Archaeological Significance Evaluation and …...Adams Boulevard, Chester Place, and West 23rd...

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Archaeological Significance Evaluation and Treatment Plan

Transcript of Archaeological Significance Evaluation and …...Adams Boulevard, Chester Place, and West 23rd...

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Archaeological Significance Evaluation and Treatment Plan

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Figueroa and Adams Multifamily Development Project Archaeological Significance Evaluation and Treatment Plan, Los Angeles County, California Marlesa Gray and Carrie J. Gregory Prepared for Capital Oak Venture, LLC, and Capital & Counties USA, Inc. c/o Red Oak Investments 2101 Business Center Dr., Ste. 230 Irvine, California 92612 Technical Report 08-02 Statistical Research, Inc. Tucson, Arizona

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Figueroa and Adams Multifamily Development Project Archaeological Significance Evaluation and Treatment Plan, Los Angeles County, California Marlesa Gray and Carrie J. Gregory Prepared for Capital Oak Venture, LLC, and Capital & Counties USA, Inc. c/o Red Oak Investments 2101 Business Center Dr., Ste. 230 Irvine, California 92612 Technical Report 08-02 Statistical Research, Inc. Tucson, Arizona February 2009

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C O N T E N T S List of Figures............................................................................................................................................... v

List of Tables ................................................................................................................................................ v

1. Introduction and Project Description.................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1 Project Description ................................................................................................................................. 2

Applicable Regulations.................................................................................................................... 2 Project Location ..................................................................................................................................... 3 Environmental Setting............................................................................................................................ 3

2. Previous Research.................................................................................................................................. 5

3. Methods Of Data Collection ................................................................................................................... 7 Archival Research .................................................................................................................................. 7

4. Background Information ........................................................................................................................ 9

5. Results of Investigations...................................................................................................................... 13

6. Management Considerations............................................................................................................... 15 Evaluation of Historical Significance................................................................................................... 16 Potential Project Effects on Historical Resources ................................................................................ 16 Recommendations to Mitigate Adverse Impacts.................................................................................. 17

7. Treatment Options for Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R ........................................................................................ 19

8. Testing and Evaluation Plan ................................................................................................................ 23 Literature Review and Survey.............................................................................................................. 23

Research......................................................................................................................................... 23 Contact Program ............................................................................................................................ 23 Survey ............................................................................................................................................ 23

Research Design ................................................................................................................................... 24 Monitoring of Pavement Removal and Mechanical Stripping ............................................................. 24 Mapping and Data Management .......................................................................................................... 25 Control-Unit Excavation ...................................................................................................................... 25 Safety Measures and Environmental Requirements............................................................................. 26 Analysis................................................................................................................................................ 26 Report ................................................................................................................................................... 27 Curation................................................................................................................................................ 27 Recommendations ................................................................................................................................ 27

9. Data Recovery ....................................................................................................................................... 29

10. Conclusions......................................................................................................................................... 31

References Cited....................................................................................................................................... 33

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L I S T O F F I G U R E S

Figure 1. Project Location Map .................................................................................................................... 2

L I S T O F T A B L E S Table 1. Archival Repositories and Documents Consulted .......................................................................... 7

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C H A P T E R 1

Introduction and Project Description

Introduction At the request of Red Oak Investments (Red Oak), Irvine, California, Statistical Research, Inc. (SRI), per-formed preliminary archival research directed at identifying the archaeological potential of the parcel lo-cated at 2455 (formerly 2437) South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, California (Figure 1). Red Oak plans to build a multifamily development on the 1.668-acre parcel along South Figueroa Street near its intersec-tion with West Adams Boulevard. The parcel is currently developed with an asphalt-paved parking lot measuring approximately 47,250 square feet and a small grass-covered yard. The parking lot serves the adjacent St. Vincent de Paul Cathedral (to the south). In early 2007, a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) was prepared by URS Corporation (URS Corporation 2007), Los Angeles, California. Subsequently, Historic Resources Group (HRG), Hollywood, California, was contracted to prepare an overview of the cultural-resource issues associated with the pro-posed development (Historic Resources Group 2009). The ESA included a review of Sanborn fire-insurance maps that identified the existence of a residential dwelling, yard, and outbuilding on the property from 1894 to 1922 (URS Corporation 2007:8). HRG identified the nonextant Sabichi residence and an existing segment of zanja (Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R), located in the project area, as presenting cultural-resource issues (Historic Resources Group 2009). The zanja is part of Los Angeles’ historic irrigation system. The Metropolitan Transit Authority is funding the nomination of the irrigation system’s primary channel—known as the zanja madre (mother ditch)—to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP); HRG has recommended a series of mitigation measures to reduce the significant adverse impacts of the proposed construction project to levels of insignificance. The purpose of the archival research conducted by SRI was to define the extent and significance of the potential archaeological remains of the Sabichi residential complex and the impact of the proposed development to those remains as well as to the existing segment of Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R. SRI presents here a treatment plan describing the procedures that should be followed to document the presence, integrity, and significance of any archaeological resources within the project area and provides recommendations for further work. Additionally, the plan presents SRI=s approach to further defining the Sabichi residential complex through testing and archival research, and it suggests the appropriate data recovery efforts that will be necessary to mitigate impacts to the potential archaeological remains of the Sabichi residential complex to below-significant levels. This technical study is in support of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) that is in preparation. The results of this study will be summarized in the EIR.

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Project Description Red Oak proposes to construct a multifamily residential development that includes four levels of apart-ment housing over one level of at-grade parking and two levels of subterranean parking. The four levels of housing will include 145 apartment units with common-area landscaped courtyards, roof terraces, and private, open-space balconies. The ground-floor level will include 125 replacement/guest-parking stalls for the existing parking lot on the site, a residential lobby, and a recreation room. The two subterranean parking levels will provide the required parking for residents.

Applicable Regulations The proposed development is considered a “project” under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and the City of Los Angeles is the lead agency. It is subject to compliance with CEQA (Public Resources Code '21000 et seq.); the CEQA Guidelines (California Code of Regulations [CCR] '15000 et seq.), as amended to date; and the Los Angeles CEQA Thresholds Guide (City of Los Angeles 2006). For potential impacts to an archaeological or historical cultural resource to be considered significant under CEQA, the resource in question must be found to be a “historical resource,” that is, one listed in or deter-mined eligible for listing in the California Register of Historical Resources (CRHR); included in a local register of historical resources, such as the one that lists LAHCMs; or determined by the lead agency to

Figure 1. Project Location Map.

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be a historical resource. The term “historical resource” may apply to archaeological sites. However, for an archaeological site that does not meet the criteria for consideration as a “historical resource,” a determina-tion must be made as to whether it qualifies as a “unique archaeological resource.”

