Halsey House Background and Legislative History
This page serves as a background and research tools for City Council members, commissioners, residents, and City staff on Halsey House. City Council and two commissions have all had input on this project, thus the presentations, reports, recommendations, and other crucial documents below are from 2008 to the present.
These documents are in the table below:
| Date | Type of Report | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| 02/26/2008 | City Council |
Recommendation: Approve the mission statement; appoint Council member Becker to the Task Force. Action: Approved (Minutes) Agenda Report (Redwood Grove Task Force & PARC Recommendation) |
| 05/14/2008 | PARC Commission |
Recommendation: Hire a Landscape Architect to develop a Master Plan for Redwood Grove Council: Approved (Minutes) Agenda Report (Redwood Grove Landscape Architect) |
|
07/08/2008 |
City Council |
Recommendation: Authorize Task Force to proceed with proposed maintenance and planning efforts Action: Approved (Minutes) Agenda Report (Redwood Grove) |
| 01/27/2009 | City Council |
Recommendation: Hire a caretaker for Redwood Grove, send the Halsey House to the Historical Commission, and Assess viability of partnering with outside agencies for providing classes and school programs. Agenda Report (Redwood Grove Task Force Direction) |
| 02/10/2009 | Report | California Department of Parks and Recreation Resource Report |
| 02/10/2009 | City Council |
Recommendation: Establish a Capital Improvement Program Project (CIP) for Redwood Grove/Nature Center at $356,000 within the FY 2008-09 plan and appropriate $98,000 from the Capital Improvement Fund at this time Action: Approved (Minutes) Council Agenda (Redwood Grove/Nature Center CIP) |
| 02/24/2009 | Historical Commission |
Recommendation: None Actions: Members reviewed Halsey House report and oral history (Minutes) |
| 04/20/2009 | Report |
Informational Memo on the Halsey House and the Options available. Redwood Grove Nature Center Renovation Staff Analysis and Renovation Options |
| 04/27/2009 | Historical Commission |
Recommendation: None Action: Tabled (Minutes) |
| 05/12/2009 | City Council |
Recommendation: See Report Action: Council declined onsite caretaker; deferred action on the public/private partnerships with Acterra and VSI; and directed staff to report on the repairs needed to the staff house and how the amendment works with the existing Redwood Grove Master Plan (Minutes) Agenda Report (Redwood Grove Master Plan Amendment Implementation) Agenda Report (Redwood Grove Subcommittee Vision Report) |
| 06/22/2009 | Historical Commission |
Recommendation: Staff Liaison Dahl presented the updated historic evaluations for the City owned properties and answered questions from the Commission. Action: See Report (Minutes) |
| 07/14/2009 | City Council |
Recommendation: Approve a one-year agreement service agreement with Youth Science Institute for conducting Redwood Grove School Tours, and authorize the City Manager to execute the agreement on behalf of the City. Action: Approved (Minutes) Agenda Report (Youth Science Institute Service Agreement) |
| 09/22/2009 | City Council |
Recommendation: Approve the proposed service agreement with Acterra for habitat restoration at Redwood Grove, and authorize the City Manager to execute the agreement on behalf of the City Action: Approved (Minutes) Agenda Report (Redwood Grove Habitat Restoration) |
| 02/09/2010 | City Council |
Recommendation: Approve the proposed charter and membership of the Redwood Grove Task Force |
| 02/14/2012 | City Council |
Recommendation: Receive the Agenda Report Action: Report Received (Minutes) Agenda Report (Shoup Park/Redwood Grove Path Connection) |
| 02/28/2012 | City Council |
Recommendation: Forward the recommendation from the Parks and Recreation Commission to the Council's Redwood Grove Committee Action: Approved (Minutes) Agenda Report (Redwood Grove Committee) |
| 03/13/2012 | City Council |
Recommendation: Approve six recommendations as outlined in the Council Ad Hoc Redwood Grove Committee's report Action: See Report (Minutes) Agenda Report (Recommended Next Steps on Redwood Grove) |
| 03/27/2012 | City Council |
Recommendation: Approve the Council Redwood Grove Committee expected outcomes Action: Approved (Minutes) Agenda Report (Council Redwood Grove Committee Expected Outcomes) |
| 04/23/2012 | Historical Commission |
Recommendation: Consider the caretaker resident for inclusion on the Historical Resources Inventory Action: Continued to next meeting (Minutes) Agenda Report (482 University Avenue - Halsey House) |
| 06/25/2012 | Historical Commission |
Recommendation: Consider the caretaker resident for inclusion on the Historical Resources Inventory Action: No Motion (Minutes) |
| 08/27/2012 | Historical Commission |
Recommendation: None Action: Commissioner Bishop provided an updated, noting that the research about the significance of the caretakers unit was still on-going (Minutes) |
| 10/22/2012 | Historical Commission |
Recommendation: None Action: The Commission discussed the project, noting that no further progress had been made with regard to research of the historic significance of the care taker’s unit (Minutes) |
| 11/26/2012 | Historical Commission |
Recommendation: None Action: No motion (Minutes) |
| Study | 2012 Los Altos Parks Plan | |
| 01/23/2013 | Historical Commission |
