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2000 09 21 HPC Minutes MINUTES HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MEETING A regular meeting held at the La Quinta City Hall Session Room 78-495 Calle Tampico, La Quinta, CA September 21, 2000 This meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission was called to order by Chairman Robert Wright at 3:02 p.m. who led the flag salute and asked for the roll call. I. CALL TO ORDER A. Pledge of Allegiance. B. Roll Call: Present: Commissioners Irwin, Mitchell, Sharp, and Chairman Wright. It was moved and seconded by Commissioners Irwin/Mitchell to excuse Commissioner Puente. Unanimously approved. Staff Present: Planning Manager Christine di lorio, Principal Planner Sawa, and Secretary Carolyn Walker. II. PUBLIC COMMENT: None III. CONFIRMATION OF THE AGENDA: Confirmed IV. CONSENT CALENDAR: A. It was moved and seconded by Commissioners Irwin/Mitchell to approve the Minutes of July 27, 2000 as submitted. Unanimously approved. V. BUSINESS ITEMS A. Phase I Cultural Resources Assessment of 5.000 Sauare Foot Site, located on the west side of Avenida Villa, north of Avenida Montezuma to allow a two story office building. Applicant: Coronel Construction - Archaeological Consultant: Archaeological Advisory Group (James Brock). 1. Principal Planner Stan Saw a presented the staff report, a copy of which is on file in the Community Development Department. P:\CAROL YNlHPC9-21-00. wpd -1- Historic Preservation Commission Minutes September 21, 2000 2. Audrey Ostrowsky, P. O. Box 351, La Quinta, stated her concerns regarding parking, setbacks, landscaping, and traffic. 3. Planning Manager di Iorio responded by explaining the project had been before the Architecture and Landscaping Review Committee and the Planning Commission for approval. The Historic Preservation Commission was only responsible for reviewing the Phase I Archaeological Study. 4. Commissioner Mitchell agreed and commented Ms. Ostrowsky's concerns are beyond the responsibilities of this Commission. They should have been presented to the Planning Commission, Architecture and Landscaping Review Committee, or the City Council. In regard to the study he commended Archaeological Consultant, Jim Brock on his report in terms of his efforts to identify historic resources and accepted the report. 5. Commissioner Irwin had no objections to the report, but asked to have a condition added stating, "any trenching shall be monitored by a qualified archaeologist". 6. Commissioner Sharp commented that the area has been "well used" and new finds were unlikely. Archaeologically, the area is stable. He stated he would accept the report. 7. Chairman Wright commented on Ms. Ostrowsky's report and confirmed the Planning Commission was the forum for discussion of her concerns. He concurred with Commissioner Mitchell's assessment that the report was excellently prepared. He also agreed with Commissioner Irwin that archaeological monitoring should be required even though the area has been well used. 8. Commissioner Sharp agreed that trenching would reveal any problems and monitoring should be required. 9. There being no further discussion, it was moved and seconded by Commissioners Irwin/Mitchell to adopt Minute Motion 2000-018 accepting the Phase I Cultural Resources Assessment of a 5,000 square foot building, as prepared by Archaeological Advisory Group, with the added condition that any trenching shall be monitored by a qualified archaeologist. Unanimously approved. P:\CAROL YNlHPC9-21-00. wpd -2- Historic Preservation Commission Minutes September '21,2000 B. Certificate of Approoriateness 2000-006: located at 49-499 Eisenhower Drive within the La Quinta Resort and Club to revise the entry area of the restaurant to the west of the Hotel Lobby. Applicant: KSL Desert Resorts, 1. Planning Manager Christine di Iorio presented the staff report, a copy of which is on file in the Community Development Department. 2. Commissioner Irwin asked if the interior wall mural of the Conquistador on Horseback would remain. 3. David K. Robbins, Senior Vice President of KSL Development Corporation replied he did not know the answer to that question, but didn't believe anything on the inside would be affected. 4. Commissioner Irwin added she'd understood when the mural was originally installed there were gemstones in it and when the Hotel was closed during World War II, the stones were dug out. 5. Doug Yavanian, KSL Director of Community Affairs, replied he would get an answer for the Commission. 6. Mr. Robbins stated it was his assumption that any interior changes would have to come back to this Commission for approval. 7. Planning Manager di Iorio said the City does not have any interior regulations. 8. Commissioner Irwin interjected the mural was something that added to the character of the original La Mirage Room making it very special to the City's history and thought it would not detract from a new restaurant. 9. Commissioner Sharp said he was unclear if the tile path ended at the arbor and asked where the logo or sign for the restaurant would be. 10. Mr. Robbins replied he did not know if that had been determined. 