City Council Special Meeting Minutes – 6/2/2025 Page 1
COUNCIL MEMBERS
Rob Newsom Jr., Mayor
Adam Loraine, Deputy Mayor
Nicole Fernandez
Danielle Cwirko- Godycki
Lisa Diaz Nash
CITY OF SAN MATEO
Special Meeting Minutes
City Council
City Hall
330 W. 20th Avenue
San Mateo CA 94403
www. cityofsanmateo. org
June 2, 2025
City Hall Council Chambers 5: 30 PM
Special Meeting
CALL TO ORDER at 5: 32 p. m.
Roll Call
Present: Mayor Newsom, Deputy Mayor Loraine, Council Members: Fernandez, Cwirko- Godycki, and Diaz Nash AB 2449 Requests and Considerations for Meeting Participation by Teleconference due to Just Cause or Emergency Circumstances – there were no requests.
STUDY SESSION
1. Historic Policy Update Effort and Preservation Ordinance — Update Zachary Dahl, Director Community Development, gave a presentation on how to proceed with updating the City’ s Historic Preservation Ordinance.
Public Comment:
Mike Ethridge expressed opposition to the historic district designation and urged the Council to prioritize broad community input rather than the interests of a small group. Shawn Fahrenbruch raised concerns that historic designation could affect homeowners’ insurance and noted that staff had not yet addressed this issue. Kolja Schluetter stated that the historic preservation proposal does not align with community priorities, referencing a recent survey showing only 2. 8% of residents identified it as a concern. Rich Hedges voiced concern about community division and supported including an opt- out provision to protect working- class neighborhoods, while also supporting collaboration with historic homeowners. Connie Weiss urged the Council to focus on adopting a strong ordinance that aligns with the General Plan, cautioned against misinformation from opponents, and called for a respectful, well- run process. Dave Cohen commended the Council’ s commitment to fair governance and opposed assigning preservation oversight to the Planning Commission due to past bias. Anna Kuhre supported a consent threshold— up to 90%— to avoid spreading conflict into other neighborhoods and criticized city spending on preservation efforts without demonstrated community demand. Jay Kuhre clarified that he does not oppose preservation but criticized the state’ s default- consent process as undemocratic. Frank Elliott supported recognizing San Mateo’ s history but called for more clarity around the legal implications of state- mandated preservation processes and urged a deeper understanding before proceeding. Rick Bonilla cautioned against repeating exclusionary historical practices and emphasized the need for high standards of homeowner consent and inclusive policymaking. Zev Simon shared his experience with delays due to historic preservation policies, warning that such approaches could harm property owners and deter development, and urged strong consent requirements to prevent ongoing conflict. Eleanor Dogan stated that Baywood residents largely oppose the historic district and suggested using the city’ s existing parking permit model to guide owner consent, also citing financial and insurance- related concerns. Andrew Ryan opposed residential historic districts, highlighted vague state criteria and irreversible impacts, and supported requiring at least 80% affirmative owner consent. Laurie Watanuki encouraged proceeding with the historic preservation ordinance update as envisioned in the General Plan, recommended deferring consent discussions until a draft is available, and supported oversight by a dedicated historic commission or qualified staff. Tom Lease opposed requiring owner consent, arguing that doing so would undermine preservation goals by introducing loopholes. Lisa Vander Voorde objected to giving property owners the power to Docusign Envelope ID: EA886DFA- 4C82- 4E1C- A4C6- 23E0B9FC6A26 City Council Special Meeting Minutes – 6/2/2025 Page 2
determine historic designations, stating that preservation serves the public interest. Michael Weinhauer opposed assigning oversight to the Planning Commission.
Council asked questions and made comments.
The City Council directed staff to proceed with drafting updates to the Historic Preservation Ordinance that establish enabling authority, designate the Community Relations Commission as the reviewing body, and outline procedures for resource designation, appeals, enforcement, and definitions. The Council supported aligning local designation criteria with the California Register of Historical Resources while exploring additional criteria to reflect San Mateo’ s unique history. The updated ordinance should include a process for designating local historic districts, requiring majority support from affected property owners, and incorporate a requirement for affirmative, expressed owner consent for all local historic designations.
ADJOURNMENT – The meeting adjourned at 7: 11 p. m.
APPROVED BY: SUBMITTED BY:
Rob Newsom, Jr., Mayor Martin McTaggart, City Clerk
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