Item 23 - Approval of Historic Property Preservation Agreements

Home Browse Search

HRCA No. 2023-27, HRC No. 2024-01, HPPA No. 2024-01 – Moss House (944 W. Buffalo Avenue) March 7, 2024 Page 2 The site contains a 2,297-square-foot, Ranch style residence and detached garage, on a 12,292-square-foot residential lot (Exhibit 3). Analysis of the Issues Historical Listing In March 1999, the City Council approved Ordinance No. NS-2363 establishing the Historic Resources Commission and the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties. The Historic Resources Commission may, by resolution and at a noticed public hearing, designate as a historical property any building or part thereof, object, structure, or site having importance to the history or architecture of the city in accordance with the criteria set forth in Section 30-2 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code (SAMC). This project entails applying the selection criteria established in Chapter 30 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code (Places of Historical and Architectural Significance) to determine if this structure is eligible for historic designation to the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties. The first criterion for selection requires that the structures be 50 or more years old. The structure identified meets the selection criteria for inclusion on the Santa Ana Register of Historical Properties pursuant to criteria contained in Section 30-2 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code, as the structure is 66 years old and is a sound example of period architecture. No known code violations exist on record for this property. The Moss House is architecturally significant as an intact example of a Ranch style house in Santa Ana. The original building permit is dated October 20, 1958, which indicates it was built as a single family residence and garage for owner and contractor S. Griswold for $20,000, who appears to have been affiliated with the property only during the time of the initial building permit. Orange County Assessor's data indicates the build date as 1959. The original architect is unknown. City directories were not available from 1958- 1959. The 1959 building permit notes that the detached guest house was constructed for Dr. William M. Moss, who was also listed as the property owner in the 1960 city directories. Dr. William M. Moss (1926-2018), was born in Evanston, Illinois and received his Doctor of Medicine degree from University of Illinois before moving to Santa Ana in 1957. In 1959, Dr. Moss began his surgeon practice at the Santa Ana Community Hospital and was later appointed as a board officer for the hospital in 1963 (William M. Moss, The Orange County Register and The Register, December 18 1963). His then wife, Betty Rupert Moss (1932-2018), was president of the Woman's Auxiliary for the Orange County Medical Association and was a board member in various local groups including Community Chest, St. Joseph Hospital Guild, and Assistance League of Santa Ana, among others (The Register, May 29 1964). In 1976, Dr. Moss and his wife Betty divorced. In the 1970s, Dr. Moss moved to Tustin and began the Doctor’s Family Planning Clinic in Orange County, which offered full family planning services including abortions. When Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision to legalize abortion, came under attack in the Historic Resources Commission 1 – 2 3/7/2024