11. Chairman Wright asked Mr. Robbins if he wished to address any particular item. P:\CAROL YN\HPC9-21-00. wpd -3- Historic Preservation Commission Minutes September 21, 2000 12. Mr. Robbins introduced himself and Doug Yavanian and stated they agreed with staff's recommendation and were available to answer any questions. 13. Commissioner Mitchell stated he too was under the impression that no changes would occur to the interior. He felt the exterior plan adhered to the Guidelines of the Secretary of Interior, in that it maintained the feeling and sensitivity of the structure and he agreed with staff's recommendations. 14. Commissioner Irwin also agreed it was a beautiful project. 15. Commissioner Sharp he had visited the site and the plans looked very elegant. 16. Chairman Wright also thought it was a beautiful project and a great presentation, and he too he would like to see the mural stay intact. 17. There being no further discussion, it was moved and seconded by Commissioners Sharp/Mitchell to adopt Minute Motion 2000-019 recommending approval of the requested revision of the restaurant entry. Unanimously approved. C. Certificate of AODropriateness 2000-001: located at 78-039 Calle Estado to allow a wood patio cover on front of the restaurant. Applicant: EI Ranchito Restaurant, David and Alma Cetina. 1. Planning Manager Christine di Iorio presented the staff report, a copy of which is on file in the Community Development Department. She added Condition #3 should be deleted; as the intention was to have the trellis sloped. 2. Commissioner Sharp asked if it was a tiled, or open beam roof. 3. Planning Manager di Iorio replied it was open beam. 4. Commissioner Sharp commented on the one-inch separation from the building. He was concerned dead insects or vegetation could accumulate there. He asked why it was not six or nine inches for greater separation and easier maintenance and whether modifications could be made to correct this. P:\CAROL YNlHPC9-21-00.wpd -4- Historic Preservation Commission Minutes September 21,2000 5. Mr. David Cetina, owner, stated he could bring the columns in nine or ten inches towards the center. 6. Commissioner Irwin mentioned the new plan was a great improvement. After the last meeting she visited the site and looked at the real estate office on the corner with the solid roof and realized the new design would look better as it softened the exterior and complimented the building. 7. Commissioner Sharp asked if the columns were round as opposed to square. 8. Mr. Cetina replied they were not totally round, the corners had been cut down. 9. Commissioner Mitchell said this was an improvement from the previous plans and agreed with staff's recommendation. 10. Commissioner Sharp asked if vines would eventually cover the top of the structure. 11. Mr. Cetina he was considering that option. 12. Chairman Wright stated it was a greatly improved project and complimented staff on working with the owner. He said he thought it was going to be a beautiful cover and he had no problem with the project. 13. There being no further discussion, it was moved and seconded by Commissioners Mitchell/Sharp to adopt Minute Motion 2000-020 recommending approval of the requested addition to the restaurant subject to the conditions. Unanimously approved. D. Paleontological Resources Assessment - Phase I and Phase II Archaeological Testing of Seven Archaeoloaical Sites. CA-RIV-6352 to -6357 (Palmillal: located at the southwest corner of Jefferson Street and 50th Avenue. Applicant: RJT Homes, Chad Meyer, Project Manager - Archaeological Consultant: CRM TECH (Bruce Love). 1 . Principal Planner Stan Sawa presented the staff report, a copy of which is on file in the Community Development Department. P:\CAROL YN\HPC9-21-00.wpd -5- Historic Preservation Commission Minutes September 21, 2000 2. Commissioner Mitchell expressed concerns regarding the methodology used in testing this site. 3. Dr. Love explained his methods and the costs involved, both in time and money. 4. Commissioner Mitchell asked why Dr. Love chose to dig one-by-one meter excavation units instead of using an auger. 5. Dr. Love replied in some cases the auger holes collapse, whereas the one- by-one meter unit does not. 6. Commissioner Mitchell asked about CA-RIV-6353 as to why Dr. Love dug to 100 centimeters with each of the levels being positive then stopped without augering, or going further to at least a couple of sterile levels. 7. Dr. Love answered he could not recall at the moment. 8. Commissioner Mitchell stated it may have been because he hit hard clay material that was the old lakebed. He then added the settlement patterns would have been different with and without the lakebed, or the lake. He was curious what was under the lakebed strata. He did not know how deep the lakebeds normally were in this area, but would have liked to have seen a six or eight foot auger go down to get through the lakebed to see if there's anything under the lakebed in terms of cultural material. Also, was this a settlement before the lake - when it was intact. 