City of San Mateo
Historic Preservation
Ordinance
Study Session
Project Team
6/2/2025Historic Preservation Ordinance Study Session 2 City of San Mateo Consultant
Community Development Rincon Consulting
Zachary Dahl, Director Margo Nayyar, Principal-in-Charge Sung Kwon, Deputy Director JulieAnn Murphy, Architectural Historian Somer Smith, Senior Planner Kassandra Gale, Community Engagement Manager Mary Way, Administrative Tech
City Attorney’s Office
Prasanna Rasiah, City Attorney
Mazarin Vakharia, Assistant City Attorney
Background - General Plan 2040
6/2/2025Historic Preservation Ordinance Study Session 3 • 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.
Third Avenue
Source: Ebay
Project Progress
6/2/2025Historic Preservation Ordinance Study Session 4 6/2/2025Historic Preservation Ordinance Study Session 5 • Developed an Outreach & Engagement
Plan
• Planned and designed opportunities for
community input through several focus
groups, workshops, and online resources
Project Progress
• Historic context research in progress
• Historic context statements:
• Highlight trends and patterns of development
• Provide framework/consistency for evaluating a
property organized into a series of contexts and
themes/subthemes
• They do not:
• Evaluate individual or groups of properties
• Result in changes the status of existing historic
properties
• Include an in-depth survey effort
6/2/2025 6
Project Progress
B Street
Source: Ebay
Historic Preservation Ordinance Study Session
Purpose of Study Session
6/2/2025Historic Preservation Ordinance Study Session 7 • Focus on Preservation Ordinance
• Provide a background and understanding of
San Mateo’s Historic Preservation
Ordinance
• Highlight key issues and opportunities for
improving the historic preservation
ordinance
• Different approaches to establishing owner
consent and local district designation
• City Council direction on Historic
Preservation Ordinance updates, including
• Type of owner consent to include
• Historic district designation framework
San Mateo Post Office
Source: Ebay
6/2/2025Historic Preservation Ordinance Study Session 8 1987
1974
1990 1995
1993 2010 2024
2022
1989
City Adopted
Environmental
Resources
Management Element
Plan
Funds Requested for
Historic Preservation
Program
Historic Preservation
Survey Conducted and
Survey Report
Published
City Adopted Revised
General Plan with
Survey Report Results
City Established
Ordinance, Downtown
District, and Mills Act
Program
Ordinance Updated
Ordinance Updated
Ordinance Updated
General Plan Updated
Background
Historic Preservation Basics
• Local Review
• Local preservation ordinances allow for designation and oversight of the treatment of historic resources
• Local Designation
• Permit Review
• California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
• City has a responsibility to fulfill the requirement of CEQA, a state-mandated environmental review process
1. Is there a historical resource?
2. Would the project cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of the historical resource?
3. Can the impact be avoided or mitigated?
6/2/2025Historic Preservation Ordinance Study Session 9 Historic Preservation Ordinance Basics
6/2/2025Historic Preservation Ordinance Study Session 10 • Effective Historic Preservation Ordinances
• Essential element for a successful historic preservation program • Provide a level of certainty and consistency
• Foster compatible economic development while celebrating the community’s historic and cultural values
• Enhance local preservation values
• Provide guidance for future impacts to historic resources • Inform the planning and design of future developments • Common Preservation Ordinance
Pitfalls
• Too detailed that they are ineffective
• So ambitious that they cannot be
supported by staff
• So rigid that any change is difficult
Historic Preservation Ordinance Basics
6/2/2025Historic Preservation Ordinance Study Session 11 El Camino Real
Source: CardCow
• Purpose
• Enabling Authority
• Establishment of a Preservation
Commission (Planning Commission)
• Procedures and Criteria for Designation of
Historical Resources
• Procedures and Criteria for Actions Subject
to Review
• Consideration of Economic Effect of
Designation or Review of Action
• Appeals
• Enforcement
