City of Sacramento
City Council - 5PM Report
915 I Street Sacramento, CA 95814
www.cityofsacramento.org
File ID: 2025-00538 2/25/2025 Consent Item 18.
City of Sacramento Preservation Commission 2024 Annual Report and 2025 Workplan File ID: 2025-00538
Location: Citywide
Recommendation: Receive and file.
Contact: Sean de Courcy, Preservation Director, (916) 808-2796, [email protected], Community Development Department
Presenter: None.
Attachments:
1-Description/Analysis
2-Annual Report
Description/Analysis
Issue Detail: Advisory bodies of the City are required to provide an annual report and workplan for review by the Personnel and Public Employees (P&PE) Committee as outlined in the City Council Rules of Procedure, Chapter 17. The P&PE Committee shall review advisory body annual reports and give staff direction on those reports’ stated projects, priorities, and recommendations. Before forwarding the report to the City Council, the Committee may request supplemental information from staff or the advisory body.
The P&PE Committee has reviewed the attached 2024 Preservation Commission Annual Report and 2025 Workplan and passed a motion forwarding it to the City Council.
Policy Considerations: Chapter 17 of the Council Rules of Procedure outlines the Advisory Body reporting process.
Economic Impacts: Not Applicable.
Environmental Considerations:
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA): This action is not a project that is subject to CEQA because it is an organizational or administrative activity that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment. (CEQA Guidelines §15378(b)(5)).
File ID: 2025-00538 2/25/2025 Consent Item 18.
Sustainability: Not applicable.
Commission/Committee Action: On November 20, 2024, the Preservation Commission passed a motion forwarding their Annual Report and Workplan to the P&PE Committee for consideration. On Tuesday, February 4, 2025, the P&PE Committee reviewed the Annual Report and Workplan and passed a motion forwarding it to the City Council.
Rationale for Recommendation: Annual Reports by city advisory bodies ensures they effectively incorporate their important role, voice, and work and provide thoughtful community recommendations to the City Council on a consistent basis.
Financial Considerations: Not applicable.
Local Business Enterprise (LBE): Not applicable.
915 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 • [email protected] • (916) 808-7200
Sacramento Preservation
Commission Annual Report
January 2024 through December 2024
Sacramento Preservation Commission Annual Report Page 2 of 9 Table of Contents
Introduction: Establishment, Commissioners, and Staff ........................................................................... 3 Purpose, Powers and Duties of the Preservation Commission ............................................................. 5 Message from the Preservation Commission Chair ................................................................................. 6 Key Accomplishments ..................................................................................................................................... 7 Commission Resources Expended ............................................................................................................... 8 Workplan for Upcoming Year ....................................................................................................................... 9
Sacramento Preservation Commission Annual Report Page 3 of 9 Introduction: Establishment, Commissioners, and Staff
The Sacramento Preservation Commission was established in 2006 by ordinance 2006-063 and is codified in Sacramento City Code 2.58.
The commission consists of seven members which are nominated by the Personnel and Public Employees Committee and appointed by the mayor with the concurrence of a majority of the city council. Commissioners must meet the following requirements:
• Seat I: a member who is a licensed historical architect who meets the • Secretary of the Interior qualifications for historical architects; • Seat 2: a member who is an architectural historian with training or • experience in the architectural history of Sacramento, the Sacramento region, Northern • California, or the West arid who meets the Secretary of the interior's qualifications for • architectural historians;
• Seat 3: a member who is a registered structural engineer; • Seat 4: a member who is a licensed contractor and who has training or • experience in restoration of historic properties;
• Seat 5: a member who is a landscape architect, designer, or historian with • training or experience in historical landscapes.
• Seat 6: an at-large member with a preference for an individual with • training or experience in historic preservation and/or urban planning; • Seat 7: an at-large member with a preference for an individual with • training or experience in the history of Sacramento, the Sacramento region, Northern • California, or the West and who meets the Secretary of the interior's qualifications for • historians.
Current Sacramento Preservation Commissioners
The following commissioners are currently serving on the commission.
• Max McSlavkin
• Margo Nayyar
• Patricia Ambacher
• Brian Burns
• Ian Lee Merker
• Salvatore Ricca
2023 Commissioners
The following commissioners served on the commission prior to 2024.