9. Dr. Love replied they did do backhoe trenching and broke through the silt layers. However, it may be Commissioner Mitchell was right about hitting intangible silt layers; intangible by hand excavation. This was one of the two sites which actually was an intact. The fishbone analysis, from this site was continuing, but appeared to be rather moderate in number and very typical of shoreline sites. He would know further when he received the results from the analysis. 10. Commissioner Mitchell observed there was a finding of fish remains at 0 to 100 centimeters, but the report stated the site was of no significance in terms of the CEQA Guidelines. He wondered if there was more data. more excavation units and specimen of the fish bone, where could we learn more. We might be able to discern what kinds of fish were available, or caught. His concern was whether this site was eligible for the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines. P:\CAROL YNlHPC9-21-00. wpd -6- Historic Preservation Commission Minutes September 21,2000 11 . Dr. Love stated this was on a slope at the eastern point of a sand dune so a lot of the material was sloughing off with no stratagraphic control. As they continued to dig, no layering or strata was found from which to establish any kind of sequence. So rnuch fish bone was found from other significant sites than this on nearby projects and tens of thousands of pieces of fish bone have been analyzed over the last five years that this was considered a minor site. 12. Commissioner Mitchell restated Dr. Love's comments on the integrity of the cultural deposit and that it was suspect due to slumping. 1 3. Dr. Love replied affirmatively saying the site had good integrity compared to the areas in the citrus grove which were totally artificially built up but had no stratigraphy. 14. Commissioner Mitchell asked if the situation were true for page 24, site CA-RIV 6357. 15. Dr. Love directed the Commission to the geologic description which was on page 29. Geologic evidence suggests this site was located within a square shaped, manmade sand feature, and was probably a house foundation. 16. Commissioner Irwin commented there were at least five known stands of the ancient lake and asked if the lakebed was always at the same level. 17. Dr. Love replied the lake appeared to have risen to 42 feet above sea level several times, but didn't necessarily stay that high very long. He hypothesized the last three, four, or five lake stands reached that level, but prior to that was an open question. 18. Commissioner Irwin asked how far down the lakebed actually was and was there only one layer of lakebed. 19. Dr. Love answered no, there were multiple layers. In some of the trenches they broke through one layer, got into sands and then hit another layer which was a previous lakebed. There were alternating lakebeds going down and as the lake dried up the sand blew in, or washed in, and created a sandy, gravel layer and then the lake came in and covered that with clay again. Therefore, you had alternating clay, sand, clay, sand with different thicknesses in different places depending on slope and alluvial deposits. p.\rAROL YN\HPC9-21-00.wpd -7- Historic Preservation Commission Minutes September 21, 2000 20. Commissioner Irwin commented she thought the report was excellent. 21. Commissioner Sharp had no comments on the report. 22. Dr. Love added the clay pieces with the stick impressions were quite a find. One of the outstanding research questions in the Valley had been about these pieces. Different archaeologists had found different uses for the clay, as it was used for many different things by the Cahuilla people. This, however, was the best collection, so far, indicating the use of clay as daub (being pushed in around sticks). It may have been used for graineries, where they kept their mesquite beans, or as animal pens. They pushed the clay against the sticks and the hope is the final report will have some further analysis of these pieces. We can actually analyze, based on the impressions, what kind of wood sticks they were and possibly the clay sources. There is further work to do on this. 23. There being no further discussion, it was moved and seconded by Commissioners Mitchell/Irwin to adopt Minute Motion 2000-021 accepting the Interim Cultural Resources Report for Archaeological Testing and Evaluation of Sites CA-RIV-6352 to 6357 at the southwest corner of 50th Avenue and Jefferson Street, subject to the final report being submitted prior to issuance of a grading permit. Unanimously approved. 24. It was also moved and seconded by Commissioners Irwin/Mitchell to accept the final report of the Paleontological Resource Assessment for RJT Homes, subject to collected paleontological resources being given to the City for curation as follows: a. "Collected cultural/paleonotological resources will be properly packaged for long term curation, in polyethylene self-seal bads, vials, or film cans as appropriate, all within acid-free, standard size, comprehensively labeled archive boxes and delivered to the City prior to issuance of first building permit for the property. Materials will be accompanied by descriptive catalogue, field notes and records, primary research data, and the original graphics." Unanimously approved. E. Phase I Archaeological Assessment of a 75 Acre Site for Proposed Monticello Proiect: located on the west side of Jefferson Street, between Fred Waring Drive and Miles Avenue. Applicant: Century Homes - Archaeological Consultant: Archaeological Advisory Group (James Brock). P:\CAROL YNlHPC9-21-00. wpd -8- Historic Preservation Commission Minutes September 21, 2000 1 . Principal Planner Stan Saw a presented the staff report, a copy of which is on file in the Community Development Department. 