Commissioners deny homeowner
The Long Beach Cultural Heritage Counsel denied a homeowner the opportunity to replace four existing wood windows with wood-composite windows on Monday, Sept. 14.
William Boelter received a certificate of approval in 2003 to rebuild nine windows of his two-story single-family residence located on the corner block of 3700 Cerritos Ave.
The home located within the California Heights Historic Landmark District (District 7), but did not have the funds to cover the full cost at the time.
Boelter’s needed new windows due to significant damage to the south windows. He stated that it would be nice to have the windows match each other. He said the windows would also be kept the same size.
“I went through the process in 2003. I should have been grandfathered in before the process changed,” Said Boelter.
Boelter said he had two small windows in the bathroom made from special glass he wanted to keep as is. He also stated the windows would be kept the same size, adding that the exterior windows are made of composite compound material.
The painted windows would be changed to windows that do not require painting.According to Alan Burks, Chairman of the board, the recommendation to deny the appeal and uphold the staff denial of a staff-level Certificate of Appropriateness was based on maintenance and appearance.
“The windows involved are highly visible and prominent, and our approach to windows is that existing wood windows should be retained,” Burks said. "They should be maintained, and if not maintained in good order, they should be repaired. And if they cannot be repaired, they should be replaced like-for-like, but in this case the request is to remove the material and replace it with another material.”
The ruling to change the four additional exterior windows of the historic Mission/Mediterranean style home built in 1919 was denied due to the preservation of the home’s exterior image and not due to the quality of the windows, as stated by Chairman Burks. “The proposed material is a high-quality material, that really wasn’t the issue, it was that it is a different material that’s removable fabric and we could not make the findings to approve.”
Vice Chair Karen Highberger denied the notion to replace the four windows while commissioner Jan Robert Van Dijs would approve windows in the backyard since they are behind the fence. He also said he was unsure of the remaining windows and that it would be difficult for him to approve.
Commissioner Irma Hernandez struggled with the idea to approve the four windows, although they were from the same company.
David MacNeill, a representative for the Renewal by Anderson window company, was at the hearing and agreed with Boelter’s disbelief and added, “denying energy efficiency is causing people to have more problems.”
The hearing, which consisted of Chairman Burks, Vice Chair Highberger, and commissioners: Shannon Carmack, Louise Ivers, Jan Robert Van Dijs, Irma Hernandez and Julianna Roosevelt, questioned Boelter for a few minutes until they voted to deny the replacement of the windows, 4-2.
Commissioner Van Dijs, later stated new windows would have affected the public view. “Commissioner Irma Hernandez is accurate when she said we’re trying to protect the integrity of the district. Sometimes it’s simple as the public view.”
In addition to windows, there were three other cases that were passed, including:
A request to construct a two-story dwelling unit over a four-car garage located near the Rose Park South Historic District. (District 2), which passed unanimously, 5-0.
A recommendation to approve a Certificate of Appropriateness to construct a 648 square foot addition, detach a single-car garage to an existing one-story, single family residence and raise a deck located at the 3600 block of Lewis Avenue, also passed unanimously, 5-0.
A recommendation to approve the Mills Act contracts for the preservation and rehabilitation of the Opdahl House, Espey/Lochridge House, Olan Hafley House, Kimpson Nixon House, Gaytonia Apartments Insurance Exchange Building, Ocean Center and Killingsworth Office, located in Districts 1,2,3 and 8 passed unanimously, 6-0.
The homes were on the Historic Landmark propertiesThe next regular meeting will take place Oct. 12, at 5:30 p.m. and will be held at Plaza Level- City Hall city Council Chamber 333 W. Ocean Blvd.
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