San Buenaventure Historic Preservation Committee approves letter backing citywide historic resources survey, will send representative to City Council

The San Buenaventure Historic Preservation Committee voted to approve a draft letter supporting the citywide historic resources survey and authorized a committee representative to present the statement at the City Council meeting next week (date not specified).

The committee, meeting (date not specified), approved the letter with minor wording changes and carried a second motion to send a representative to read the committee’s statement at the Council session scheduled for Tuesday at 5 p.m. The two motions passed on voice/roll-call votes recorded as 4 ayes, 0 noes.

Why it matters: the survey is intended to inform future landmarking and preservation work across the city. Committee members and public advocates framed the survey as a "living document" that will shape how historic properties and potential historic districts are identified and reviewed.

Public comments and concerns: Steven Schafer, president of the San Buenaventure Conservancy, told the committee the Conservancy supports the survey but warned that recent City Council actions could reduce the HPC’s review powers and shift appointment authority toward individual councilmembers. "We support the survey," Schafer said, and urged the HPC to advocate for maintaining review authority over the roughly 130–135 officially landmarked properties.

Jim Monahan, a longtime Ventura resident, asked that his Quonset-hut property be removed from consideration for designation, saying the building has been substantially altered and is not suitable for preservation. "This designation as a historic building really doesn't work," Monahan said, explaining he intends to pursue an affordable-housing project on adjacent lots.

Clarifying details and staff response: a committee member questioned a numeric summary in the draft letter that says the survey "identified over 400 individual properties in 6 districts." Staff replied that the report distinguishes between 400 individual properties identified and a larger figure (about 1,000) when all parcels within potential districts are counted. As staff put it, "It went up to 1000 because it was all the properties included in the potential districts." Committee members agreed to revise wording for clarity and to replace the word "inventory" with "survey" in several lines of the letter.

Process and next steps: staff said two HPC members were selected on April 9 to prepare the draft letter and the committee requested staff bring the draft back during the June 11 meeting; staff confirmed the edited letter will be included in next week's City Council packet. A staff member reminded the committee the City Council hearing is scheduled for Tuesday at 5 p.m. in council chambers and encouraged members to attend.

Votes and formal actions: the committee first voted to approve the letter with the proposed edits (motion moved and seconded; vote: 4 ayes, motion carried). The committee then voted to send a representative from the HPC to the City Council meeting to present the statement (motion moved and seconded; vote: 4 ayes, motion carried).

What’s next: the letter will be submitted with the committee's edits for inclusion in the City Council packet; a committee member or volunteer will read the statement at the Council hearing, and staff will post consultant responses to individual public-comment concerns in the packet.

The committee also discussed training on the Mills Act, and staff said they are researching options and potential regional training with the Office of Historic Preservation. The meeting adjourned after staff reminders about the Council hearing time.