2. Commissioner Mitchell commended Mr. Brock on his report. 3. Commissioner Irwin concurred and commented she was interested in continuing the backhoe testing/monitoring. Her concern was the proximity of this property to other rich sites nearby and she was interested in seeing what could be found. She commented on the influence of the Whitewater rather than the Ancient Lake Cahuilla on the people that lived in those areas. The Whitewater went back further than the dependence on the lake. She expressed her enthusiasm for the project. 4. Mr. James Brock stated the University of California Riverside did not list this as an important site. He noted when he came back to recommend backhoe work, 11 years later, there were new discoveries, proving the backhoe work was necessary. 5. Commissioner Irwin stated we know more now than we did 11 years ago. Discoveries made, in that general area, have been made recently, but she would like to learn as much as we possible from the area. 6. Mr. Brock stated his goal was to find the sites that haven't been identified. With the hand excavation that has been done previously, the potential for buried sites is great. 7. Commissioner Irwin complimented Mr. Brock on his work on Jefferson and 48th, the Burning Dunes Site, and likened those finds to this project. 8. Mr. Brock acknowledged that was a classic example of how hand excavation can miss a site. The only way it can be found is with the backhoe. The Burning Dunes site was an example where things would not have been found unless there was a road cut going right through the middle. 9. Commissioner Irwin commented that was why she was so interested in monitoring. 10. Mr. Brock added we need to get to the sites before monitoring and that was what the backhoe test was all about. The problem was the area with the highest potential was the big dune at the north of the property and taking out that dune completely is critical to the project which does not leave much room for preservation if a significant site is found. D.\r'AP{)T V1\1\l-::rprQ~?1_00_wnd -9- Historic Preservation Commission Minutes September 21,2000 11 . Commissioner Sharp said he understood this was the shoreline of Lake Cahuilla and a very volatile area. 12. Chairman Wright complimented Mr. Brock on a great job and agreed with Commissioner Irwin on the importance for backhoe testing. He observed there aren't a lot of sites left, in the City. Developers are becoming anxious about spending the money where there aren't a lot of sites left. Finding sites is going to take more time and money, but it's very important. He added he also felt strongly about the monitoring. 13. There being no further discussion, it was moved and seconded by Commissioners Sharp/Irwin to adopt Minute Motion 2000-023 accepting the Phase I Archaeological Assessment of a 75 Acre Site for Proposed Monticello Project with the following conditions: 1 . "Collected cultural/paleontological resources shall be properly packaged for long term curation, in polyethylene self-seal bags, vials, or film cans as appropriate, all within acid-free, standard size, comprehensively labeled archive boxes and delivered to the City prior to issuance of first building permit for the property. Materials will be accompanied by descriptive catalogue, field notes and records, primary research data, and the original graphics. 2. "The Phase II testing report shall be submitted to the Historic preservation Commission prior to approval of a development application for the study area." VI. CORRESPONDENCE AND WRITTEN MATERIAL VII. COMMISSIONER ITEMS A. Planning Manager di Iorio discussed the Historic Preservation Conference in Philadelphia. B. Planning Manager di Iorio advised the Commissioners that the City Council adopted Resolution No. 2000-115 for the Resource Curation Plan. We will now be accepting artifacts for curation. We are working on a long-term storage plan. Commissioner Irwin stated the Historical Society has a trailer that will be available in six months. A security system could be added and it is already air conditioned. There would be enough space to share with the City for curation purposes and the trailer is on City property. P:\CAROL YNlHPC9.21-00.wpd -10- Historic Preservation Commission Minutes September 21, 2000 C. Chairman Wright mentioned the Joint Meeting with the City Council on September 26th. VIII. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business. it was moved and seconded by Commissioners Irwin/Mitchell to adjourn this meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission to the next scheduled meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission on October 19, 2000. This meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission was adjourned at 3:59, September 21, 2000. Unanimously approved. Submitted by: Odll-6~1 cJ fiJtChoL/ Carolyn vi/, Iker I Secretary n.\r...nrll VlI.l\uprQ_?1_00.wnd -11-