TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THRU: Jarad Hildenbrand, City Manager
FROM: Russell Bunim, Community Development Director
1. Subject
title
Public Hearing to consider introduction and First Reading of Ordinance No. 14-26 repealing and replacing Chapter 17.17 of the Orange Municipal Code with a new Historic Preservation and Cultural Resources Ordinance and related procedural amendments to Chapter 17.08, and finding of California Environmental Quality Act exemption
body
2. Summary
A draft Historic Preservation and Cultural Resources Ordinance has been prepared to comprehensively address the management of historic and cultural resources including properties and districts, as well as archaeological and Tribal Cultural resources. The proposed Ordinance also establishes the structure and responsibilities of a Heritage Commission, as well as the establishment of a City Historic Register and related criteria and processes for resource designation. Content also addresses demolition, relocation, property maintenance, and preservation incentives.
Among the preservation incentives identified in the Ordinance is the Mills Act Program. Procedures and criteria for Mills Act administration are proposed as a companion to the Ordinance and are being brought forward under a separate companion report to this Ordinance.
3. Recommended Action
recommendation
1. Conduct and close the Public Hearing.
2. Introduce and conduct First Reading of Ordinance No. 14-26. An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Orange amending Title 17 of the Orange Municipal Code to replace Chapter 17.17, Historic Districts, in its entirety with a new Chapter 17.17 entitled Historic Preservation and Cultural Resources and associated definitions, provisions, and procedures to comprehensively address historical, cultural and tribal resources, and amending Section 17.08 to replace the Design Review Committee with a Heritage Commission and establish associated purview.
end
4. Fiscal Impact
None.
5. Strategic Plan Goals
Goal 6: Ensure the Preservation of Historic Resources
Objective 6.1: Develop Historic Preservation Ordinance
6. Discussion and Background
General Plan
The Cultural Resources and Historic Preservation Element of the City’s 2010 General Plan identifies a variety of goals and policies designed to support effective stewardship of the City’s historic and cultural resources, backed by action items identified in the General Plan Implementation Plan. The General Plan Environmental Impact Report (EIR) also includes mitigation measures to address potential impacts on cultural resources associated with General Plan buildout (see Attachments 7-10). Together, each of these documents provide clear direction related to the development of a Historic Preservation Ordinance, Register of Historic Resources, modified role of the Design Review Committee, the establishment of Neighborhood Character Areas, and protection of archaeological and tribal cultural resources, among a range of activities to be pursued by the City through the 2030 General Plan buildout year. It also identifies the Mills Act Program as a key historic preservation incentive.
Existing Code
The Orange Municipal Code presently addresses historic resources in Chapter 17.17, Historic Districts. The content of this Chapter is limited to the procedures and criteria for establishing historic districts. The Chapter also establishes the applicability of development and design standards for established historic districts, and establishes the applicability of the State of California Historic Building Code to the alteration, rehabilitation, preservation, restoration or relocation of a cultural resource or structure within a historic district.
Given the high priority the City and community place on the responsible stewardship of historic resources and high volume of historic preservation activity in the Community Development Department, the present Code falls short in addressing policies and practices related to the full spectrum of topics that warrant attention in order to provide clear guidance to the public and provide staff with an adequate policy tools to effectively administer the program.
Proposed Ordinance
The proposed Historic Preservation Ordinance replaces the existing content of Chapter 17.17 in its entirety with a comprehensive framework for addressing the City’s historic and cultural resource management needs, providing staff and the public with clear guidance related to the range of scenarios encountered with projects affecting historic resources, districts, and neighborhoods. Specifically, the ordinance addresses the following:
• Establishment of a Heritage Commission
• Establishment of the Orange Register of Historic Resources
• Criteria and procedures for designating local landmarks and historic districts and removal from Register
• Criteria and procedures for establishing Neighborhood Character Areas
• Maintenance of historic resources
• Tiered levels of project review and related criteria and associated Certificate of Appropriateness findings
• Building demolition
• Building relocation
• Historic preservation incentives
• Economic hardship
• Identification, documentation and management of archaeological and Native American resources
• Application of the State of California Historic Building Code
The proposed Ordinance has been crafted to implement the General Plan and associated EIR mitigation measures. It also establishes the groundwork for a possible future application to become a Certified Local Government (CLG). CLG status is common among many cities with significant concentrations of historic resources, providing local government agencies with access to grant funding, and technical assistance for preservation projects. While the City Council has contemplated the merits of Orange becoming a CLG in the past, it has lacked a historic preservation ordinance that meets CLG eligibility criteria.