• Max McSlavkin
• Garret Root
• Brian Burns
• Ian Lee Merker
• Joshua Montemayor
• Margo Nayyar
Sacramento Preservation Commission Annual Report Page 4 of 9
Sacramento Preservation Commission Staff
The commission is supported primarily by the following staff members.
• Sean de Courcy, Preservation Director, Community Development Department • Michael Sparks, Senior Deputy City Attorney, City Attorney’s Office • Bruce Monighan, AIA, Urban Design Manager, Community Development Department
Sacramento Preservation Commission Staff Contact Information
Sean de Courcy, Preservation Director
City of Sacramento – Community Development Department
300 Richards Blvd. 3rd Floor – Sacramento, CA 95811
[email protected]
(916) 808-2796
https://www.cityofsacramento.gov/community-development/meetings-and- hearings/preservation-commision
Sacramento Preservation Commission Annual Report Page 5 of 9 Purpose, Powers and Duties of Sacramento Preservation Commission
Purpose of the Sacramento Preservation Commission
The purpose of the commission is to develop and recommend to the council preservation policies appropriate for inclusion in the General Plan and other regulatory plans and programs of the city and to provide oversight relative to the maintenance and integrity of the Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural Resources. The preservation commission shall review, nominate, and make recommendations to the council on properties eligible for listing in the Sacramento Register as landmarks historic districts, and contributing resources as set forth in this chapter. The preservation commission's role in reviewing development projects shall he limited to hearing projects of major significance and appeals of the Preservation Director’s decisions as set forth in Sacramento City Code.
Powers and Duties of the Sacramento Preservation Commission
Pursuant to Sacramento City Code Section 17.134.090, the Preservation Commission has the power and duty to do the following:
• Recommend to the City Council policies and programs in support of historic preservation, including but not limited to goals and policies for the General Plan Preservation Element and other regulatory plans.
• Perform periodic updates of the preservation program, including the standards, criteria, and procedures set forth in Sacramento City Code; and programs for historic preservation incentives.
• Evaluate and submit comments and recommendations an proposed plans, public and private development projects, and environmental reviews that are not subject to review under Sacramento City Code but that may potentially affect the physical development and historic preservation of the city involving landmarks, contributing resources, historic districts, nominated resources, or the historical value of any other building, structure, or neighborhood, in coordination with review and action by the City Council, planning commission, or other public agencies on the plan, project, or environmental review. • Review and make recommendation to the State Office of Historic Preservation regarding nominations of property located within the city to the National Register of Historic Places.
• Assume duties assigned to the preservation commission by the city council pursuant to the certified local government provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, or duties that may he assigned to the preservation commission through any agreement(s) approved by the city council. This shall include undertaking review and comment upon those projects on which the city, as a certified local government, has an obligation or opportunity to provide review and comment under the National Historic Preservation Act, including but not limited to private and public projects undertaken within the Old Sacramento national historic landmark district. • Consult with, advise, and report to the city council on an annual basis in connection with the exercise of the preservation commission's duties and functions. • Any other powers and duties conferred upon the preservation commission by the city council.
Sacramento Preservation Commission Annual Report Page 6 of 9 Message from the Sacramento Preservation Commission Chair
This past year saw more big, new, exciting “firsts” than one might expect from a historic preservation commission. Sacramento is leading the way for a new type of preservation - a more human centered approach, focused on the people and communities who have made our city great, in addition to the buildings themselves.
The African American Experience Project, the first of its kind in Sacramento and a pioneering project in California, is chronicling the stories of Black residents with the goal of increasing awareness of Black history and cultural resources in Sacramento. This collaboration between the City and California State University, Sacramento, with support from the National Trust for Historic Preservation has not only illuminated new places and new stories key to our shared history, the project is already serving as a model for our next initiative in this same spirit - the LGBTQ+ Experience Project, working to document the places central to Sacramento’s LGBTQ+ community from the gold rush era through to today.
