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County Supervisors: Roadhouse Just Plain Old
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County Supervisors: Roadhouse Just Plain Old
On Split Vote, Supervisors Reject Historic Designation for Pleasure Point Structure
By Aldwin Fajardo
The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Feb. 12 voted 3-2 against the historic designation of the century-old Pleasure Point Roadhouse, putting an end to the saga that left a close-knit community divided.
Supervisors Jan Beautz and Mark Stone, who voted for the designation of the Roadhouse property as a historic landmark, were overruled by the “no” votes from colleagues Ellen Pirie, Neal Coonerty and Tony Campos.
“It is a very important property to preserve. My main problem is nobody paid attention to the reports prepared by our local historians. The board is making a big mistake,” Beautz said.
Out-of-county reviews show-ed the property not to be of historic value; however, local historians believed the report was not sensitive to the area’s unique history.
“We had good information from local people, and that didn’t get acknowledged,” Beautz added.
Carolyn Swift is one of the area’s most noted historians, a published author, former newspaper reporter and currently curator at Capitola’s Historical Museum.
“I'm disappointed the Board of Supervisors decided to pass on listing the Roadhouse, because it clearly does reflect Live Oak and coastal resort history,” Swift said. “The Roadhouse evaluators seem to have judged this local structure as if it were someplace like Berkeley, where there is a great deal of brilliantly inspired architecture in the Craftsman style. Live Oak, with a past rooted in rural agriculture, deserves to have its historically valuable assets studied within the framework of its own story, and I don't think that happened.”
However, Swift added that at least the Roadhouse got a public hearing and didn’t just “disappear overnight.”
An Uncertain Future
Located on East Cliff Drive, the 106-year-old structure faces an uncertain future as owners maintained a tight-lipped stance on what would become of the oceanfront property. However, proponents of the historic designation effort fear that the Roadhouse will ultimately be knocked down.
Planning Director Tom Burns reiterated the Planning Department’s previous position that the house does not meet the criteria to make it to the Inventory of Historic Resources.
The Planning Department retained a third party historic resources expert to review the evaluations prepared by the county’s and the property owners’ consultants.
“The third party consultant agreed… that the subject property does not rise to the level of significance necessary to be considered individually eligible for designation at the national, state, or local level,” Burns noted in his Jan. 31, 2008 letter to the Board.
The property owner has estimated the property is worth $6 million, assuming the property is permitted for higher density development.
The county has its own valuation, which at the moment is not public. However, it is reportedly lower.
The Redevelopment Agency could still decide to purchase the estate and transform it into a Roadhouse Park as previously proposed, should the property owner agree to enter into negotiations, according to Beautz.
Swift agrees that there is still some future for the Roadhouse that doesn’t involve the wrecking ball.
“I think the Live Oak group that's been working on getting historic preservation efforts going in their community is a tenacious, dedicated bunch that isn't going to timidly tip-toe out of sight,” Swift added. “The whole process is one of negotiation and compromise, so it's still possible that one day the Roadhouse and its site â€" or at least a part of it â€" can become a park.”
“The county is still considering making an offer to purchase the property," said Supervisor Ellen Pirie. "Whether an agreement on the price can be reached by the parties is still very much in question.”
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