I’ve blogged before about how much I love the local South Bay historical landmark homes and I am happy to say that Manhattan Beach will soon be providing financial incentives to property owners in an attempt to keep those gorgeous historical homes around instead of razed or changed for newer buildings and developments. The new Mills Act has passed in Manhattan beach, which is a state law that allows cities to provide a tax-incentive to homeowners that preserve their historic properties. In fact, if they keep the exterior facade historically accurate, they could end up getting a 60% cut in their property taxes. That’s a pretty nice incentive (aside from the incentive to keep our local heritage and history around where others can enjoy it)!

The Manhattan Beach Cultural Heritage Conservancy, which has been pushing to preserve historic landmarks in the area for a long time, is absolutely delighted, I am sure. So much of our local Beach Cities heritage has already been lost to new homes – let’s try to keep the ones we still have. The long-term plusses for history books, local culture, architectural students, and just general appreciation are numerous. I’m so glad that the city has taken another step in the right direction.

If you’re curious about our local South Bay history, you can visit www.manhattanbeachhistorical.org, www.hermosabeachhistoricalsociety.org, and janstanstudio.com.