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<br />88 <br />Page 5 <br /> <br />meeting on the proposed district designation. This public meeting was held by the HRAC <br />on December 13,2005 (under the auspices of the Centennial Neighborhood Association) <br />and the benefits and limitations of the proposed historic district designation were <br />reviewed. Overall public support was received. <br />. February 13, 2006. A second neighborhood public meeting was held by the HRAC entitled: <br />"Helpful Approaches and Guidelines on Restoring and Improving Your Older Home". <br />Overall public support was received. <br />. March 21, 2006. After review of final evaluation report by Circa consultants at a public <br />hearing, the Planning Commission unanimously recommended to the City Council that <br />the proposed Mezesville district designation be approved "in whole", per the Redwood <br />City Historic Preservation Ordinance. <br /> <br />Project Analysis: <br />General Plan: <br />The concept of designating this area as an historic district is already mentioned in the Historic <br />Element of the General Plan, which contains several references to this specific area. Identified <br />as "Pioneer Area #1" (page 13-8-8, paragraphs R-1 to R-4), this neighborhood is considered one <br />of the few locations in the City that contains a concentration of old residences and one of the <br />... "places where some of the character of the pioneer neighborhood remains"... Furthermore, <br />Table 1 (page 13-9) of the General Plan lists the "Arguello Street Historic District" as a <br />designated "landmark district and site". <br /> <br />Zoninq: <br />Although the general zoning designation for this specific area is "Residential High Density" (R-5), <br />the Mezesville district area contains low to medium density dwellings on small (50X100 foot) <br />parcels. However, as discussed in the March 21,2006 Planning Commission report (attached), <br />significant land assembly would need to take place in order to reach high densities. <br />Consequently, other than the "Wyndham Place" affordable housing/redevelopment project on <br />Whipple and Warren (located outside the proposed district boundaries), no residential multi-unit <br />projects have been constructed in this area since after 1964, when density regulations were <br />significantly lowered and "quality of life" requirements added (setbacks, open space and <br />parking). Recent growth changes to the downtown area which is located immediately to the <br />south of the proposed district, may also explain some recent inquiries on the "development <br />potential" of parcels which contain older houses (see Chronological Summary above). <br /> <br />Mezesville District proposal: <br />The southern portion of the Centennial Neighborhood contains a strong concentration of <br />residential dwelling units that are between 65 and 100+ years old. Although the architecture and <br />scale of these structures is relatively simple and modest, the area under consideration is <br />historically significant as a district because it contains a relatively intact and dense grouping of <br />structures that retain the look and feel - Le. the Neighborhood Character - of a late 19th century <br />to mid 20th century "workingman's neighborhood". The consultant's report clearly identifies the <br />unique factors that can be attributed to thís specific area and explains its significance to the <br />community and why it qualifies as an historic district. The proposed Mezesville Historic District <br />contains a total of 77 separate parcels within it's boundaries, 52 of those parcels are considered <br />as contributing resources (one parcel is a public park, the rest are residential dwellings); the <br />remaining 25 properties (one of them is a public school) are considered non-contributing. <br />