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Historic Preservation
Historic Resources Context Statement and Survey
The City of Ventura is currently working on a citywide Historic Resources Context Statement and Survey project!
This process includes two parts:
Part 1: Historic Context Statement
Part 2: Comprehensive Historic Resources Survey
The City is working with Historic Resources Group to complete the project, which aims to identify patterns and trends that shaped the development of Ventura’s built environment, and to identify potentially eligible historic resources from Ventura’s earliest settlement through 1979.
The City’s existing survey information provides a strong foundation for planning, which will be enhanced during this project with updated evaluations. Without a survey update, places that matter to Ventura residents may be lost to demolition or extensive alterations. Information gained from the context statement and survey will give property owners and developers greater certainty about the historic significance of a site so that they can plan accordingly. It will also inform thoughtful decision-making by City officials, property owners, residents, and preservation professionals.
Please visit the project website Historic Ventura for more information and updates!
Previous Surveys
- Phase I Cultural Heritage Survey of Downtown and Westside
- Historic Resources Survey of the Downtown Specific Plan
- Westside Historic Context and Survey Report
Historic Preservation
General Plan Action Item 9.19 states:
"For any project in a historic district or that would affect any potential historic resource or structure more than 40 years old, require an assessment of eligibility for State and federal register and landmark status and appropriate mitigation to protect the resource."
The purpose of the policy and procedures document (PDF) is to provide clear direction and a standardized format for all historic resource assessments prepared for the City of Ventura and review procedure for demolition applications of potential historic structures.
The Mills Act
The Mills Act is a self-directed, economic incentive program designed to provide private property owners the opportunity to actively participate in the restoration of their properties while receiving property tax relief.
If your property is listed on the city landmark register, you may qualify for property tax relief by pledging to rehabilitate and maintain the historical and architectural character of a property for at least a 10-year period.
Mills Act participants may realize a property tax savings of approximately 50% each year for newly improved or purchased older properties.
- What Qualifies as a Historic Resource?
- What is a Historic Landmark?
- Do Surveyed Resources Automatically Become Designated as Landmarks?
- How Will this Designation Affect My Property?
- How Old Must a Resource Need to be in Order to be Considered "Historic"?
- How Are Historic Resources Evaluated?
Historic resources may include buildings, structures, objects, cultural landscapes, natural features and groupings of resources or areas known as historic districts. Examples of resources that may be included in surveys are residential subdivisions, libraries, trees, religious buildings, courtyard apartments, barns, and gardens.
A historic landmark means any real property such as building, structure, or archaeological excavation, or object that is unique or significant because of its location, design, setting, materials, workmanship or aesthetic feeling, and is associated with:
Events that have made a meaningful contribution to the nation, state or community;
Lives of persons who made a meaningful contribution to national, state or local history;
Reflecting or exemplifying a particular period of the national, state or local history;
Embodying the distinctive characteristics of a type, period or method of construction;
The work of one or more master builders, designers, artists or architects whose talents influenced their historical period, or work that otherwise possesses high artistic value;
Representing a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction; or
Yielding, or likely to yield, information important to national, state or local history or prehistory.
No, however, surveys do identify and evaluate resources that may be eligible for designation. No actual designation results directly from the survey activity. The City of Ventura requires property owner approval to submit for designation. Nominations to the California or National Registers are separate processes that include property owner notification and public hearings.