A. Purpose. The purpose of this article is to implement the Mills Act (Government Code Sections 50280 through 50290), allowing the approval of historical property contracts by establishing a uniform procedure for the owners of qualified historic properties within the town to enter into contracts with the town.

B. Property Tax Relief Incentives. In order to carry out more effectively and equitably the purposes of this chapter, the city council may approve historical property contracts pursuant to California Government Code, Article 12, Sections 50280 through 50290 which may provide economic incentives to owners of qualified properties in the form of tax relief if they pledge to rehabilitate and maintain the historical and architectural character of their properties for at least a ten-year period.

C. Applicability of the California Historical Building Code. It is the purpose of the California Historical Building Code to provide regulations and standards for the rehabilitation, preservation, restoration (including related reconstruction) or relocation as applicable to all historical buildings, structures and properties deemed of importance to the history, architecture, or culture of an area by an appropriate local or state governmental jurisdiction. Such standards and regulations are intended to facilitate the restoration or change of occupancy so as to preserve their original or restored elements and features, to encourage energy conservation and a cost-effective approach to preservation, and to provide for reasonable safety from fire, seismic forces or other hazards for occupants and users of such “buildings, structures and properties” and to provide reasonable availability and usability by the physically disabled. Atherton has adopted the California Historical Building Code and any property subject to a historical property contract is subject to that code’s requirements.

D. Limitation on the Number of Historical Property Contracts. No more than five historical property contracts or no more than a twenty-five-thousand-dollar maximum cap on the annual amount of aggregate property tax loss to the town across all historical property contracts shall be in effect at any one time in the town of Atherton. (Ord. 652 § 1, 2022)