Project Location The project area consists of Assessor’s Parcel No. 5124-026-004, located southwest of downtown Los Angeles, within the 1781 Pueblo de Los Angeles land-grant area). The 1.668-acre parcel at 2455 (formerly 2437) South Figueroa Street is in a portion of Lot 8, Block 17, of Hancock’s Survey of Los Angeles. The block is oriented northwest-to-southeast and southwest-to-northeast. Interstate 10 lies oriented east-to-west north of the block, and Interstate 110 clips the eastern corner of the block. The rectangular parcel is located in the eastern end of the block, bound by South Figueroa Street, West Adams Boulevard, Chester Place, and West 23rd Street. The short end of the parcel fronts South Figueroa Street. The project area is situated in Section 6 of Township 2 South, Range 13 West, in the Hollywood, California, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 7.5-minute quadrangle map.

Environmental Setting The subject property is located in an urbanized area within the city of Los Angeles, just southwest of downtown. The parcel is surrounded by residential, religious, and educational buildings, including the historic Stimson House; Mount St. Mary’s College, Doheny Campus; and the St. Vincent de Paul Cathedral. Located within the Los Angeles Basin, the elevation of the property is about 205 feet above mean sea level. The nearest source of surface water is the Los Angeles River, located approximately 23/4 miles to the east. No surface water bodies were identified within the parcel (URS Corporation 2007:6). The parcel is within the Transverse Ranges geomorphic province, within an area defined as the Downey Plain. The Downey Plain consists of recent alluvial deposition formed by the Los Angeles and Rio Hondo–San Gabriel River systems. Soils are composed of Hanford association, which are well drained (URS Corporation 2007:6). No native vegetation exists within the parcel.

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C H A P T E R 2

Previous Research SRI reviewed two reports on file with Red Oak during preparation of this plan: the ESA by URS Corpo-ration (2007) and a cultural-resource issues assessment by HRG (Historic Resources Group 2009). URS Corporation reviewed historic Sanborn fire-insurance maps, USGS topographic maps, and aerial photographs (2007). HRG provided a brief history of the site, identified adjacent built and archaeological cultural re-sources, and included relevant excerpts from the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation (Standards) and Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings (Guidelines) (Historic Resources Group 2009). The results of both investigations follow. URS Corporation reviewed a Sanborn fire-insurance maps dating from 1894 to 1970. The maps dating between 1894 and 1922 depicted a rectangular parcel occupied by a two-story dwelling fronting South Figueroa Street. Included in the residential complex were two outbuildings to the rear of the dwelling and a small yard. By 1950, the maps no longer showed any buildings, although a small yard was still depicted. The USGS topographic maps examined by URS Corporation dated from 1902 to 1994. The maps dating from 1902 to 1915 showed no significant structures or features within the parcel. The 1928 map depicted a single dwelling within the parcel. By 1966, the maps showed no significant structures or features within the parcel. URS Corporation also looked at various aerial photographs that dated from 1928 to 2002. Those dating prior to 1947 showed a residential building, an associated outbuilding, and a small yard to the west. The parcel was cleared of all buildings and structures by 1956 (URS Corporation 2007:8–9). HRG’s research was aimed at identifying cultural-resource issues in light of the proposed development by Red Oak. Their investigations identified one known resource and a possible additional resource within the project area. The known resource is an extant portion of the Los Angeles zanja system. The zanja sys-tem was established by the Spanish during the occupation of Los Angeles that began in 1781. The system was developed to irrigate the early agricultural community of Los Angeles. Workers constructed a dam near the original Los Angeles settlement to divert water from the Los Angeles River into a gravity irriga-tion system. This irrigation system was expanded over the years and was important in the Spanish, Mexican, and Euro-American development of the Los Angeles region. As originally designed, the ditches were open earthen channels. Later upgrades lined them with wood, clay, stone, and, still later, brick or concrete. The zanja system was used through 1904, when it was abandoned (Historic Resources Group 2009:29–30). Known as Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R, the portion of the zanja that fronts the project area along South Figue-roa Street is lined with concrete. HRG (2009:29) described the resource as being 2 feet wide and 18 inches deep, with 8-inch walls that have a more refined finish. They reported a low ornamental fence with concrete posts at intervals and concrete bridges at the carriage entrances. HRG maintained that this section is the “only known remaining portion in a residential neighborhood of the zanja irrigation system” (2009:31). Their research indicated that the Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R remnants in the project area are a character-defining feature of the Chester Place Historic District (2009:31). They are also eligible for listing in local and state landmark designation programs (2009:31). The additional resource identified by HRG was the possible remains of the Sabichi residence. Born in 1843, Frank Sabichi was a real estate investor and member of the Los Angeles City Council. In 1948, Es-telle Doheny, widow of oil tycoon Edward R. Doheny, purchased the property at 2455 (formerly 2437) South Figueroa Street for $75,000. Upon her death in 1958, the property transferred to the Vincentian order, becoming the parking lot for the St. Vincent de Paul Church (HRG 2009:28).

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Additionally, HRG identified the following historic resources adjacent to the project area (McAvoy and Jefferson 2009:19–26):

� St. Vincent de Paul Church (1925), 621 West Adams Boulevard, LAHCM No. 90 � Miner House (pre-1900), 649 West Adams Boulevard, home to several actors � Miner Tract Lot C (further research needed), 641 West Adams Boulevard � Mount St. Mary’s College, Doheny Campus, 10 Chester Place—includes historic resources that

have been listed in the CRHR, determined eligible for listing in the NRHP, designated as LAHCMs, and/or identified as contributors to a Los Angeles Historic Preservation Overlay Zone

� Stimson House (1891), 2421 South Figueroa Street, LAHCM No. 212

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C H A P T E R 3

Methods of Data Collection In an effort to further document and define the possible Sabichi residential-complex remains and the po-tential impacts to Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R, Red Oak requested preliminary archival research and the devel-opment of a significance evaluation and treatment plan. The purpose of this research and documentation was to determine the nature and extent of the resources so the impact of the proposed development plans could be evaluated and appropriate mitigation measures could be developed and implemented.

Archival Research Archival research was conducted over a period of 1 week. This section of the report documents the work that SRI has carried out to date. It serves as a foundation on which future archival research can build. SRI reviewed numerous documents within the varied digital holdings of the Los Angeles Public Li-brary (LAPL), Genealogy.com, and Proquest Historical Newspapers through the University of Arizona Library. Table 1 contains a summary of the archives searched and the contents that SRI found relevant to the current study.