• Definitions
Results of Historic Preservation Ordinance Review
6/2/2025Historic Preservation Ordinance Study Session 12 • Purpose
• Enabling Authority
• Establishment of a Preservation
Commission
• Procedures and Criteria for Designation
of Historical Resources
• Procedures and Criteria for Actions
Subject to Review
• Consideration of Economic Effect of
Designation or Review of Action
• Appeals
• Enforcement
• Definitions
Recommended San Mateo| Chapter 27.66
Results of Historic Preservation Ordinance Review
6/2/2025Historic Preservation Ordinance Study Session 13 B Street Looking North
Source: CardCow
Pitfall Ordinance Section
Detailed 27.66.010 – Purpose
Inconsistent 27.66.020 – Applicability
Rigid 27.66.020 – Applicability
Rigid 27.66.030 – Review Required
Missing Enabling Authority
Missing Historic Preservation Commission
Missing Procedures for Designation
Missing Economic Effects of Designation
Missing Appeals and Enforcement Provisions
Missing Definitions
v
Comparison Analysis Methodology
14 36 Study Cities
11 Counties Represented
100K Population
Arden-Arcade
San Jose
San Luis Obispo
El Monte
San Marcos
El Cajon
Rialto
Norwalk
6/2/2025Historic Preservation Ordinance Study Session
Inglewood
Tracy
Burbank
Chico
Escondido
Vista
Hesperia
Laguna Beach
Palo Alto
Vacaville
San Mateo County
• Ordinance Composition and Criteria
• Reviewing Bodies
• Historic Districts
• Owner Consent
• Effects of Designation
• Recommendations
6/2/2025Historic Preservation Ordinance Study Session 15 Comparison Analysis Methodology
Fourth Avenue, San Mateo
Source: CardCow
Ordinance Composition and Criteria
6/2/2025Historic Preservation Ordinance Study Session 16 47% Cities in San Mateo County with Historic
Preservation Ordinances
61% Study Cities in California with Historic
Preservation Ordinances
• Most jurisdictions reviewed use some
variation of the CRHR Criteria which
includes:
• Is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of California's history and cultural heritage (Events)
• I s associ ated wi th the l i ves of persons i mportant i n our past (People)
• E mbodi es the di sti ncti ve characteri sti cs of a type, peri od, regi on, or method of constructi on, or represents the
work of an i mportant creati ve i ndi vi dual , or possesses h igh a rtistic va lu e s
(Architecture/Design)
• Ha s yie ld e d , o r m a y b e like ly to yie ld , in fo rm a tio n i mportant i n prehi story or hi story
(Information)
6/2/2025Historic Preservation Ordinance Study Session 17 Ordinance Composition and Criteria
Villa Motel, San Mateo
Source: CardCow
6/2/2025Historic Preservation Ordinance Study Session 18 Ordinance Composition and Criteria
Study Cities in California with Historic
Preservation Ordinances Use Tiered
Designation
Downtown San Mateo
Source: Ebay
18%
• Preservation ordinances are widely
utilized as a planning tool throughout the
region and state to guide the treatment
of historic resources.
6/2/2025Historic Preservation Ordinance Study Session 19 Reviewing Bodies
• Identifying the reviewing body with
authority to apply the provisions of the
ordinance is a vital component.
45% Study Cities in California with Separate
Reviewing Body
70%
Study Cities in California with Separate
Reviewing Body that are Advisory v. Decision-
making
Downtown San Mateo
Source: Ebay
6/2/2025Historic Preservation Ordinance Study Session 20 Historic Districts
• Historic districts possess a significant
concentration, linkage, or continuity of
sites, buildings, structures, or objects
united historically or aesthetically by plan
or development.
Study Cities in California with Ability to
Designate Historic Districts Downtown San Mateo
Source: Ebay
73%
6/2/2025Historic Preservation Ordinance Study Session 21 Historic Districts
• Property Owner Role
• Who can submit nominations
• Consent
• Percentage of ownership
• Community Engagement
• Public meeting requirement
• Different or Additional Criteria
• NRHP criteria
• Preservation goals
Baywood Apartments
Source: CardCow
6/2/2025Historic Preservation Ordinance Study Session 22 Historic Districts
• The identification and protection
of local historic districts is a
popular function of historic
preservation ordinances and can
be treated differently than
individual resources in the
designation and regulation
process.
