GOALS, POLICIES, AND ACTIONS
GOAL CD-5 Preserve historic and culturally important resources to maintain San Mateo’s special identity and continuity with the past.
POLICIES
Policy CD 5.1 Comprehensive Approach to Historic Preservation. Implement a comprehensive approach to historic preservation based on community input and best practices from State and federal agencies, to find an appropriate balance between preservation with other important priorities, such as affordable housing production and supporting local businesses.
Policy CD 5.2 Historic Preservation. Actively identify and preserve historic resources and concentrations of historic resources which convey the flavor of local historical periods, are culturally significant, or provide an atmosphere of exceptional architectural interest or integrity, as feasible, when they meet national, State, or local criteria. Historic resources include individual properties, districts, and sites that maintain San Mateo’s sense of place and special identity, and enrich our understanding of the city’s history and continuity with the past.
Policy CD 5.3 Historic Resources Definition. Define historic resources as buildings, structures, sites, and districts that are listed in or determined to be eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and/or California Register of Historical Resources, designated resources in the 1989 Historic Building Survey Report, and resources found to be eligible through documentation in a historic resources report.
Policy CD 5.4 Public Awareness. Foster public awareness and appreciation of the City’s historic resources and educate the community about how to preserve and improve these resources. Increase public appreciation by supporting groups and organizations that provide neighborhood workshops, public presentations, interpretive signage, and walking tours.
Policy CD 5.5 Historic Resources Renovation and Rehabilitation. Promote the renovation and rehabilitation of historic resources that conforms to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation and Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Structures and the California Historical Building Code and prioritize historic structures for available rehabilitation funds.
Policy CD 5.6 Historic Preservation Funding. Pursue and promote historic preservation funding sources to incentivize the protection of historic resources, such as the California Mills Act Property Tax Abatement Program, Federal and State Historic Preservation Tax Incentives Program, and State Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit Program.
115Strive San Mateo General Plan 2040
Chapter 5 Community Design and Historic Resources Element Policy CD 5.7 Demolition Alternatives. Require an applicant to submit alternatives to preserve a historic resource as part of any planning application that proposes full demolition. Implement preservation methods unless health and safety requirements cannot be met or the City Council makes a finding explaining the specific reasons why the social, economic, legal, technical, or other beneficial aspects of the proposed demolition outweigh the unavoidable adverse impacts to the historic resource. If a designated historic resource cannot be preserved, require City approval before the demolition of a historic resource.
ACTIONS
Action CD 5.8 Historic Preservation Ordinance. Update the City’s Historic Preservation Ordinance to create a framework for the designation of historic resources and districts, establish review and permitting procedures for historic alterations, demolitions or relocations, be consistent with federal and State standards and guidelines, and align with the other goals and policies outlined in this Element.
Action CD 5.9 Historic Resources Context Statements. Prepare a citywide historic context statement to guide future historic resource survey efforts to identify individually eligible resources and historic districts. If a neighborhood is identified as a historic district, prepare a more detailed historic context statement for that individual neighborhood.
Action CD 5.10 Historic Resources Survey. Establish and maintain an inventory of architecturally, culturally, and historically significant buildings, structures, sites, and districts. Proactively maintain an up-to-date historic resources inventory by seeking funding opportunities to update the historic survey. Prepare neighborhood-specific historic context statements prior to updating the historic resources survey.
Action CD 5.11 Preservation Incentives. Explore the option to create incentives to preserve historic and cultural resources, such as reducing parking and other prescriptive requirements, allowing adaptive reuse, or establishing a transfer of development rights program.
Action CD 5.12 Historic Resources Design Standards. Create objective design standards for alterations to historic resources and contributors to a designated historic district, and new development adjacent to historic resources within historic districts. Use the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards as the basis for these objective design standards to ensure projects have a contextual relationship with land uses and patterns; spatial organization; visual relationships; cultural and historic values; and the height, massing, design, and materials of historic resources.
Action CD 5.13 Certified Local Government. Explore the feasibility of becoming a Certified Local Government (CLG) to become eligible for federal grant funds and technical assistance in support of historic resource preservation efforts.
116Strive San Mateo General Plan 2040
Chapter 5 Community Design and Historic Resources Element