Table 1. Archival Repositories and Documents Consulted

Collection/Repository Documents Consulted

Biography and Genealogy Master Index/LAPL Bibliographic references mentioning Frank Sabichi

California Index/LAPL Bibliographic references mentioning Frank Sabichi

Proquest Historical Newspapers/ University of Arizona

Various articles from the Los Angeles Times dating between 1884 and 1948

Los Angeles Biographic Sketches/LAPL June 1889 issue of the Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine

Photo Collection/LAPL Two Security Pacific National Bank photographs of the Frank Sabichi residence

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Collection/LAPL 1894, 1907, and 1950 maps

U.S. Census Collection/Genealogy.com and LAPL 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 census sheets

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C H A P T E R 4

Background Information Little is known of prehistoric to early historical-period occupation in the vicinity of the project area. The Downey Plain, in which the project area is located, was an area of very active alluviation prior to the his-torical channelization of the rivers in the Los Angeles Basin. If there were prehistoric to early historical-period occupation sites in the area, they were often subject to subsequent episodes of either scouring or alluviation. Additionally, the vicinity of the project area has been disturbed to various degrees by twentieth-century con-struction. A review of the boring logs from the project site (Geocon Inland Empire 2007) shows no evidence of buried cultural levels in the five locations where the borings were placed. Evidence of such buried cultural levels would be the presence of dark organic midden soils in or below the alluvium. However, it is pos-sible that the project area may contain buried ground surfaces or Native American cultural features located in areas other than where the borings were situated. In contrast to the dearth of information available about any prehistoric to early historical-period occu-pation of the project area, much is known of the primary historical-period occupation of the site. As HRG (2009:19–20) has noted, the area of Los Angeles in which the project area is located was subdivided and developed in the period from the 1870s through the 1890s. The Chester Place neigh-borhood that encompasses the project area was one of the most prestigious addresses in Los Angeles be-tween 1880 and 1910, and some of the city’s wealthiest and most influential inhabitants made their homes there. Among these were Frank (Francisco) Sabichi, and his wife, Magdalena Wolfskill Sabichi, who pur-chased the lot on which the project area is located and built their home there in 1888. Frank Sabichi was born in Los Angeles on October 4, 1842. He was the son of Mathias Sabichi, an Austrian native who settled in the Los Angeles area in 1838, and an unnamed Mexican mother (LAPL California Biography File A n.d.). He was educated at the Royal Naval Academy in England and returned to California in 1860. A lawyer by training and early profession, he spent most of his adult life developing and administering his considerable property interests (Griffin 1889) and in public service and philanthropic support. He was elected to the Los Angeles City Council and served from 1871 to 1873 and from 1883 to 1884. He also served on the Fire Commission from 1897 to 1899. During his second tenure on the City Council, he was responsible for securing water rights from the owner of the Los Feliz rancho; this allowed the construction of the city’s first municipal water system. It appears that this action may not have been without controversy at the time (Griffin 1889), although in retrospect he has generally been lauded for his foresight. He held an interest in the Ballona and Santa Monica Railway, was a director of the San Jose Land Company, and served as counsel to the Southern Pacific Railroad, to which he and his wife donated the land on which the Los Angeles Depot was built. He was a grand officer of the Native Sons of the Golden West. In 1865, he married Magdalena Wolfskill. She was also born in Los Angeles, in 1846, the daughter of William Wolfskill, who pioneered in Los Angeles in 1828, and Magdalena Lugo, a daughter of one of California’s earliest Hispanic families (LAPL California Biography File A n.d.). Magdalena Wolfskill was heiress to considerable property in the Los Angeles area in her own right. Her father, along with his friend Daniel Boone, founded Boonesville, Missouri, in 1828 (Miller 1924) and is credited with blazing the first American trail from Santa Fe to the Green River and on to California (Los Angeles Times, 18 July 1930:A5). Frank and Magdalena Sabichi raised eight children, five sons and three daughters, in the Figueroa Street residence. Frank Sabichi died at home on April 12, 1900, at the age of 58 (Los Angeles Times, 13 April

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1900:14), and Magdalena Sabichi died at home on July 17, 1930, at the age of 84 (Los Angeles Times, 18 July 1930:A5). According to the U.S. Census, five members of Magdalena’s immediate family and four adults, who included three servants, were living with her in April 1930, three months before she died. The family members included her son Louis M. Sabichi, her daughter Beatrice Sabichi Mitchell, her son-in-law Claude Mitchell, and two grandchildren, Marjorie A. and Lawrence Mitchell (Department of Commerce 1930). It is currently not known who, if anyone, lived in the house at 2437 (now 2455) South Figueroa Street from 1930, when Magdalena Sabichi died, to 1948, when neighbor Carrie Estelle Doheny purchased the house and lot and the house was razed to create the existing parking lot. A quick review of the LAPL Online Photo Collection produced two undated photographs of the Sabichi mansion (LAPL Online Photograph Collection n.d.a, n.d.b). Because of copyright restrictions, these pho-tographs are not reproduced in this report. However, the following description of the house was written using the photographs and Sanborn fire insurance maps as guides. The Sabichi lot at 2437 (now 2455) South Figueroa Street measured 420 feet (west-northwest by east-southeast) by 150 feet (north-northeast by south-southwest), with the short side fronting South Figueroa Street (Sanborn Map Company 1894). As built, the property included a residence and two outbuildings, the larger at 24371/2 South Figueroa Street (Sanborn Map Company 1907). It is not currently known if other buildings or structures were built on the property as well. The Sabichi residence was a high-style vernacular mixture of the Second Empire style (1855–1885) with Queen Anne and perhaps Châteauesque detailing (LAPL Online Photograph Collection n.d.a, n.d.b; McAlester and McAlester 1984). Like many of the high-style residential buildings constructed in the Vic-torian era, it had “exuberant mixtures of detailing, superimposed on generally medieval forms” (McAlester and McAlester 1984:240). The residence was touted as having 27 rooms, including “eight bedrooms, an elevator, a third-floor ballroom, a first-floor music room, ornate carved interiors,” and “a billiard room” (Los Angeles Times, 5 April 1948:2). This article also states that many notable people were entertained in the Sabichi home, including a president of Mexico. The three-story residence was an irregular rectangle in plan and measured approximately 90 feet by 60 feet (Sanborn Map Company 1894). Constructed on a raised, masonry perimeter foundation, the wood-frame building was clad in horizontal wood siding. The roof shape was irregular and included a mansard roof and additional steeply pitched, hipped roofs that extended above the top of the mansard roofline. The dual-pitched mansard roof was straight, with a flare, and had a narrow eave overhang boxed with dentils. The hipped roofs had a ridge and were topped with two finials. The roof shape also included elaborate wall dormers, in both the mansard and hipped roofs. Wall dormers along the mansard roofline had four fixed-pane windows (two over two) and steeply pitched, hipped pyramidal roofs topped with finials. Wall dormers along the hipped rooflines had four fixed-pane windows (one over three). Elaborately shaped, they were topped with pinnacles. All roofs were clad in shingles, and a belt course ran along the mansard roofline through the taller hipped roofs. An elaborate exterior chimney was located on the southwestern facade of the residence. The main entrance was on the east-southeast facade, with an additional entrance on the northeast facade. The front facade was symmetrical, with a recessed entry flanked by two-story bays. A wide stairway that led to the front door was flanked with simple classical columns. Above the front entry was a second-story porch, also detailed with simple classical columns. The building had a detailed two-story wrap porch along the west side of the house and one-story side porch on the north. Fenestration in-cluded fixed, single-hung sash and transom windows. The two outbuildings were located approximately 130 feet west of the residence. The smaller of the two outbuildings measured approximately 25 feet by 10 feet (Sanborn Map Company 1894), but nothing is currently known about the building’s appearance or function. The larger of the two outbuildings was high style and perhaps a carriage house. An irregular rectangle in plan, it measured approximately 55 feet by 30 feet (Sanborn Map Company 1894). The building consisted of two rectangular two-story forms abut-ting each other. On the east-southeast facade of this rectangular massing were a two-story tower and a one-story gabled arch. Likely a carriage house, the wood-frame building was clad in horizontal wood siding. The roof shape was irregular, consisting of a two-story, clipped hip roof abutting a shorter gambrel roof and a shallow, projecting, one-story gable roof. Two rectangular eyebrow dormers were located on the