As Preservation staff has worked tirelessly to secure funding and complete these big new endeavors, we’ve also continued the work of landmarking buildings and historic districts that tell a richer story of Sacramento. The new Eichler District in South Land Park highlights some of the state’s most iconic residential architecture as well the civil rights pioneer who build them. The North Sacramento School’s new status tells the story of Sacramento’s early development while working to help develop a blighted s ite today into a community asset. And as our historic rail yards develop, updates to the Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan will help maintain Sacramento’s rich rail history for generations to come.
Thank you to my fellow commissioners, to the Preservation Department staff, and to each & every person who attended a meeting, wrote a letter, or left a comment for your passion and commitment to making Sacramento a leader in historic preservation.
Sincerely,
Max McSlavkin
Preservation Commission Chair
Sacramento Preservation Commission Annual Report Page 7 of 9 Key Accomplishments
This report covers the period since the last report, January 2024 through December 2024.
A. The Preservation Commission reviewed the following historic resource nominations:
Address/Historic District Name Action Taken
1950 Arden Way Sacramento Register
Nomination
Recommendation to City Council
Sacramento Shops National Register Nomination Recommendation to Staff South Land Park Hills Sacramento Register
Nomination
Recommendation to City Council
2025 P Street Sacramento Register Nomination Recommendation to City Council 1049 44th Street Sacramento Register
Nomination
Recommendation to City Council
R Street Historic District Sacramento Register
Update
Recommendation to City Council
San Francisco Boulevard Historic District Recommendation to Staff 1100 46th Street Sacramento Register
Nomination
Recommendation to City Council
1341 45th Street Sacramento Register
Nomination
Recommendation to City Council
B. The Preservation Commission provided direction on the following policy documents:
1. Accessory Dwelling Unit Objective Design Standards for Historic Properties
2. Sacramento Parks Management Plan
3. Sacramento Urban Forest Management Plan
Sacramento Preservation Commission Annual Report Page 8 of 9 Commission Resources Expended
The estimated cost to support the Sacramento Preservation Commission in 2023 was $22,896.
The estimated cost to support the Sacramento Preservation Commission in 2024 was $24,000.
In 2023 we held eight meetings and in 2024 we held eight meetings. Below is a breakdown of expenditures made to support the commission during this review period.
The estimated cost per meeting is as follows:
Meetings Hours Rate Total
Staff report creation and review – department staff 8 2 $234 $3,744 Staff report review – city attorney staff 8 1 $216 $1,728 Agenda review, preparation, and publishing – city clerk 8 10 $35 $2,800 Meeting presentation preparation 8 1 $117 $936
Meeting attendance – department staff 8 4 $165 $5,280
Meeting attendance – city attorney staff 8 2 $216 $3,456 Meeting attendance – city clerk staff 8 4 $58 $1,856
Meeting attendance – IT staff 8 4 $53 $1,696
Post meeting tasks: minutes, legislative document processing, attendance tracking
8 5 $35 $1,400
Commissioner stipend processing (quarterly) 12/year $42 $504 Commissioner stipends (7 commissioners) $50 $600
Total Meetings Cost $24,000
Sacramento Preservation Commission Annual Report Page 9 of 9 Preservation Commission Workplan for Upcoming Year
• Preservation Staff applied for several grant projects in 2024, and if successful, the Preservation Commission will play a significant role as the public review body for those grant projects in 2025. The Preservation Commission will serve as one of the public meeting venues for these projects, and eventually make a recommendation to City Council on whether to accept the final deliverables.
• The Preservation Commission will continue its role in reviewing landmarks and historic districts for listing in the Sacramento Register in 2025. Of note, the African American Experience Project (completed in 2023) resulted in the identification of 14 potential historic landmarks/districts associated with the Black community. Many of these resources will come before the Commission as formal nominations in 2025. • The Commission may be asked to review several significant development projects and appeals in 2025.
• The Commission will provide feedback to Long Range planning staff, and other département policy documents, and make policy recommendations to the Planning and Design Commission and City Council.
• The Preservation Commission will review an update to the Old Sacramento signage regulations and make a recommendation to the Planning Design Commission. • In 2025, the Commission will play a role as a public meeting venue for review of the proposed Accessory Dwelling Unit Objective Design Standards for Historic Properties and ultimately make a recommendation on the final product to the City Council. • The Preservation Commission will be a venue for training presentations by both City Staff and outside historic preservation experts, particularly around May when Preservation Month occurs.