Citywide Historic Resource Survey

Historic Context Statements and surveys are planning tools for understanding, identifying, evaluating and protecting the City’s historical resources. Context Statements provide the foundation for successful survey work. They provide an analytical framework for identifying and evaluating resources by explaining the broad patterns of historical development of a community that are represented by the physical development and character of the built environment. A historic survey is an inventory of potentially significant properties that provides information needed to make informed planning decisions, prioritize preservation goals and objectives, and increase the public’s understanding of and appreciation for the built environment. Conducting a Survey involves archival research, development of a historic context, field survey and recording of information.

The City contracted with Dudek, an environmental planning firm based in Encinitas, to complete the Historic Context Statement and Historic Resources Inventory document. The Historic Context Statement is a narrative of the history of Coronado and its built environment, and identifies important themes, property types, patterns of development, significant events, and people that have shaped the history of Coronado from the City’s initial development through 1970. Information is included on locally significant architectural styles, along with information on prominent architects and builders that have contributed to Coronado’s built environment. The Context Statement provides a framework for evaluation of resources within the important aspects of Coronado’s history and, used in conjunction with the City’s adopted Designation Criteria Guidelines, will assist with consistent identification, evaluation, and preservation of Historic Resources.

The Historic Resources Inventory is a survey of structures in the Village area constructed through 1970 and provides an evaluation of potential historic significance under Coronado’s Historic Designation Criterion C related to architecture, which states: “It possesses distinctive characteristics of an architectural style and has not been substantially altered.” Properties are categorized in tiers based on the level of observed retention of original architectural appearance, as reflected in the Survey Findings Matrix that is included as an appendix to the document:

• Tier 1 - Unaltered or minimally altered from historic condition and potentially eligible for City designation under Criterion C.
• Tier 2 - Recognizable as a particular architectural style but based on observation and/or construction history are more than “unaltered or minimally altered” from historic condition and do not appear to be eligible for historic designation under Criterion C.
• Tier 3 - Substantially altered properties that retain little to no elements of a particular architectural style and, based on observation and/or construction history, are not eligible for historic designation under Criterion C.
  

Currently, the Coronado Municipal Code requires any structure in the City that is 75 or older to be reviewed for historic significance as a Historic Resource prior to demolition of any original features that are visible from the street right of way through a Determination of Historic Significance Review. This essentially results in any structure that is 75 or older being considered “potentially historic” and results in confusion regarding what type of development is allowed.

The City Council considered public comments, reviewed the document, and provided their own comments and direction at the meetings of June 20, 2023, November 21, 2023, September 17, 2024, and most recently, on December 3, 2024. At this meeting, a Final Program Environmental Impact Report (PEIR), prepared consistent with CEQA Guidelines, was certified by City Council and staff was directed to move forward with the appropriate ordinance amendments to implement the use of the Historic Context Statement and Historic Resources Inventory, and to exclude properties identified as Tier 3 from a required Determination of Historic Significance Review.

The document is available for review on the City's website www.coronado.ca.us/preservation and on the Project Coronado page under Project Documents, as well as in print at City Hall and the Coronado Library.