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southeast facade. The two-story tower was topped with a conical roof and finial; the gambrel roof supported a cupola capped by a pyramidal hipped roof and finial. The main entrance was on the southeast facade and consisted of an open, arched entry to the left of the almost centrally placed tower. Additional fenestration included four light sash and fixed-pane windows. A Los Angeles Times (20 September 1948:15) article documenting the demolition of the Sabichi resi-dence recorded that the ballroom and billiard room were located on the third floor, there were eight bedrooms on the second floor, and the music room, an ornate parlor, and a large “old-fashioned” kitchen were situated on the first floor. Plumbing and mechanical devices were located in the basement. In addition to the Sabichi residence and associated buildings and structures, the other cultural feature of note that is still known to exist in the project area is Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R, the only known remnant of Los Angeles’ zanja water-distribution system in a residential district. HRG (2009:29–30) has provided an overview of the history of the zanja irrigation system that operated in Los Angeles from the late eighteenth century to its abandonment in 1904. The Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R would have been in use during the first 18 years or so that the Sabichi residence was occupied. According to HRG (2009:29), the open ditches of the zanja madre system—where present in highly improved residential areas, such as the one in front of 2455 (formerly 2437) South Figueroa Street—were lined with concrete conduit. One of the historic photographs of the Sabichi residence (LAPL Online Photograph Collection n.d.a), probably taken shortly after its construction, judging from the lack of mature landscaping, shows the low concrete pillars and wrought iron fence that are also present in photographs of the zanja in Don Sloper’s (2006:10–11) book on Chester Place. Unfortunately, the angle from which the photograph of the Sabichi residence was taken prevents a view of the zanja itself. Additionally, the historic photographs also depicted portions of a semicircular drive in front of the residence fronting South Figueroa Street, which crossed the zanja. The concrete bridges also had the ornamental low pillars and wrought iron fencing.

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C H A P T E R 5

Results of Investigations SRI’s review of the land-use history of the Figueroa and Adams project area indicates that it likely includes at least two cultural resources. The first is the extant segment of the zanja system, Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R. According to information provided by Andrew Nelson of Red Oak (e-mail communication, 1 November, 2007), the existing segment of Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R runs along the Figueroa Street side of the project area. Beginning at a point 20 feet from the northern property line, it extends down the front of the project area to a point about 23 feet from the south property line, for a total approximate length of 105 feet of Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R. The zanja was previously removed on either side of these points to make way for existing driveways and garden areas. A portion of the zanja was also removed in the middle of this length to allow construction of a pedestrian walkway from the Figueroa Street sidewalk to the presumed location of the Sabichi house.

The second cultural resource refers to archaeological features relating to the Sabichi occupation of the site that are highly likely to be preserved below the present-day asphalt paving. The property was sold to Carrie Estelle Doheny in April 1948, and the buildings were razed to make way for the parking lot in Sep-tember of the same year. Additionally, Red Oak provided SRI recent photographs that show extant portions of the Sabichi residential complex driveway (with at least one of the bridges crossing Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R) and landscaping. The current photographs show the central walkway that runs perpendicular to South Fi-gueroa and the curbing of the semicircular drive. Enclosed within the curbing are a lawn and several mature trees. There may also be cultural features present in the project area that date prior to the Sabichi purchase of the land, but this is much less likely.

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C H A P T E R 6

Management Considerations Having identified the presence of cultural resources on the project site, it is necessary, first, to determine whether the resources present qualify as “historical resources” or “unique archaeological resources,” and second, to evaluate whether such resources will be affected by the project. For potential effects on archae-ological or historical resources to be considered significant under CEQA, the resources in question must be listed in or determined eligible for listing in the CRHR; included in a local register of historical resources, such as that listing LAHCMs; or determined by the lead agency to be a historical resource. Using the criteria for listing on the CRHR, the lead agency shall consider a resource to be historically significant if it

(1) is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of California=s history and cultural heritage;

(2) is associated with the lives of persons important in our past;

(3) embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, region, or method of construc-tion, or represents the work of an important creative individual, or possesses high artistic values; or

(4) has yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history. (CCR '15064.5[a][3])

The term “historical resource” may also apply to archaeological sites. However, for an archaeological site that does not meet the criteria for consideration as a “historical resource,” a determination must be made as to whether it qualifies as a “unique archaeological resource.” The CEQA statute defines “unique archaeo-logical resource” as

an archaeological artifact, object, or site about which it can be clearly demonstrated that, without merely adding to the current body of knowledge, there is a high probability that it meets any of the following criteria:

(1) Contains information needed to answer important scientific research questions and that there is a demonstrable public interest in that information.

(2) Has a special and particular quality such as being the oldest of its type or the best avail-able example of its type.

(3) Is directly associated with a scientifically recognized important prehistoric event or person. (Public Resources Code '21083.2[g])

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Evaluation of Historical Significance For the purposes of this report, the Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R segment that fronts the property is significant and retains much, though not all, of its integrity; it is considered a historical resource and a character-defining feature of the Chester Place Historic District (HRG 2009:31). Evaluating the Sabichi residential complex archaeological site for historical significance can be ac-complished through the testing and evaluation program recommended and detailed below. During such a program, the above criteria can be applied to determine if any identified archaeological site is a historical resource or a unique archaeological resource eligible for listing in the CRHR or as an LAHCM. Based on the archival research, if intact deposits of the Sabichi residential complex archaeological site are found, they will likely be considered significant and historical resources. In addition to having significance, resources must have integrity for the period of significance. The period of significance is the date or span of time within which significant events transpired or significant individuals made their important contributions. Integrity is the authenticity of a historical resource’s phys-ical identity as evidenced by the survival of characteristics or historic fabric that existed during the resource’s period of significance. Simply, resources must retain enough of their historic character or appearance to be recognizable as historic resources and to convey the reasons for their significance. An archaeological resource may still have sufficient integrity for the CRHR. Under Criterion 4, it must maintain the potential to yield information important in prehistory or history. As a unique archaeological resource, it must contain information needed to answer important scientific research questions, have a special and particular quality, or be directly associated with a scientifically recognized important prehistoric event or person.

