Historic preservation panel approves permit to rebuild stairs at Leo Carrillo Park

The Carlsbad Historic Preservation Committee unanimously approved a permit on July 13 to rebuild and replace three exterior stairways at Leo Carrillo Historic Park, citing safety and access concerns while seeking to preserve the site's historic character.

Staff told the committee the application is a request for a historic preservation permit under what the staff report cited as "section 22.0, 8 0 2 0 of the Carlsbad Municipal Code" and that the proposal follows Secretary of the Interior standards for repair and replacement. The permit request covers reconstruction of three staircases on the ranch-house portion of the park; staff said the work would aim to maintain the park's distinctive central "red carpet" stair detail while bringing the stairs up to current building and safety codes.

"What this would be doing is... rebuilding them in place, meeting the standards, really with the intent of still maintaining the red carpet look down the middle for the 3 staircases," staff said during the presentation. Micah Penner, senior program manager in the Parks and Recreation Department, said the plan is to preserve existing stone where feasible but replace uneven three-dimensional stones with flat stones and make the red-carpet area flush to reduce tripping hazards: "The stones that are in there, we are gonna keep those, but they are... three-dimensional. We're gonna put flat stones instead... the red carpet will actually be flush with the stairs, which is what the problem is now."

Committee members noted the current submittal is conceptual and urged that the final building-permit drawings include detailed specifications. Staff confirmed the city hired Heritage Architecture to prepare final drawings and specifications and that the present submittal retains conceptual-level exhibits; staff said all details will be reviewed in the subsequent building-permit process. "Heritage Architecture is a firm that is used to this kind of work," staff said.

Commissioner May moved to approve the staff recommendation to authorize the historic-preservation permit; a commissioner seconded and the motion passed unanimously. The committee directed staff to proceed with final plans and the necessary building-permit submittals; those plans will return through the building-permit process rather than back to the historic commission for another conceptual approval.

The city will retain and reuse historic materials on-site where appropriate, and staff said building-code and ADA evaluations will be included in the full project review. The committee did not identify any conditions beyond standard permit requirements. The next steps are for staff and the selected architecture firm to complete final drawings and building-permit applications.