SANTA CLARA — Santa Clara residents support the growth of more businesses in the city’s historical corridor but want stricter guidelines on how they should look.
In a citywide survey conducted at the start of the year, residents also said preserving historic buildings and tree shade should be the top priorities in the Santa Clara Historic District while providing tepid support for extended business hours along Santa Clara Boulevard and for the city to step in if a historic home needs to be repaired.
The survey results have been incorporated into design guidelines created by a Historical District Committee and approved by the Santa Clara Planning Commission in the last few months that would need to be followed by property owners within the Historic District who aim to build, remodel, replace or make changes to their property.
The Historic District consists of the area along Santa Clara Drive between Santa Clara Parkway and 1700 North and includes Santa Clara Town Hall, the Jacob Hamblin Home, the Relief Society Home, Frei’s Fruit Market and eight buildings on the National Registrar of Historic Places.
Residents will get one more chance to have their say on the Santa Clara Historical District and design guidelines for buildings there Wednesday at the 5 p.m. meeting of the Santa Clara City Council at Santa Clara Town Hall before the council votes on whether to approve the guidelines.
While new state legislation that went into effect this year makes it harder for cities in Utah to put some design limitations on new residential projects, it does allow for such guidelines in historic districts
The survey, which took place in January off postcards sent to all Santa Clara households, had 592 responses amounting to 7.2% of the city’s 8,125-person population, according to the U.S. Census.
According to the survey, 81.4% of residents said they either support or strongly support new or remodeled residential buildings having to adhere to codes on design, size and scale. Support was even stronger – about 87% – for such codes to be applied to commercial buildings.
At the same time, 69% of respondents supported or strongly supported new businesses in the historic district with strong support for such businesses to be restaurants or boutique stores with less support for professional offices.
A slim majority, 52.2%, said they would support businesses extending their hours beyond 5 p.m.
Residents were split concerning a historic home that fell into disrepair as to whether the city should step in and help (34.3%) versus allowing homeowners flexibility on what to do next (38.3%).
When asked to rank what was most important to preserve in the historic district, respondents indicated the highest priorities are “historic buildings” and “large shade trees” while the lowest priorities are “real grass lawns” and “affordable housing.”
The resulting guideline ordinance to be considered by the City Council Wednesday includes a height limit of either two stories or 25 feet, as well as various other guidelines on color and aesthetics.
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