Heritage Commission
The proposed ordinance amends Section 17.08 of the Code to replace the Design Review Committee with a Heritage Commission and establish an associated purview. In addition to assuming the design review responsibilities of the existing Design Review Committee, the Heritage Commission would serve as the City's primary review body for historical and cultural resource matters, with duties including review of projects affecting historic resources and districts, recommendations regarding historic resource designations and preservation incentives, and advisory review of historical and cultural resource matters associated with land use entitlements considered by the Planning Commission or City Council.
7. advisory board action
Design Review Committee:
The Design Review Committee provided review and comment on the proposed ordinance on August 5, 2026. Comments were made on:
• Definitions
• The range of activities subject to Community Development Director review.
• The need to refine references to the Secretary of Interior Standards.
• The composition and structure of the Heritage Commission.
Public comment was also provided regarding the relationship of the ordinance contents to the Secretary of Interior Standards, and the authority granted to the Community Development Director.
There was no formal action associated with their review and comment.
Planning Commission:
The Planning Commission conducted a public hearing for the proposed ordinance on August 17, 2026. Commission comments focused on the following key issues:
• The lack of specificity of certain language pertaining to the purpose and authority of the Heritage Commission.
• The number and qualifications of Heritage Commission members.
• The relationship between the Planning Commission and Heritage Commission, specifically the role of the Heritage Commission in the review of land use entitlements, and related procedural steps; the Heritage Commission’s duties should focus on historical and cultural resources and project design, and the Planning Commission’s duties should focus on land use matters (Conditional Use Permits, Variances, Zone Changes, General Plan Amendments).
• Need to better define the appellate authority for the Heritage Commission.
• The Heritage Commission review and site assessment requirements related to demolition requests for certain buildings more than 45 years old, with a particular interest in providing screening criteria and a simplified and streamlined process for homeowners seeking to demolish a home.
• The proportion of petitioners needed to support historic district designation.
• The need to refine certain definitions.
• The submittal requirements for Certificate of Economic Hardship applications being applied equally for income-producing and non-income producing properties, and particularly single-family residential property owners.
• The desire for Neighborhood Character Areas, once established, to accommodate Administrative Design Review for projects.
Modifications have been made to the proposed ordinance to address most of the comments provided by the Planning Commission, with the exception of:
• Number of Heritage Commission members.
• The proportion of petitioners needed to support historic district designation.
• Establishing a different threshold of evidence for property owners of single-family residences to demonstrate economic hardship in the case of demolition requests, however language has been added to further distinguish between non-income and income-producing properties.
The Planning Commission recommended approval of the proposed Ordinance to the City Council subject to the clarifications and modifications listed above as presented in Attachment 6. A representation of changes made to the proposed Ordinance following the Planning Commission hearing is presented in Attachment 2. These changes are reflected in the proposed Ordinance presented for Council consideration in Attachment 1.
8. environmental review
The proposed ordinance is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption) because it serves to protect historic and cultural resources from potential impacts. For this reason, no further CEQA documentation is required.
9. ATTACHMENTS
• Attachment 1 Ordinance No. 14-26
• Attachment 2 Post-Planning Commission Revisions to Historic Preservation Ordinance (Redline)
• Attachment 3 Orange Municipal Code Section 17.08.020, Reviewing Bodies (Redline)
• Attachment 4 Planning Commission Resolution No. PC No. 17-26
• Attachment 5 Planning Commission Staff Report, August 17, 2026
• Attachment 6 Draft Planning Commission Minutes, August 17, 2026
• Attachment 7 City of Orange General Plan (2010), Cultural Resources and Historic Preservation Element, Goals and Policies Excerpts
• Attachment 8 City of Orange General Plan Implementation Plan (2010), Cultural Resources and Historic Preservation Excerpts
• Attachment 9 City of Orange General Plan EIR (2010), Cultural Resources and Historic Preservation Mitigation Measures
• Attachment 10 Areas of Archaeological Sensitivity, City of Orange General Plan EIR (2010)