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Preservation Action Alert! Historic Building Review Process
May/June 2019
 In February, the City of San Diego altered its decade-old, community approved Historic Review Process when an owner of a property 45 years old or older applies for a construction permit. This change introduced a number of serious problems, including several that negatively affect public input. We need your help in correcting them by contacting your councilmember.
The City used to distribute an email with property addresses, planning areas, photographs, and a deadline for comments on proposed construction. Now, the City simply lists a daily flood of properties with recent permit applications on its website HERE.
SOHO opposed this "simplification" in a February letter to Development Services staff that describes how a public process about a decade ago arrived at acceptable procedures recently abandoned, and the many new problems.
City staff met with SOHO and other stakeholders in March. The only change staff made to the flawed new process was to add posting dates to the listings. Problems remain that inhibit or discourage meaningful public input, as required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and the submittal deadline remains drastically shortened—cut in half from 10 to 5 business days.
Furthermore, no building images or planning areas are provided, which means citizens must do essential, time-consuming research, if they can invest the time. These hurdles have a chilling effect on informed public comment, let alone adequate public communication. Citizen comments often support the historical resources staff's position, helping to safeguard how buildings are determined to be significant; and may help avoid legal consequences.
And, there are still more issues. The website's listed addresses are 1) routinely incorrect or provide only half the address; 2) have an incorrect posting date (further shortening the public's response time); and 3) often removed before the entire 5 business days for posting have passed.
Obviously, this new process has a substantial negative impact on the public comment required by CEQA.
While SOHO will continue working with the City and community stakeholders to re-establish an acceptable process, we need you to speak out, by writing your councilmember to express concern over these changes today!
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