Owners of Historic Homes May Have New Fee to Pay

Owners one of Claremont’s historically significant homes may have to pay extra to be a part of the historical home program should the City Council decide tonight to approve adding an annual fee to an annual review process.

City staff are recommending the council amend the Mills Act program to include an annual fee that will pay for 2.2 hours of staff time in order to cover some of the costs of conducting annual reviews of those enrolled in the program, officials said.

Claremont implemented the Mills Act in 2000. The act is a State law that creates a system allowing cities to enter into "historical property" agreements with owners of qualifying historic properties. Homeowners agree to improve older homes but keep the historic features.

At the time, the criteria limited the number of properties eligible for the program to those that were most at risk for long term neglect.

In 2009, the criteria was modified out of a concern over “mansionization” which had been so prevalent during the housing boom.

More homes became eligible under the new rules, but working with additional homeowners increased the cost because the Mills Act contract requires those owners to report annually on improvements made to their home, officials said. City staff must review and verify those reports.

“Currently, there is no mechanism for recovering staff costs associated with this review and it is being borne by the City,” Brian Desatnik, Director of Community Development, wrote in a staff report. “It is recommended that an annual review fee be incorporated into the Mills Act program to recoup the costs associated with the annual compliance review.”

The council meets tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the City Council chamber, 225 W. Second Street.