Potential Project Effects on Historical Resources According to the CEQA Guidelines (CCR '15064.5[b]), only those resources determined to be “historical resources,” that is, eligible for listing in the CRHR or designation as an LAHCM, are considered to be sub-ject to potential significant adverse impacts. The CEQA Guidelines also state, “A project with an effect that may cause a substantial adverse change in significance of an historical resource is a project that may have a significant effect on the environment” (CCR '15064.5[b]). A “substantial adverse change” is defined as “physical demolition, destruction, relocation, or alteration of the resource or its immediate surroundings such that the significance of an historical resource would be materially impaired” (CCR '15064.5 [b][1]). The significance of a historical resource is materially impaired when a project affects “those physical char-acteristics . . . that convey its historical significance” (CCR '15064.5[b][2][a]). According to the L.A. CEQA Thresholds Guide (City of Los Angeles 2006), a project would normally have a significant impact upon archaeological resources if it could disturb, damage, or degrade an archae-ological resource, or its setting, found to be important under the criteria of CEQA because it

� is associated with an event or person of recognized importance in California or American prehistory

or of recognized scientific importance in prehistory; � can provide information which is both of demonstrable public interest and useful in addressing

scientifically consequential and reasonable archaeological research questions; � has a special or particular quality, such as the oldest, best, largest, or last surviving example of its

kind; � is at least 100 years old and possesses substantial stratigraphic integrity; or � involves important research questions that historical research has shown can be answered only with

archaeological methods.

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According to the same thresholds, a project would normally have a significant impact on historical re-sources if it would result in a substantial adverse change in the significance of an historical resource. A substantial adverse change in significance would occur if the project involves

� demolition of a significant resource; � relocation that does not maintain the integrity and significance of a significant resource; � conversion, rehabilitation, or alteration of a significant resource which does not conform to the

Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation and Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings; or

� construction that reduces the integrity or significance of important resources on the site or in the vicinity.

Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R is located within a portion of the project area proposed for development. Red Oak recognizes the significance of the existing zanja segment that forms much of the Figueroa Street boundary of the project area and wishes to preserve intact as much of the zanja segment as possible. Complete de-struction of Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R would be a substantial adverse change. Any extant archaeological deposits of the Sabichi residential complex will be located within the project area proposed for development. The deposits would be destroyed during excavation of the subterranean parking levels. If the testing and evaluation program determine that the deposits are intact and are a his-torical resource eligible for listing in the CRHR or designation as an LAHCM, the project would result in substantial adverse change.

Recommendations to Mitigate Adverse Impacts Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R is considered a historical resource, and intact deposits of a Sabichi residential com-plex archaeological site will likely be considered historical resources. Thus, the preferred alternative to mitigate adverse change is avoidance and preservation in place. According to the CEQA Guidelines,

[p]ublic agencies should, whenever feasible, seek to avoid damaging effects on any his-torical resource of an archaeological nature. The following factors shall be considered and discussed . . . for a project involving such an archaeological site:

(A) Preservation in place is the preferred manner of mitigating impacts to archaeological sites. Preservation in place maintains the relationship between artifacts and the archaeo-logical context. Preservation may also avoid conflict with religious or cultural values of groups associated with the site.

(B) Preservation in place may be accomplished by, but is not limited to, the following:

1. Planning construction to avoid archaeological sites;

2. Incorporation of sites within parks, greenspace, or other open space;

3. Covering the archaeological sites with a layer of chemically stable soil before building tennis courts, parking lots, or similar facilities on the site; or

4. Deeding the site into a permanent conservation easement.

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(C) When data recovery through excavation is the only feasible mitigation, a data recovery plan, which makes provision for adequately recovering the scientifically consequential information from and about the historical resource, shall be prepared and adopted prior to any excavation being undertaken. Such studies shall be deposited with the California His-torical Resources Information System regional Information Center. Archaeological sites known to contain human remains shall be treated in accordance with the provisions of Section 7050.5 of the California Health and Safety Code.

(D) Data recovery shall not be required for an historical resource if the lead agency deter-mines that testing or studies already completed have adequately recovered the scientifically consequential information from and about the archaeological or historical resource, provided that the determination is documented in the EIR and that the studies are deposited with the California Historical Resources Regional Information Center. (CCR '15126.4[b][3])

If the project cannot preserve Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R in place, it is recommended that Red Oak follow the treatment options presented in the next chapter. For the possible Sabichi residential complex archaeologi-cal site, Red Oak should conduct a testing and evaluation program, followed by a data recovery program if the resource is found to be a historical resource or unique archaeological resource.

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C H A P T E R 7

Treatment Options for Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R When constructing a new building in proximity to historic resources, the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines (36 CFR 67) may be used to assess the impacts to those historic resources and to provide guidelines for mitigating any adverse impacts. According to the National Park Service’s Web page on the Standards,

[t]he intent of the Standards is to assist the long-term preservation of a property’s signifi-cance through the preservation of historic materials and features. The Standards pertain to historic buildings of all materials, construction types, sizes, and occupancy and encompass the exterior and interior of the buildings. They also encompass related landscape features and the building’s site and environment, as well as attached, adjacent, or related new con-struction. (National Park Service 2006)

The Standards are to be applied to specific rehabilitation projects in a reasonable manner, taking into con-sideration economic and technical feasibility. The Standards most pertinent to the preservation of Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R are the following:

� A property shall be used for its historic purpose or be placed in a new use that requires minimal change to the defining characteristics of the building and its site and environment.

� The historic character of a property shall be retained and preserved. The removal of historic materials or alteration of features and spaces that characterize a property shall be avoided.

� Each property shall be recognized as a physical record of its time, place, and use. Changes that create a false sense of historical development, such as adding conjectural features or architectural elements from other buildings, shall not be undertaken.

� Distinctive features, finishes, and construction techniques or examples of craftsmanship that char-acterize a property shall be preserved.

� Deteriorated historic features shall be repaired rather than replaced. Where the severity of deterio-ration requires replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature shall match the old in design, color, texture, and other visual qualities and, where possible, materials. Replacement of missing features shall be substantiated by documentary, physical, or pictorial evidence.

