News & Features
From the Idyllwild Town Crier weekly newspaper, 07.29.10 edition.

Historic District meeting at Town Hall

By Marshall Smith, Staff Reporter

The possibility of an Idyllwild Historic District draws near. At a public meeting from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 3 at Town Hall, officials from the Riverside County Planning Department and the Historic Preservation Office will present the draft ordinance that will serve as the template for creating an Idyllwild Historic District. The proposed district is centered on the village business core and contains primarily commercial buildings.

Property owners within the proposed borders of the district and other Hill residents will have an opportunity to hear how it will be formed and governed, what regulatory role the county will play, and how district design guidelines are drawn up and applied. Maps of the district are available online at www.tlma.co.riverside.ca.us/planning and in the Town Crier lobby.

This will be an opportunity for district merchants, residents and property owners to ask questions about how the proposed district will affect their properties. Jerry Jolliffe, deputy planning director, and Keith Herron, county preservation officer, will present the proposal. They will discuss salient issues such as boundary adjustments, how the district will affect residential buildings, procedures for adding or removing a property from the district, how the vote to form the district is conducted, and how the district will be governed once formed. For example, the district design board will be comprised of locals, and design guidelines will be vetted with the affected community prior to adoption.

In June 2007, at another Town hall meeting, 3rd District Supervisor Jeff Stone introduced the concept. He viewed establishment of an Idyllwild Historic Preservation District as a way to create Idyllwild-specific building and parking codes different from the rest of the county and intending to preserve Idyllwild’s idiosyncratic character and ambiance. Stone recognized that certain codes could not be practically implemented here — for instance, the number of required parking spaces per business. Stone had also taken note of Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) lawsuits filed by a San Diego attorney in Julian that broke the backs of some local businesses. He wanted Idyllwild to avoid that fate. ADA regulations recognize that historic districts may meet ADA compliance in ways that don’t alter the historical value or character of the building within the district. Stone announced he would allocate $100,000 in district community improvement funds to pay for the planning effort involved in bringing the Idyllwild Historic Preservation District to fruition.

Jolliffe believes the businesses owners and residents in the district and the wider community will have to embrace and adopt the concept for it to create benefit. “The county cannot impose this concept,” said Jolliffe. “The community must examine the ordinance, ask their questions, research district pros and cons, and reach their decision.”

Other than a few buildings such as Town Hall and Silver Pines Lodge that will be added to the district, the district’s initial boundaries will not be expanded. Inclusion of a significant number of new properties would necessitate another study to determine historical value of buildings, including residences, in other parts of Idyllwild.

Marshall Smith can be reached at marshall@towncrier.com.

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