Item 23 - Approval of Historic Property Preservation Agreements

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HRCA No. 2023-20, HRC No. 2023-06, HPPA No. 2023-12 – Woitke House (925 North Lowell Street) January 11, 2024 Page 2 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 95 years old and is a sound example of period architecture. No known code violations exist on record for this property. The Woitke House is architecturally significant as an intact example of a Spanish Revival style house in Santa Ana. The original building permit was not uncovered; however, County assessor data indicates the property was built in 1928. The address first appears in City directories in 1929. The original architect and builder are unknown. From 1929 to 1932, the subject property was owned by F E Woitke. Russell Munro occupied the property for one year in 1933. From 1934 to 1935, E E Sidnam owned the property. D D Hilyard then bought the property and resided in it from 1936 to 1944. The property is listed as "vacant" in the 1945 city directory and there was no city directory available for 1946. From 1947 to at least 1962, G N Ginther owned the property. No records were available between 1963 and 1964, and in 1965 the address is not listed in the city directory. No records were available from 1966 to 1978, and the address was not listed in 1979-1990. In the 1999-2000 Criss-Cross directory, Herbert McCoy is listed as the building occupant. The present-day owners, Kelly and Bethany Thomas, have owned the property since 2003. No additional information was uncovered regarding the past owners and tenants. The Woitke House is a one story, single-family, Spanish Revival Style residence located on a modestly sized parcel in the Washington Square neighborhood. The asymmetrical residence exhibits a rectangular-shaped plan with a hipped roof clad in clay tiles that has a flat roof at its center. The roof has minimal eave overhang. The exterior of the house is clad in a coarse/textured stucco finish. The primary (west) façade is divided into three bays. A partially enclosed covered patio with multiple arched openings encloses the northern two bays, which features a tripartite wood window and the main entrance. The tripartite window has two casement windows with a centered fixed window and upper Historic Resources Commission 1 -2 1/11/2024