� Significant archeological resources affected by a project shall be protected and preserved. If such resources must be disturbed, mitigation measures shall be undertaken.

In addition to the Standards and Guidelines, there are technical publications available that address the topic of infill construction in historic neighborhoods. Culled from those technical publications, the following policies are recommended for design of new construction in historic areas, especially as pertains to Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R:

� Retaining the historic relationship between buildings and the landscape. � Minimizing disturbance of terrain around buildings or elsewhere on the site, thus reducing the

possibility of destroying or damaging important landscape features or archeological resources.

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� Surveying and documenting areas where the terrain will be altered to determine the potential im-pact to important landscape features or archeological resources.

� Protecting, e.g., preserving in place, important archeological resources. � Planning and carrying out any necessary investigation using professional archeologists and modern

archeological methods when preservation in place is not feasible. � Protecting the landscape features against vandalism before rehabilitation work begins (i.e., erecting

protective fencing). � Evaluating the overall condition of the materials and features of the property to determine whether

more than protection and maintenance are required—that is, if repairs to building and site features will be necessary.

� Designing new on-site parking, loading docks, or ramps when required by the new use so that they are as unobtrusive as possible and assure the preservation of the historic relationship between the building or buildings and the landscape.

� Designing new exterior additions to historic buildings or adjacent new construction to be compatible with the historic character of the site and to preserve the historic relationship between the building or buildings and the landscape.

Red Oak recognizes the significance of Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R, which forms much of the Figueroa Street boundary of the project area, and wishes to preserve intact as much of it as possible. In consultation with their architect, they have concluded that the best way to preserve the largest possible portion of Wool Mill/ Zanja 8-R is to leave the main middle part of it intact and to push their driveway access points to the edges of the site (Andrew Nelson, e-mail communication, 1 November 2007). The proposed driveways on the north end of the site would extend 37 feet in from the northern property line (resulting in removal of 14 feet of Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R), and 28 feet in from the south property line (resulting in removal of 5 feet of Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R). Thus, the remaining portion of Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R would measure approximately 86 feet in length, rather than the current 105 feet. If the driveways, with mandatory fire lane access, were located in any other location on the site, the result would probably be the loss of even more of Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R. A suggestion that either of the proposed new driveways could be built over Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R has been determined to be unfeasible for the following reasons:

1. The northern driveway servicing the subterranean parking of the new development begins to drop close behind the sidewalk line, essentially through the space currently occupied by Wool Mill/ Zanja 8-R. It should begin dropping immediately back of the sidewalk in order to reach the garage depth without too steep of a grade.

2. The Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R section under the proposed new southern driveway servicing the church parking is already nearly entirely removed. The architects’ plans call for removing an additional 5 feet of Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R. A bridge over just those five feet of Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R would end somewhere in the middle of the 28-foot driveway and would not serve any practical purpose. There may also be grade issues with the southern driveway.

Based on these practical impediments to bridging over Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R in those areas where the driveways will be constructed for the new development, it appears that the only feasible alternative is to remove the end sections of Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R, preserving the remaining 86 feet between the two drive-ways. It is recommended that Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R be saw-cut at the margins of the proposed driveways, and each section lifted as one piece if possible. The cut sections should be stored in a protected location, probably off-site, until their ultimate disposition can be made. Red Oak has suggested that the removed portions of the zanja could be preserved and incorporated as design elements into the landscape design of the new development. This is certainly an option, if they were clearly labeled as having been moved from their original location. It is suggested that the short, 5-foot section could be incorporated into an interpretive display, rather than incorporated into the landscape design of the development. It is possible that one of the

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two segments may be wanted for an exhibit at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County or the California Science Center. Furthermore, it is recommended that the remaining intact segment of Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R be incor-porated as an integral part of the development’s landscape design. Interpretive signage near the feature—featuring text, historic photographs, a map of the zanja system with the existing segment highlighted, and the shorter section of the removed Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R—would constitute valuable community outreach. Practical considerations that should be included in this recommendation include a determination of whether the open Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R segment(s) qualify under local ordinances as “swimming pools” or “water features” based on its (their) depth. Considerations of safety regarding open-water hazards and West Nile virus should be made if there is a chance that the Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R segment(s) will fill with water during rains. It is not currently known if the existing Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R, being cut off at both ends, has existing drains or if it is subject to filling during rains. It is presumed that it grades to the south, as the zanja madre was located to the north. Therefore, a drain should be located under the southern driveway to prevent the intact Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R from filling. Another option is to cover the existing segment with Plexiglas, although a drain would probably still be necessary because of seepage or condensation. HRG (2009:44) has recommended the following mitigation measures to reduce the significant adverse impacts of the proposed Red Oak development on the portion of the Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R segments remaining in the project area to levels of insignificance. These proposed mitigation measures correspond well with our recommendations. 1. Document the zanja according to Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) Guidelines prior to Project implementation. 2. Prepare National Register and local landmark designation nominations for the zanja remnants which will remain after the project is constructed, as an individual resource and a contributor to the district that identifies and verifies historic context and character-defining features. 3. Minimize loss of extant zanja for driveway construction by implementing a protection plan for the remaining zanja materials that will remain in place after the construction of the driveways. 4. Incorporate the extant zanja remnants to be preserved in place into the landscape design. 5. Fully document the segment/remnant to Historic American Engineering Records (HAER) standards as a result of the landmark nominations. 6. Develop an interpretation program on site to educate the public about the development history of the zanja system and the neighborhood. 7. Implement on-site construction monitoring by a qualified archaeological professional throughout the project.

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C H A P T E R 8

Testing and Evaluation Plan This testing and evaluation plan details the scope and methods of the work necessary to document the presence, integrity, and significance of the Sabichi residential complex archaeological site. The testing program outlined below has three primary components: literature review and survey, research design, and exploratory excavation. A literature review and survey is directed at developing a historic context and identifying cultural resources within or near the project. A research design is developed to guide the testing program. Exploratory excavation is the only means to determine the extent and integrity of any archaeo-logical features. Before any additional work is performed, SRI recommends that a literature review and survey be conducted.

Literature Review and Survey

Research Archival research, directed at developing a historic context for the project area, should be conducted at local repositories. Documents to be reviewed include maps, aerial photographs, local histories, and city directories. The historic context is used to evaluate cultural resources for the CRHR and define the potential for additional cultural resources. A records search to provide information about previously recorded re-sources and cultural resources investigations conducted in the project vicinity at the South Central Coastal Information Center (a repository of the California Historical Resources Information System) has been conducted, with negative results. A sacred-lands search at the California Native American Heritage Commis-sion should be requested to identify any sacred lands within the project vicinity.

Contact Program A program to contact Native Americans and interested parties should be implemented. This effort is di-rected at identifying cultural resources within the project area that may not be already documented. It also serves as a tool to form partnerships and collaborate with parties interested in or affected by the project.

