The Cupertino Courier

City Council decides not to make history

By Pam Marino

The two most historic sites in the city are already protected, which means there is no need for a preservation ordinance, the Historic Research Committee told the City Council last week.

The council voted unanimously to accept the report and agreed not to replace an emergency ordinance--enacted earlier this year to protect 32 potential historic sites during the study--with a permanent one.

The two homes the committee cited as "compelling" enough for preservation are La Petit Trianon, a 110-year-old home on the De Anza College campus, and the De Oro Club, the 108-year-old former school located near the intersection of Homestead Road and De Anza Boulevard. Both already enjoy preservation protection, the committee found.

Four other top historic sites--Maryknoll Seminary, located near Rancho San Antonio County Park; the Parish Tank House and Baer Blacksmith Shop, both located at McClellan Ranch Park; and the Picchetti Brothers Winery and Ranch on Montebello Road in the Mid-Peninsula Open Space District--also have some sort of preservation protection, according to the committee report.

During last week's meeting, one resident told the council that, as interesting as all 32 of the sites are, they are not worth enacting an ordinance for preservation.

"These are not by any means compelling to anyone," George Monk said. Monk lives at the site of the Lazaneo Tank House, built in the 1920s, on Price Avenue, off S. Blaney Avenue.

Last May the council considered passing an ordinance, to the criticism of some site owners who feared they may be precluded from making future improvements. The council decided to form a committee to study the 32 possible sites. An emergency ordinance was enacted to protect any structures on the list from being demolished or altered before a permanent ordinance could be considered. The emergency ordinance automatically expires now that the report has been completed and accepted by the council.

The five-member citizen committee, chaired by Jerry Stevens, met every Thursday night at City Hall throughout the summer and visited all of the sites to complete the report. "They worked their proverbial tails off to get this report to you," Director of Community Development Bob Cowan told the council.

The five-member committee, which included a retired architect and a historian, used a historic ranking system that judges structures first on their architectural value and then on their historic and "environmental" values. The environmental value has to do with the visual impact the structure has on its street or neighborhood.

Committee members rated each of the 32 sites individually and, using a computer program, ranked the sites in descending order of importance.

The committee's report said that many of the sites were suggested "because of a desire to honor a person who may have lived in or had a connection with them." The committee said a memorial in a park may be a more fitting way to commemorate those people.

The report suggested that the 31 sites be listed in a brochure.

La Petit Trianon was built in 1887 by Charles Baldwin for his bride; it was designed by San Francisco architect Willis Polk. The De Oro Club was known as Collins School when it was built as a one-room schoolhouse in 1889. It was named for Capt. Leman Perry Collins, who sold an acre of his land to build the school. It was enlarged to four rooms in 1914, and became the De Oro clubhouse when the school closed in 1921.

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