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Demolish Kensington’s historic street lights? Not yet.
By Jim Kelley-Markham
January/February 2023
Kelley-Markham is a retired preservation architect and Kensington resident.
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I wonder how we got here today.
The City staff told us about how they followed a lengthy, yet flawed process. Someone in the City made the tragic decision which would result in taking Kensington’s historic street lights to the dump. They outlined each step with detail and authority, often repeating untruths told to them. They talk about gaining support from the community. In 2018, Kensington Height Maintenance Assessment District (KH-MAD) and the Kensington Talmadge Planning Group voted to send 500 mailers to announce a special meeting of KH-MAD to discuss “possible replacement of lamp posts with historically accurate replicas.”
That special meeting was never announced and never occurred. There was never a vote by either KH-MAD or KTPG to support demolition. In the City’s street light project description found in the 2018 California Environmental Quality Act Notice of Exemption (CEQA), there is no reference to demolition. That omission deprived the public who might be concerned about the demolition of 96-year-old street lights a chance to comment on the project.
What were they hiding, besides the truth?
The City has offered a number of reasons for demolition that range from silly to apparently serious, these include concerns over lead-based paint, LED lighting, modern circuitry upgrades, that the Kensington street lights are not designated historic, and more. This list is in response to those concerns.
- Historic designation of the lights is not an issue, the City has already restored historic street lights in Mission Hills and Talmadge that are still not “designated historic.”
- A screw-in fixture can solve the mayor’s office goal for LED lighting.
- A qualified restoration contractor can solve the hazardous lead paint issue.
- A new coat of epoxy paint can solve the rust with any lead paint flakes easily and safely collected.
- New wires pulled into the historic street lights can solve the need to upgrade to modern circuitry.
- Retain the existing foundations that have lasted 96 years without failure.
- Restore the street lights on a daily rotation so that the lights can be turned on every night.
- Obtain a formal bid for restoration to address financial concerns.
Pause the contract and tell the community the total cost for new decorative street lights vs. restoration of the historic street lights.
I have looked for reasons to justify the demolition of the historic street lights. I have not found one valid reason for demolition. It is time to change this from a demolition project to a restoration project.
The City has left no other remedy available for Kensington residents except for filing a legal claim against the City to force compliance with CEQA.
Stay tuned.
See this media coverage of the Kensington Heights residents’ efforts to save their historic street lights
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