San Mateo Aerial
Source: Ebay
6/2/2025Historic Preservation Ordinance Study Session 23 Owner Consent
• Approaches to Owner Consent
• Affirmative/Expressed Consent
requires the property owner’s clear
agreement to designation.
• Owner Veto would not allow for
designation to occur over the
property owner’s objection.
• Protest Provisions would allow a city
to designate a historic property over
an owner’s objection, if a
supermajority of the reviewing body
votes to do so.
San Mateo Oaks
Source: CardCow
6/2/2025Historic Preservation Ordinance Study Session 24 Owner Consent
San Mateo High School
Source: CardCow
41%
Study Cities in California that Require Owner
Consent for Local Designation
6/2/2025Historic Preservation Ordinance Study Session 25 Owner Consent
• Consider level of consent
required
• Address additional future
scenarios:
• Sold property
• Owner changes mind
• Relationship to incentives
• How to treat owners in historic
districts
Bowie Residence
Source: CardCow
6/2/2025Historic Preservation Ordinance Study Session 26 Owner Consent
• There are different approaches to
owner consent.
• Inclusion of owner consent in a
historic preservation ordinance
requires considerations of future
scenarios to be effective.
Casa Ninos
Source: CardCow
6/2/2025Historic Preservation Ordinance Study Session 27 Effects of Designation
• Design Review
• Restrict Demolition
• Duty of Maintenance
• Permit Review
• Flexibility on Treatment of
Designated Resources
San Mateo Residence
Source: CardCow
6/2/2025Historic Preservation Ordinance Study Session 28 Effects of Designation
• Development of effects of
designation in a historic
preservation ordinance is an
important tool for a community
to decide how and when they
want to regulate effected
properties.
Coyote Point
Source: CardCow
6/2/2025Historic Preservation Ordinance Study Session 29 City Council Direction
1. Should staff proceed with drafting updates to the Historic Preservation Ordinance to identify the enabling authority, establish a reviewing body (the Planning Commission), provide procedures for designation or resources, recognize the economic effects of designation, describe appeals and enforcement provisions, include a set of concise definitions and update language that is too rigid, inconsistent, and/or detailed?
2. Should the criteria for a local historic designation conform to the California Register of Historical Resources requirements, or should additional criteria be included to acknowledge the city’s unique history and development?
3. Should the Historic Preservation Ordinance include a mechanism to designate historic districts locally? If yes, should owner support be required and at what level?
4. What form of owner consent should be included in the Historic Preservation Ordinance - affirmative, expressed consent; owner veto, or protest provisions? And, should the owner consent requirement apply to all local designations or just to historic districts? • Receive Direction from City Council
• Incorporate Direction into a Draft
Ordinance Update
• Conduct Community Engagement and
incorporate public input into Draft
Ordinance Update
• Refine Language through Review Process
with City Staff
• Present Draft at Community Meeting
• Public Hearings with Planning Commission
and City Council to Review/Adopt
Ordinance Update
Next Steps – Historic Preservation Ordinance
6/2/2025Historic Preservation Ordinance Study Session 30 San Mateo Residence
Source: CardCow
6/2/2025Historic Preservation Ordinance Study Session 31 Get Involved!
• Visit the Historic Policy Update
Effort Webpage
• Sign Up for Email Alerts
• Participate in Upcoming Events and
Activities
• Submit to the Digital Time Capsule
6/2/2025Historic Preservation Ordinance Study Session 32 City Council Direction
1. Should staff proceed with drafting updates to the Historic Preservation Ordinance to identify the enabling authority, establish a reviewing body (the Planning Commission), provide procedures for designation or resources, recognize the economic effects of designation, describe appeals and enforcement provisions, include a set of concise definitions and update language that is too rigid, inconsistent, and/or detailed?
2. Should the criteria for a local historic designation conform to the California Register of Historical Resources requirements, or should additional criteria be included to acknowledge the city’s unique history and development?
3. Should the Historic Preservation Ordinance include a mechanism to designate historic districts locally? If yes, should owner support be required and at what level?
4. What form of owner consent should be included in the Historic Preservation Ordinance - affirmative, expressed consent; owner veto, or protest provisions? And, should the owner consent requirement apply to all local designations or just to historic districts?