City of Alhambra Historic Designation

Alhambra’s Historic Preservation Ordinance

The City of Alhambra website now provides excellent resources on historic preservation. 2025 was a big year, since City Council approved and adopted a Historic Preservation Ordinance that provides protection for existing historic resources, and incentives to preserve them. The ordinance establishes a regulatory framework for preservation work in the city, including a helpful glossary detailing key terms.

See below for a synopsis of the procedure for historic designation for individual properties, and of resulting benefits including Mills Act incentives.

Eligibility and designation criteria for individual properties

City code §23.23.060 states that to be eligible for designation, a building or other historic resource must be determined significant under the prescribed Criteria for Designation, and it must retain sufficient integrity to convey its historic significance. The designation criteria are as follows:

it is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of Alhambra’s, California’s, or the nation’s history;
it is associated with the lives of persons important to local, state, or national history;
it embodies the distinctive characteristics of an architectural style, type, period, region, or method of construction, or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values; or
it has yielded, or has the potential to yield, information important to the prehistory or history of the City, state, or nation.

Those criteria are derived from the National Register for Historic Places guidelines, as are the seven “aspects of integrity,” namely location, setting, design, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. Although the process is the same, the thresholds of local designation are lower for local designation than for designation on the state or national registers.

Designation procedures

As indicated in §23.23.070 of the City code, anyone may request the designation of a historic resource as a Historic Landmark or Historic District in the Alhambra Register by submitting an application to the Community Development Department. Owner consent is not required for submission of an application. The applications are to be completed using a form provided by the City, containing all required information, including the following, for an individual property:

the Assessor Parcel Number and site address;

a brief statement describing the property or properties, and identifying the designation criteria it meets;
a detailed architectural description of the property or properties, including identification of its character-defining features;
construction chronology of the property or properties, including a detailed history of major alterations/additions;
an evaluation of significance against the City’s Criteria for Designation;
an assessment of integrity;
current photographs;
current map identifying the location and boundaries of the property or properties;
historic photographs, maps, sketches, drawings, or other descriptive materials, as available, to support the application;
any application fees as determined by the City.

Much of this process is highly technical, warranting the services of a qualified historian, familiar with the assessment process including liaising with the client and regulatory authorities.

Other matters covered in the historic preservation ordinance

The ordinance also includes sections on designation of historic districts (§23.23.070.B.2); rescission and amendment of designation status (§23.23.080); alterations, including demolition of designated, eligible, or potentially eligible resources (§23.23.090); and provisions for economic hardship (§23.23.100).

Mills Act incentives

Introduction

The most renowned incentive for historic designation throughout California is eligibility for Mills Act tax benefits, now available in Alhambra thanks to the Historic Preservation Ordinance. The Mills Act is a California state law permitting local governments to offer property tax relief to owners of qualified historic properties who agree to restore, maintain, and protect them, as specified in approved 10-year (minimum) contracts. Here are the basic requirements, processes and benefits.

General requirements

Mills Act contracts are prepared by the City Attorney, in compliance with §50281 of the California Government Code, which includes the following provisions:

the term of the contract shall be for a minimum of 10 years;
the applicant and property owner shall be required to comply during the term of the contract with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties as well as the California Historical Building Code;
the City shall be authorized to conduct periodic inspections of the Qualified Historic Property to determine the applicant’s and owner’s compliance with the contract; and
the contract shall be binding upon all successors-in-interest of the owner.

Application requirements

The City of Alhambra accepts Mills Act Contract applications on an annual basis. The City may determine on an annual basis how many contracts it will accept and may set a financial cap on the program. All Mills Act Contract applications are to be filed with the Community Development Department and include the following:

a description and photographs of the property;

a copy of the latest grant deed, deed of trust, or title report for the property;
a rehabilitation plan/maintenance list of the work to be completed within the ten-year contract period, including cost estimates and the year in which the work will be completed;
a financial analysis showing current property taxes and estimated taxes for the property under the contract;
property owner authorization; and
any application fees as determined by the City.

Initial completeness review

The initial completeness review of the Mills Act Contract application is to be carried out in accordance with §23.31.030 (Review of Applications).

Review process

Following the application submittal, the Historic Preservation Commission reviews all applications. Within 30 days from the beginning of review, the Historic Preservation Commission makes recommendations to City Council on the merits of the proposed applications.

City Council is empowered to authorize the execution of all Mills Act Contracts. Approval of contracts is procedural, and does not require a public hearing.

Work plan amendments

The contract may provide that alterations to the approved work plan require review and approval by the Community Development Department.

Who benefits from the Mills Act incentive?

The greatest benefit of historic designation in Alhambra is the potential for a substantial reduction in property taxes through the Mills Act incentive. Participation in the Mills Act program across California is voluntary, and is restricted to owners of designated historic properties. Property owners with comparatively low property taxes, such as those benefitting from Proposition 13 limits on assessed value change over time, will not likely benefit from a Mills Act contract because the assessed value under the Mills Act will likely be higher than the current base-year value of the property. In general, owners who benefit most from a Mills Act contract are those who have acquired their properties in the last 10 years.

Further incentives

Other local incentives for landmarking or a property or historic district include:

Exemption from Design Review. Properties subject to project review under this Chapter shall be exempt from review under Chapter 23.33, Design Review.
Reduction of Building Permit Fees. Properties subject to project review under this Chapter are eligible for a reduction in building permit fees. Permit fee reductions will be determined by City Council.
Waiver of Parking Requirements for Residential Uses. Existing parking is not required to be maintained, if removal of the parking spaces would facilitate or accommodate preservation of a historic resource. Where additional dwelling units are created through the alteration of an existing building or construction of an additional structure or structures, no additional parking shall be required for the additional dwelling units.

Properties that rise to significance on the state level can also benefit from the provisions of the California Historical Building Code (CCR Title 24, Part 8).

Beyond all of those incentives for designation, there are more general benefits to having a property formally assessed by a qualified historian, whether or not it is ultimately deemed eligible, and whether or not it receives Mills Act funding. Uncovering the property’s story — including its architects, builders, occupants and construction chronology, as revealed in a range of textual and visual records — could be helpful for:

Establishing historic significance for buildings of note, thereby facilitating heritage designation; access to preservation resources including restoration grants and tax incentives; and protection from unwanted alterations;
Guiding restoration efforts by ensuring that the materials, construction methods and style are historically appropriate, thus preserving the property’s character and maintaining or increasing its value;
Adding market value by demonstrating its association with significant people (e.g. architects, builders, owners, occupants) or events;
Legal and planning benefits including facilitation of zoning issues, building permits, or disputes about property modifications, especially in historic districts.

I’m a Pasadena-based architectural historian who has written hundreds of assessments of properties throughout Los Angeles County. I adore Alhambra, and look forward to helping preserve its historic fabric in the wake of the new ordinance.

If you own a property that is more than 50 years old, schedule a consultation to find out whether historic designation is right for you.

If any of the above links are broken or incorrect, or if you would like to suggest other resources for preservation in Alhambra, please let me know.

Not in Alhambra? Click on a link below for historic designation in

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