Survey A survey is conducted to determine if cultural resources exist within the project area. An intensive pedes-trian survey should be performed to confirm the absence of surface cultural materials. If cultural resources are identified, their presence should be documented on California Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) forms and submitted to the South Central Coastal Information Center.

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Research Design SRI anticipates that intact historical-period archaeological features in the project area will provide data to address both particularistic and general research questions. The particularistic questions center on the oc-cupation of the site by the Sabichi family—how they used their property, what additional information about the family can be gained by further investigation of the archaeological features discovered during testing, and how the site was used before the family built their residence there. More general research questions relate to the place of the Sabichi family in the elite governing class of Los Angeles from the last quarter of the nineteenth century through the first half of the twentieth century, focusing on socioeconomic data that can be derived either through additional archival research or through more-intensive archaeological inves-tigations.

For the current testing phase of the project, the research questions are more limited and directed toward the primary goal of determining the extent and the integrity of any archaeological features that are encoun-tered. Pertinent research questions for the testing phase of the Figueroa and Adams Multifamily Develop-ment Project area include the following:

� Is the lower portion of the foundation and the cellar of the Sabichi mansion still present and intact? � Does the cellar have the potential to provide details about the construction of the house through the

presence of architectural artifacts and features? � Does the cellar have the potential to provide data about the Sabichi family through the presence of

domestic and personal artifacts? � Is there archaeological evidence of occupation of the house after the Sabichi family? � Is there intact archaeological evidence of the two known outbuildings (the likely two-story carriage

house and smaller outbuilding shown on the Sanborn map)? � Does the archaeological evidence shed light on the function of the two outbuildings? Was the sec-

ond floor of the larger outbuilding used for servants’ quarters? for storage? an office? What was the purpose of the smaller outbuilding?

� Is there evidence for other buildings or structures on the property that are not shown on the Sanborn maps?

� Is there evidence of occupation of the project area before the Sabichi family?

Monitoring of Pavement Removal and Mechanical Stripping Prior to the removal of any asphalt pavement, all surficial features should be mapped as a control for later test excavations and for comparison with the Sanborn fire insurance maps. A datum should be established that allows all subsequently discovered features to be mapped in relation to known landmarks. SRI proposes that a limited mechanical stripping program then be conducted in the following areas:

1. One stripping unit should be opened across the length and two across the breadth of the extrapo-lated location of the Sabichi residence to locate the intact foundations and internal architectural features.

2. One stripping unit should be opened across the length and two across the breadth of the extrapo-lated location of the large outbuilding, for the same purpose.

3. Two stripping units should be opened across the length and breadth of the extrapolated location of the small outbuilding, for the same purpose.

4. One stripping unit should be opened along the rear property boundary in an attempt to locate pos-sible privy features.

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An archaeologist should monitor the removal of pavement by Red Oak’s contractors. The stripping should be conducted using a standard backhoe with a 3-foot-wide (91 cm) bucket fitted with a flat blade. The stripping process involves careful removal of the pavement, followed by the peeling of soils in small increments (approximately 5 cm or less) using the flat blade of the backhoe to achieve a clean cut. In this manner, archaeologists can identify soil anomalies, artifact concentrations, and cultural features or feature components. During the stripping process, the archaeologist should closely monitor the excavation and di-rect the backhoe operator on how to remove soils. The duties of the monitor include discovering and asses-sing cultural materials, delineating features, and interpreting stratigraphic contexts. Archaeologists should perform minor hand excavation as necessary to delineate further any potential features or soil anomalies. If an anomaly is determined to be an archaeological feature, then mechanical stripping should cease, the feature should be assigned a unique number, and the stripping should be moved to another location. As stated before, it is unlikely, though not impossible, that Native American features or artifacts could be discovered during the testing. If this does occur, however, Red Oak should be immediately contacted.

Mapping and Data Management All stripping units, features, and point-located artifacts should be mapped using a total station and tied to the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) grid. Features that may be encountered during mechanical strip-ping include exterior and interior building foundations, privies, cisterns, and wells. All excavation units, features, and point-located artifacts should be assigned unique provenience numbers using a data-manage-ment system.

Control-Unit Excavation One primary research question that should be answered during the testing phase is whether the cellar of the Sabichi residence has the potential to answer questions about the domestic life of the family. In other words, were cultural artifacts or trash left in the cellar prior to demolition of the building? Any domestic refuse left in the house that ended up in the cellar fill may have the potential to answer questions about the everyday life of the Sabichi family. The interior fill of the house should be hand excavated with, at a minimum, one 1-by-1-m control unit to determine the depth of the cellar and whether intact deposits and artifacts are pres-ent and assess the potential of the cellar to answer research questions about the Sabichi family’s daily life. Hand excavation should be conducted in arbitrary 10-cm levels unless natural strata are observed, in which case new levels should be designated. Hand excavation should extend to the cellar floor or to the level of culturally sterile soil. Because the building foundation was raised 3–4 feet above ground surface, it is anticipated that the cellar floor will be encountered between 4 and 5 feet below current ground level. Diagnostic artifacts should be point-provenienced, and vertical and horizontal provenience controls should be maintained throughout the excavation. All sediment from each level should be screened through 1/2-inch mesh. Profiles of at least two faces of the control unit should be drawn, if there is relevant stratigraphic information. Photography, recording forms, and traditional hand-drawn maps and profiles should be used, as appropriate, to thoroughly document each feature and the control unit. If privy, well, or cistern features are encountered during the mechanical stripping, they should be mapped and photographed but should not be excavated during the testing phase. Upon completion of all excavations, all soil should be backfilled, and it is recommended that the stripping units be covered with

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gravel or temporary asphalt paving until the need for further archaeological investigation of the site is determined.

Safety Measures and Environmental Requirements In a project that involves heavy equipment and the potential for locating undocumented utilities and areas containing hazardous materials, safety concerns are an important logistical consideration. Red Oak’s sub-contractor should be committed to ensuring that all work fully complies with relevant Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) workplace standards and regulations. Archaeologists should monitor excavations to detect potentially contaminated sediments. If potentially contaminated sediments are en-countered, Red Oak should be notified. Work in potentially contaminated areas should be halted pending further evaluation by a professional environmental testing firm. Following OSHA and other relevant state and county safety standards, Red Oak should make every effort to ensure the safety of all personnel working on this project. All work (excavation, heavy equipment operations, screening, sorting, and laboratory analysis) should fully comply with relevant OSHA work-place standards and regulations. Red Oak should secure all necessary permits for excavation.

