A proposal to make San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood into a federal historic district, which has attracted criticism from property owners, housing advocates, and City Hall, remains on hold while the state commission responsible for recommending the plan looks into whether proper public notice was given. A similar proposal for a neighborhood in San Mateo, also up for consideration, may well influence whether such plans, which many argue are designed to insulate select communities from state housing production obligations, can go forward.
California’s State Historical Resources Commission, which is responsible for identifying historically significant sites to regulatory bodies such as the National Register of Historic Places, has been hearing more of these proposals since the passage of recent state legislation to ease housing development.
One of these recent laws, S.B.9, sponsored by state Senator Toni Atkins and passed in 2021, is meant to ease subdivision of single-family lots or building duplexes. But properties designated as historic resources are excluded from the law. In 2022, San Francisco’s St. Francis Wood neighborhood won support from the commission to receive a historic designation despite vocal opposition.
The Northeast San Francisco Conservancy, a nonprofit with connections to several neighborhood groups as well as former Supervisor Aaron Peskin, drew up the North Beach plan in the hopes that the National Register would recognize it and thus allow almost the entire neighborhood to evade recent state housing laws.
Residents and property owners have raised concerns that if approved, the district would return impediments to the improvement of hundreds of sites in the neighborhood, which otherwise have little or no intrinsic historical value. This includes a burned-out hotel and retail site on the corner of Union St. and Columbus Ave. that sits in the heart of the neighborhood, across from Washington Square Park. The developer of that property is now reportedly trying to get a rebuilding plan approved by the city before the historic district proposal is approved.
San Francisco’s Planning Department has cited multiple issues with the proposal, including its overly large scope, which would overlap with already recognized historic sites, and a lack of “discussion of (historical) integrity” of included buildings. “There really needs to be specific amendments around things like rundown properties, parking garages, and the like,” District 3 Supervisor Danny Sauter told The Voice.
“The timing [of these applications] is interesting,” Sauter added. “All of a sudden, many neighborhoods are interested in their history.” His office has published a FAQ on the North Beach proposal to ensure public awareness of the plan.
The commission had initially intended to consider the plan in February, but decided to postpone it due to requests from Mayor Daniel Lurie as well as recommendations of the Planning Department. The commission was then expected to review the plan at their May 9 meeting. The hearing has now been postponed again out of what the commission calls “an abundance of caution” due to recurring complaints of inadequate public notice, a regular complaint about the plan since it was first proposed last June. The state Office of Historic Preservation is investigating the matter further; the next meeting of the commission would be Aug. 1.
“The timing [of these applications] is interesting. All of a sudden, many neighborhoods are interested in their history.”
— District 3 Supervisor Danny Sauter
According to reporting in the San Francisco Standard, Sauter, along with Lurie administration housing deputy Ned Segal and Planning Department Director Rich Hillis, met with Peskin and supporters of the historic district May 23 to offer a compromise plan, which was later rejected.
“I think the delay to August is really the result of [the most recent complaint] raising more uncertainty about the issue of proper neighborhood notification,” Sauter told The Voice. “This situation appears to be popping up all over the state right now,” the supervisor added, citing a recent application from the Bungalow Haven Neighborhood Association in Santa Barbara, which ended up being withdrawn due to what the group described as “vehement opposition” from neighbors.
Another controversial application before the state body is also under scrutiny as it approaches review. The San Mateo Heritage Alliance has been working on a plan to make the tony Baywood neighborhood a historic district since 2023, when new residents moved into the area, remodeled a house, and added an in-law unit.
The city of San Mateo asked the commission to hold off on the application while they develop their own historic preservation regulations; they had originally reached an accord with the Heritage Alliance on the matter, but that group resumed their bid, alleging the city was dragging its feet.
The Alliance had hoped that their application would be heard this month; however, a spokesperson for the commission told The Voice May 7 that it was “under review” and that “should it be deemed complete, it will be scheduled for hearing at the next available meeting of the State Historical Resources Commission.”
A source inside City Hall told The Voice that there was some speculation that the Baywood application might be reviewed before North Beach, offering a possible guide to further compromise.