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Letter Regarding the Mills Act
March/April 2025
Dear ,
I write as a long-time resident of San Diego. I was born here in 1941 and attended school and college here (SD State and UCSD). For personal reasons, I was away from San Diego from 1980 to 2013 (first, to attend law school in Massachusetts and, later, to work in the Washington DC area in private practice and government service).
 Courtesy Google street view |
In July 2024, I fell in love with an historic home in Mission Hills (located at 4375 Trias Street, just ½ mile above the Presidio). It was built in 1922. I’ve included a picture of the home when it was built. While not yet designated as historic, the fact that it would likely be eligible led to my believing I would likely be able to lower my property taxes by doing whatever restoration was needed and going through the expensive, time-consuming process. Yes, the windows don’t work well, even after investing $6K to get them to function, and the floor isn’t level, after over 100 years of settling. But those facts do not outweigh my love of my “new” home and desire to maintain my very small piece of history.
While I understand the following facts may not contribute to historical designation, they are meaningful to me, as they add character to my home: It was built at the request of Lt. Col. George McLellan, an Army Medical Corps doctor who served in WWI and, as I understand it, saved many lives. He was injured and forced to retire. That was around the time when he had the Mission Hills home built. He lived in it until his death in 1939, and then his wife Ruth, who did volunteer work during WWII, lived in the home until her death in 1958. Their son, Donald, was a San Diego school teacher. He remained in the home until his death in 1976. After that time, I believe two folks lived here. One was Billie Halliday, a deaf woman who read lips and did not let her [deafness] slow her down. She worked as a volunteer for Deaf Community Services. She lived here from 1978 until her death in 2014 at 94.
My home is a modest one, as the picture reveals. It’s about 1700 sq. ft. It is perfect for my retirement with my two dogs (“seniors” who need lots of veterinary care). I have very little retirement – Social Security and a very small government pension. However, during my working career, I was frugal and saved money. Now my savings provides my primary income and allowed me to purchase my home. However, when I can, I still work, even at 83, because I fear I will not be able to stay in my home until my death (primarily due to property taxes which are likely to be close to $30K/year). Because of my absence from my hometown for over 30 years, I do not have meaningful Proposition 13 protection.
The above is a rather long story to introduce the reason I’m writing you: To entreat you to reconsider (1) making it more difficult to obtain historic designation for historic homes (at least for those over 100 years old), and (2) changing/eliminating the Mills Act protections for such homes when the owner is willing to preserve history for the future (typically at a significant cost).
I invite you to drive or walk through Mission Hills and enjoy the beauty of history here. In fact, I invite you to stop by my home and have a cup of coffee or glass of good cheer in what I refer to as my “happy home.” I have lived in many San Diego neighborhoods but find this one the friendliest and most caring of all of them. I am hopeful I can remain and do not have to move away because of the cost of remaining.
I urge you to protect The Mills Act.
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