Analysis Judgment of the information potential of any feature should be based on the integrity of the feature, the kinds of artifacts it contains, the condition of those artifacts, the age of the feature, and the nature of its association with other features in the area. If excavation of the control unit within the cellar of the residence demonstrates that domestic debris was left in the house prior to its demolition, then there is a high proba-bility that additional excavation is warranted to learn more about the everyday life of the Sabichi family. Pit features, such as trash pits, privy pits, wells, and cisterns, are typically the most important sources of artifacts on a historical-period archaeological site. However, it is not certain at this point whether such features will indeed be found. Because of the Sabichi family’s wealth and position, it is possible that the house was built with one or more interior water closets and that trash was removed from the property. The presence of one or more cisterns is more likely. In addition, if the large outbuilding was used as servants’ housing, there may be a privy located at its rear, as the family may not have felt that an interior water closet was necessary for the servants. If intact features of these types are found, there is a strong probability that additional excavation will be recommended, because of the features’ potential for providing valuable in-formation about the daily life of the Sabichi family. The analytical potential of trash layers and lenses varies widely. A thin, relatively diffuse lens of soil and trash created by incidental accumulation (rather than through deliberate, secondary discard) is some-times valuable as one of the few artifact-bearing contexts associated directly with the use of a building or extramural area, even if the artifacts it holds are in poor condition. On the other hand, a large, densely packed trash layer may have low analytical potential because it contains mostly construction debris or is not clearly associated with any other features. All historical-period artifacts recovered during testing should be sorted initially by material category. Within each material category, the focus of subsequent analysis should be on characteristics that can help determine artifact function, point of origin, and period of manufacture. Each artifact should be assigned a unique catalog number, to be used for coding artifact characteristics and provenience information in a da-tabase. The database can be used to generate summary tables and for relational analyses. All artifacts should also be assigned to functional categories. These categories crosscut the material categories and are useful

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in the interpretation of individual features or groups of features. A wide variety of published and unpub-lished sources should be consulted to help identify artifacts and to determine function, point of origin, technology, and date of manufacture. Archaeology can also aid our understanding of land use and settlement in specific ways. For example, details about how the Sabichi family modified their house lot for practical or aesthetic purposes might be discovered. Although it is not anticipated that prehistoric, protohistoric, or pre-Sabichi historical-period artifacts or features will be encountered during the testing, if they are discovered, archaeologists should collect and record information on those features and artifacts with the same care afforded to those of the Sabichi occupation.

Report Upon the conclusion of fieldwork, a report should be written for Red Oak describing the archaeological findings. This can be used for consultation with agencies and other interested parties. The report should detail field methods and list the details of all features that were identified. It should include a preliminary assessment of the types and probable quantities of various material classes. The report should meet or ex-ceed the standards required by federal and California agencies.

Curation Curation for artifacts and records is generally not done after a testing phase of a project. Once the testing is complete, a need is determined for additional archaeological data recovery on the site to ensure that the appropriate level of site documentation has occurred prior to the construction project. Curation should oc-cur after the conclusion of data recovery investigations, if conducted.

Recommendations At the end of the exploratory excavation program, two results are possible:

1. There are no intact cultural deposits from the Sabichi occupation and no evidence of prehistoric occupation of the project area.

2. There are intact cultural deposits from the Sabichi occupation and/or evidence of prehistoric oc-cupation

If the first scenario occurs, no further work or mitigation is necessary. If the second scenario occurs, the site is considered significant and a historical resource, as defined by CEQA, and a data recovery program should be implemented to mitigate substantial adverse change. The goal of the data recovery program is to minimize the impacts to the site to a level below significance according to CEQA.

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C H A P T E R 9

Data Recovery In the case of either intact deposits from the Sabichi occupation being found or discovery of prehistoric resources, data recovery is necessary to mitigate the substantial adverse change of the project on the re-sources. The goal of the data recovery program is to minimize the impacts to the site to a level below sig-nificance according to CEQA. Prehistoric resources present in the project area would be eligible for listing in the CRHR under Crite-rion 4. Little is known of the prehistory of the general area, so any evidence of prehistoric occupation in the project area should be subjected to data recovery. The city of Los Angeles should be contacted if pre-historic resources are discovered, so that a Native American monitor can be assigned. Data recovery efforts should include, in order:

1. additional backhoe trenches, as necessary, to determine the boundaries and depth of the prehistoric occupation;

2. excavation of five 1-m control units, to gain a clear understanding of the stratigraphy of the site; 3. block excavations of 10 percent of the site area, with placement of the blocks determined by the

results of the trenching and control-unit excavations; 4. mapping and photography to document all excavations; 5. analysis of recovered artifacts and any identified features; 6. a technical report detailing the results of the data recovery excavations; and 7. curation of recovered materials, field notes, maps, etc., at an approved curation facility.

Intact cultural deposits (intact house and outbuilding foundations and fill or privy and/or well features) related to the Sabichi occupation in the project area would be eligible for listing in the CRHR under Crite-rion 2. Frank Sabichi was a significant person in the history of Los Angeles, and intact cultural deposits relating to his family’s occupation of the project area could shed light on the life of this important person-age. Data recovery efforts should include, in order:

1. excavation of five additional 1-m control units to gain a clear understanding of the cultural deposits across the site;

2. block excavations of 10 percent of the area within the intact foundations where intact cultural fill has been determined to be present;

3. hand excavation of any pit features (privies, wells) in the project area; 4. mapping and photography to document all excavations; 5. analysis of recovered artifacts and any identified features; 6. a technical report detailing the results of the data recovery excavations; 7. curation of recovered materials, field notes, maps, etc., at an approved curation facility; and 8. development of a public interpretation program to disseminate the results of the investigations to

a broader audience.

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C H A P T E R 1 0

Conclusions Following the treatment options described above will mitigate the substantial adverse change to Wool Mill/Zanja 8-R to a level below significance. Implementing the testing and data recovery as described above for any intact archaeological deposits will mitigate adverse impacts to historical resources that may be present in the project area to below a level of significance, in compliance with CEQA Guidelines, CCR '15064.5.

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R E F E R E N C E S C I T E D City of Los Angeles

2006 L.A. CEQA Thresholds Guide: Your Resource for Preparing CEQA Analyses in Los Angeles. City of Los Angeles, California.

Department of Commerce

1930 U.S. Census of Los Angeles City, California. Sheet 21A. Available online with subscription to Genealogy.com.

Geocon Inland Empire, Inc.

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.org/pics24/00061566.jpg, accessed June 25, 2008. Los Angeles Times [California]

1900 Frank Sabichi Dead. Expired Last Night from a Stroke of Apoplexy. 13 April:14. California.

1930 Pioneer’s Rites Tomorrow. Mrs. Sabichi, Lifelong Resident of Los Angeles, Will Be Given Burial at Calvary Cemetery. 18 July:A5. California.

1948 Famed Sabichi Mansion, Landmark, To Be Sold. 5 April:2. California.

1948 Sabichi Home, City Landmark, Disappears. Mansion Being Dismantled. 20 September:15.

California.

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