterion 3: It reflects or exemplifies a particular period of the
national, state or local history; or
The Report asserts that Tahquitz Plaza possesses numerous distinctive
characteristics that make up the modernist style, including modulated
horizontality, large geometric volumes, expressed structure, expansive
amounts of glass, use of inexpensive man-made materials, and solar
control.
The Report notes that modernist buildings began to emerge in Palm
Springs beginning with the Kocher-Samson Building (1934) and continued
with other buildings such as the Edgar J. Kaufman Residence (1947)
Frank Sinatra Residence (1947), Town & Desert Apartments (1947), and
the Town & Country Center (1946), Later architecturally significant
modern works include the James Abernathy Residence (1962), Arthur
Elrod Residence (1968) and Kings Point Condos (1968). It notes that
Tahquitz Plaza reflects the late period and culmination of a long rich
history of applying modernist architecture to the built environment in the
Palm Springs community.
Criterion 4: It embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type,
period or method of construction; or
The Report asserts that Tahquitz Plaza qualifies as a historic site under
Criterion 4. The Report details that the Tahquitz Plaza buildings are of
wood frame construction, using a combination of solid wood timber and
"Glu-Lam" beams. The structure is clad in stucco, glazed ceramic tile,
exposed wood "lap' siding, steeply pitched flat clay-tile roofs, and unique
configurations in window fenestration.
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The deeply set windows shield the glazing from the harsh desert sun, and
the covered walkways provide shade to occupants working and moving
between the various buildings and integrates the "outdoors" into the
construction of the building. The Report notes the critical integration of the
"eyebrows" over the long horizontal windows as providing visual interest to
the horizontal planes of the building's design.
Quoting Kaptur, the Report notes that Kaptur, "tried to make windows an
important element of (my) designs in general, and with the Tahquitz Plaza
buildings in particular." Kaptur's construction technique on the walls and
windows are further described in Morris Newman's book, The Desert
Modernists: The Architects who Envisioned Midcentury Modern Palm
Springs. In it, Newman writes "the Tahquitz buildings manage to look like
masonry due to walls that are sculpted to look as massive as concrete.
To further the illusion of thick walls, Kaptur provided the buildings with
windows that appear deeply recessed. In other places, windows push
outward from the wall surface as if trying to break free from the building."
Criterion 5: It presents the work of a master builder, designer, artist,
or architect whose individual genius influenced his age; or that
possesses high artistic value; or
The Report notes that Hugh Kaptur's aesthetic is unique in Palm Springs,
demonstrating the wide range of fertile innovation in the City Modernist
architecture. It notes that Tahquitz Plaza should be viewed as a later, but
important component of the city's tradition of modernist architecture and
that Kaptur should be viewed as an important figure in the history of Palm
Springs' built environment.
Kaptur's architectural style has been described by various experts and
observers as "organic' and "pueblo-influenced" (modernist) architecture.
The Report quotes Kaptur in noting, "I tried to bring in mountain profiles so
I might tend toward calling it natural or organic." The Report underscores
Kaptur's personal reflections about Tahquitz Plaza noting the "massed
midpoint culminates with a mountain-profile roofline giving the sense of
the surrounding desert flatland swooping upward to the symbolic mountain
top." Expressed structure, one of the tenets of modernist architecture, is
exhibited in Tahquitz Plaza by the large Glu-lam beams and the heavy
vertical timbers that support the roof.
Quoting from architectural historian Patrick McGrew, the Report notes: "in
a town that loves Modernism, designs that show the influence of Pueblo
Architecture are often discredited. Oddly, early modernists such as Irving
Gill and Albert Frey paid homage to the style of this continent's oldest
structures, but somehow when Hugh Kaptur does the same thing (with
Tahquitz Plaza) he gets no respect." The Report notes "with the loss of
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the Chart House restaurant in 2012 to fire, the inventory of local organic
architecture has been diminished making Tahquitz Plaza incrementally all
the more significant and important."
The Report states that only recently is Kaptur's significant contribution to
the rich architectural legacy of Palm Springs becoming understood and
documented. Nonetheless, Kaptur's architecture responds to the harsh
environmental conditions of the desert with a similar competency and
understanding of that of his contemporaries (e.g. Wexler, Lautner, Frey,
Krisel, Cody, and Neutra).
It is noted that the buildings that comprise Tahquitz Plaza present an
excellent example of Kaptur's design talent and showcase a well-
articulated form of Expressionist Modernism, which is not commonly found
in Palm Springs, The Report notes: "As an example of the maturing
modernist movement, the Tahquitz Plaza complex certainly articulates the
best of modernist "adobe-influenced" architecture to a level of excellence
and confidence that, in total, could easily be considered an aesthetic
ideal."
Criterion 6: That represents a significant and distinguishable entity
whose components may lack individual distinction; or
The Report notes that the subject property does not meet this criterion and
the City Council concurs.
Criterion 7: That has yielded or may be likely to yield information
important to national, state or local history or prehistory.
There is no known archaeological or pre-historical relevancy to this site.
The City Council does not believe Tahquitz Plaza meets the definition of a
historic site as defined in Criterion 7.
L. The City Council further finds that the subject site retains a high degree of
"integrity" as such concept is described on page 27 of the Report where Tahquitz Plaza
is analyzed in the context of Location, Design, Setting, Materials, Workmanship,
Feeling, and Association and concludes by noting that Tahquitz Plaza possesses a high
degree of integrity by virtue of its ability to convey its historic significance through its
physical features.
M. The Council further finds Tahquitz Plaza is unique among the City's celebrated
list of buildings from the Modern period because of its Expressionist, "organic"
attributes. Designation as a Class 1 Historic Site would make Tahquitz Plaza potentially
eligible for various tax reduction incentives such as the Mills Act, which in turn could
contribute to the economic viability of adaptive reuse of the site. With existing ample
off-street parking, a pleasant scale, stimulating architecture, flexible floor plan, and its
location on one of the most important scenic thoroughfares in the City, stabilizing the
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buildings through historic designation and adaptive reuse would contribute to both the
welfare and education of the community.
N. The City Council further finds that the buildings on the site reflect elements of the
City's cultural, social, economic, and architectural history and Class 1 historic
designation will foster civic beauty, strengthen the local economy, and contribute to the
education and welfare of the citizens.
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE THE CITY OF PALM SPRINGS RESOLVES:
Based upon the foregoing, the City Council designates the parcels comprising 600, 650,
700, and 750 (APN's #508-055-003 AND 508-044-006) "Tahquitz Plaza" a Class 1
Historic Site (#HSPB 97).
ADOPTED THIS 2ND DAY OF DECEMBER, 2015.
David H. Ready, Ci ger
ATTEST:
mes Thompson, City Clerk
CERTIFICATION
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE ) ss.
CITY OF PALM SPRINGS )
1, JAMES THOMPSON, City Clerk of the City of Palm Springs, California, do
hereby certify that Resolution No. 23937 is a full, true, and correct copy, and was duly
adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Palm Springs on the 2nd
day of December, 2015, by the following vote:
AYES: Councilmember Foat, Councilmember Kors, Councilmember Roberts,
Mayor Pro Tem Mills, and Mayor Moon.
NOES: None.
ABSENT: None.
ABSTAIN: None.
mes Thompson, City Clerk JZ�t,,�, Zo15
City of Palm Springs, California