Recommendation: See Report Action: Council found that the Care Taker Unit does not have the physical integrity and/or historical significance to merit designation as a Historic Resource and listing on the Historic Resources Inventory (Minutes) |
| 03/25/2013 | Historical Commission |
Recommendation: None Action: Add the restoration and adaptive reuse of the Halsey House as a new project to the Capitol Improvement Program 17/18 (Minutes) |
| 04/23/2013 | City Council |
Recommendation: Receive recommendation from Historical Commission regarding the Halsey House and Caretaker's Cottage; and Provide staff with direction regarding desired improvements at Redwood Grove. Action: Council directed staff to present costs to use or demolish Halsey House (Minutes) |
| 03/23/2015 | Historical Commission |
Recommendation: Add request to the Council for the allocation of $10,000.00 for 482 University Avenue (Halsey House) Action: Motion Carried (Minutes) Agenda Report (FY 2015/16 - 2019/20 Capital Improvement Program) |
| 04/27/2015 | Historical Commission |
Recommendation: None Action: The commission discussed the project, noting the need to review the complete historical evaluation and better understand the public/private process for providing input to the Council (Minutes) Agenda Report (482 University Avenue) |
| 10/26/2015 | Historical Commission |
Recommendation: Review and provide comment on the Halsey House Feasibility Study Action: Council recommended the City Council pursue Design Concept "A" to adaptively reuse the Halsey House (Minutes) Agenda Report (Halsey House Feasibility Study) |
| 11/18/2015 | PARC Commission |
Recommendation: Review and provide comment on the Halsey House Feasibility Study Agenda Report (Halsey House Feasibility Study) |
| 12/08/2015 | Report |
Recommendation: Receive an update on the Halsey House Feasibility Study, and direct staff accordingly Action: Council members requested a future Study Session to review additional options for the |
| 01/25/2016 | Historical Commission |
Recommendation: None Action: Commissioner Trapnell reported on the Halsey House (Minutes) |
| 06/14/2016 | City Council Meeting |
Recommendation: Staff seeks direction from Council identifying the alternative to pursue Action: Council members provided general feedback on the Hillview Community Center condition Agenda Report (Halsey House Feasibility Study) |
| 11/15/2016 | City Council Meeting |
Recommendation: Based on the direction provided by the City Council in June, 2016, staff would suggest that the conditions needed to adaptively re-use/renovate the Halsey House have not been met Agenda Report (Halsey House Feasibility Study) |
| 06/26/2017 | Historical Commission |
Recommendation: None Action: Commissioner Chapman requested that the Halsey House be placed on the agenda as a discussion item to continue processing the preservation efforts (Minutes) |
| 01/11/2018 | PARC Commission |
Recommendation: See Report Action: Motion made by Commissioner Parmar to recommend that the Council either repurpose or rebuild the Halsey House facility (Minutes) Agenda Report (Halsey House Status Update) |
| 01/23/2018 | City Council Meeting |
Halsey House Feasibility Study Agenda Report (Halsey House Feasibility Study) Public Correspondence |
| 02/26/2018 | Historical Commission |
Action: Informational Update (Minutes) Agenda Report (Halsey House Update) |
| 09/24/2018 | Historical Commission |
Recommendation: None Action: Staff, Historical Commission Chair, Nomi Trapnell, and Los Altos History Museum Executive Director, Elisabeth Ward provided updates regarding the Certified Local Government (CLG) grant application (Minutes) |
| 01/28/2019 | Historical Commission |
Recommendation: None Action: The Halsey house shall be specified as a critical preservation planning issue under question A on page 12 of the CLG report (Minutes) |
| 03/25/2019 | Historical Commission |
Recommendation: None Action: Staff provided an update on the Halsey House (Minutes) |
| 04/22/2019 | Historical Commission |
Recommendation: None Action: Staff provided an update (Minutes) |
| 06/24/2019 | Historical Commission |
Recommendation: None Action: Staff provided an update (Minutes) |
| 10/28/2019 | Historical Commission |
Recommendation: Receive an update on the Halsey House Historic Structures Report, and direct staff accordingly Action: See Report (Minutes) |
| December 2019 | Report |
Recommendation: See Report. |
| 06/17/2020 | Historical and PARC Commission |
Recommendation: Receive a presentation from the Historical Commission Staff Liaison Sean Gallagos regarding the status of the Halsey House and consider forwarding a recommendation to City Council Action: Commissioner Morris moved that the Parks & Recreation Commission asks the City Council to allow the Parks & Recreation Commission and the Historical Commission to meet and confer (Minutes) Agenda Report (Halsey House Update) |
| 06/29/2020 | Historical Commission |
Recommendation: Consider forwarding a recommendation to the City Council and conducting a joint meeting with the Parks and Recreation Commission. Agenda Report (Halsey House Update) |
| 09/21/2020 | Joint Meeting (PARC and Historical) |
Action: No formal action taken. Future recommendations in report (Minutes) |
| 10/14/2020 | PARC Commission |
Recommendation: Receive special presentation from Jon Baer, regarding Insights to Halsey House: Background, Landmark Status, other Considerations, and Recommendations Action: None |
| 01/12/2021 | City Council |
Recommendation: See Report Action: Approved (Minutes) |
Supporting Documents
2012 Los Altos Park Plan (0 bytes) 