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From Paper to Practice: Building Effective Historic Preservation Ordinances

Thursday, February 19th | 9am-12pm Pacific

Having a robust preservation ordinance, supported by an equally strong Cultural Resources Element, can provide an effective road map for the identification and management of historic resources. Given the recent trend in state-level deregulation, with new housing laws circumventing local zoning, an adopted preservation ordinance can help cities retain local oversight.

In practice, though, too many cities have out-of-date ordinances, out-of-step with current best practice. And in those cases, a lack of political will or resources can keep city staff and decision-makers stuck with ineffective, inconsistent policies that slow things down.

This program will explore two related questions: first, what are some of the latest best practices in preservation policy, not only in terms of ordinances but also cultural resources elements? And second, how can we -- as community members, city staff, consultants, and advocates -- mobilize the community to help develop and guide the ordinance or element through to approval?

We’ll go from the big picture, considering the how’s, what’s, and why’s behind effective preservation ordinances, to exploring case studies from 4 California counties: Sacramento, Sonoma, San Bernardino, and Los Angeles.

The goal of this program is to provide community members, advocates, consultants, City staff and decision-makers with a few new ideas and tools for understanding (asking for, developing, and maintaining) effective, innovative preservation policy.

ELIGIBLE FOR 3 AIA LU | 3 APA CEU.

You must attend the entire live program to request credit. Attendance verified through Zoom log in.

Learning Objectives

• Attendees will be able to evaluate how preservation ordinances work to protect historic resources within the context of evolving state and local planning regulations.

• Attendees will be able to identify the essential components of a clear, defensible, and workable preservation ordinance, including designation criteria, review processes, design standards, incentives, and enforcement.

• Attendees will be able to analyze case studies from California jurisdictions to understand how ordinance provisions, administrative procedures, and community engagement strategies support effective implementation.

• Attendees will be able to apply community engagement and advocacy strategies to support the adoption, updating, and long-term success of preservation ordinances.

Speakers

Jennifer Gates, Community Development Director, City of Sonoma
With a dual master's degrees in city planning and historic preservation, Jennifer Gates has been working in all levels of government with a focus on preservation and long-range planning for over 20 years. Currently Jennifer is the Community Development Director for the City of Sonoma, overseeing the building and planning divisions for the City.

Debi Howell-Ardila, Principal Associate, Chattel, Inc. | Historic Preservation Consultants
Debi is a Principal Associate with Chattel, Inc. | Historic Preservation Consultants, with more than 20 years of experience in historic preservation and environmental compliance. Her work includes citywide surveys, historic context statements, design guidelines, CEQA technical studies, Secretary of the Interior’s Standards reviews, and preservation policy development throughout California, with a focus on Southern California. She has served as principal author of award-winning historic preservation ordinances and cultural resources elements for multiple cities, holds a B.A. from UC Berkeley and a Master’s in Historic Preservation from USC, and is a longtime contributor to California Preservation Foundation workshops and educational programs. See full bio here.

Sean deCourcy, Historic Preservation Director, City of Sacramento
As Historic Preservation Director, Sean oversees Sacramento's Certified Local Government historic preservation program. Previously, he worked for the California Office of Historic Preservation in the Local Government Unit, and for the California Energy Commission. Before joining the public sector, Sean worked as both a construction project manager and advising clients and subcontractors during historical rehabilitation and restoration projects. Sean has a Masters in public history from Sacramento State University, where he specialized in historic preservation planning and cultural resource management.

Stephanie Cimino, Cultural Resources Principal and Project Manager, SWCA Environmental Consultants
Stephanie has over 20 years of experience in cultural and environmental resources management. She has applied her multidisciplinary background in history, architectural history, and archaeology to field, project management and leadership positions at several environmental consulting companies and for major electrical utilities across California. At SWCA, she supports all project planning stages, from preparing technical studies to coordinating programmatic agreements and writing planning documents to guiding consultation strategies. Stephanie enjoys engaging stakeholders and collaborating with business partners, agencies, Native Americans, and interested third parties to identify program priorities, communicate program needs and dependencies and strategize short- and long-term program goals.

 

Posted in: Local Government, Planning & Preservation Practice, Webinars, Workshops