Thank you.

Good evening.

Welcome to the June 18, 2025 meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission.

The meeting is now called to order.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Thank you, Chair.

Commissioners, please unmute for roll.

Commissioner Ambacher?

Here.

Commissioner Burns?

Here.

Commissioner Cross?

Here.

Commissioner McSlavkin?

Here.

Vice Chair Merker?

Here.

Commissioner Ricca?

Here.

And Chair Nayar?

Here.

Thank you.

We have quorum.

Thank you.

I'd like to remind members of the public and chambers that if you would like to speak on

an agenda item, please turn in a speaker slip when the item begins.

You'll have two minutes to speak once you're called on.

After the first speaker, we will no longer accept speaker slips.

We will now proceed with the land acknowledgement and Pledge of Allegiance.

To the original people of this land, the Nisanan peoples, the Southern Maidu, Valley and Plains

Miwok, Potwin-Wintoon peoples, and the people of the Wilton Rancheria, Sacramento's only federally

recognized tribe.

May we acknowledge and honor the Native people who came before us and still walk beside us

today on these ancestral lands by choosing to gather together today an active practice

of acknowledgement and appreciation of Sacramento's Indigenous peoples' history, contributions,

and lives.

Thank you.

Please remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for

which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Our first order of business today is the consent calendar.

Clerk, are there any members of the public who wish to speak on item one, the approval of

the commission meeting minutes?

Thank you, Chair.

We do not have a speaker for this item.

Are there any commissioners who wish to speak?

Is there a motion and a second to pass the consent calendar?

I'll second it.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Thank you, Chair.

So that was a motion by Commissioner Ambacher with a second by Chair Nayar.

Please unmute for a vote.

Commissioner Ambacher?

Yes.

Commissioner Burns?

I hold abstain.

I was absent.

Okay.

Commissioner Cross?

Yes.

Commissioner McSlavkin?

Yes.

Commissioner Merker?

Yes.

Commissioner Riga?

Yes.

And Chair Nayar?

Yes.

Thank you.

Motion passes.

Thank you.

We'll now proceed with the public hearings calendar.

Item number two is the ordinance listing 12 landmark properties and the new Helvetia Historic

District on the Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural Resources and adopting the historic

district plan for the new Helvetia Historic District.

Is there a staff presentation?

Is there a staff presentation?

Does anybody need to recuse themselves for this?

Commissioner Cross needs to recuse herself.

And I will be absent for this presentation.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Go ahead.

Good evening, commissioners. Hi, my name is Alexis Vansel. I'm the preservation intern for the city of Sacramento, and I will be presenting the ordinance listing 12 landmark properties and the new Helvetia Historic District on the Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural Resources in adopting the historic district plan for the new Helvetia Historic District, which are associated with the African American Experience Historic Context and Survey Project under file M23003.

The African American Experience Project, a project to create a historic context statement and survey of African American history in Sacramento, was accepted by City Council in 2023.

The project identified several properties of historical and cultural significance related to Sacramento's African American heritage.

During the project, staff recommended 12 individual properties and the new Helvetia Historic District as eligible for listing on the Sacramento Register pursuant to the criteria for eligibility described in Sacramento City Code Section 17.604.210.

The 12 proposed landmark properties include the following.

2014 10th Street, Dr. Arthur R. Trent's Dentist Office, Sacramento's first African American dentist.

6390 South Land Park Drive, the Leon Residence, a house designed by James Dodd.

4991 Warwick Avenue, the Anthony Francis Residence, the founding member of the Oak Park Neighborhood Council.

4322 4th Avenue, Dunlap's Dining Room.

4214 to 4216 Lotus Avenue, the house of Verna and Clarence Canson, also known as the mother of the civil rights movement in the West.

4200 Broadway, Morgan Jones Funeral Home.

3948 33rd Street, Harrison Crump Residence, long-time president of the Oak Park Little League.

3639 4th Avenue, Oak Park School of Afro-American Thought.

3555 3rd Avenue, the Negro Women's Civic Improvement Club.

2710 X Street, architect James Dodd's offices.

2685 26th Street, the Lewis Nelson Crawford House, the first African American-owned real estate office in Sacramento.

2780 4th Avenue, and 2404 21st Street, the Canson Law Office and NAACP Credit Union.

2780 4th Avenue, the New Hylvathia Historic District, which was listed on the National Register in 2014, was identified within the African American Experience Project as a significant site associated with the fight for fair housing, a subject of a landmark court case that barred housing discrimination based on race and federally funded housing.

2780 4th Avenue, the district is also significant as an example of 1940s public housing and for it being designed by a group of prominent Sacramento architects, Dean and Dean, Harry Devine, and Starks and Flanders.

2780 4th Avenue, the criteria shown are consistent with the criteria identified as part of the National Register listing.

Accompanying this nomination includes the adoption of Historic District Plan for the new Hylvathia Historic District.

As required by City Code Section 17.604.300, this Historic District Plan supports General Plan Policy HCR-1.4, which calls for the establishment and maintenance of historic districts to preserve and restore areas of historical significance.

The plan provides a framework for managing change within the district and supports policy HCR-1.3 by ensuring that new development, alterations, and rehabilitation projects are compatible with the district's historic character.

It emphasizes the importance of scale, massing, and design compatibility within the historically significant environment.

The African American Experience Project was a subject of extensive community outreach and participation spanning over a year.

As for the nominated properties, notices describing the proposed landmark and district nominations were sent to the property owners as required by City Code.

Relevant community organizations and neighborhood associations have been notified of the proceedings.

Staff reached out to each property owner by U.S. mail on October 5, 2023, and again on March 1, 2025, alerting the property owners to the potential of a landmark nomination for their property and inviting them to contact staff to answer any questions.

One letter of support was received from the owner of 3555 3rd Avenue.

Two letters of opposition were received, one from the owner of 4214 to 4216 Lotus Avenue, and one from the owner of 2685 26th Street.

In both instances, staff met with the property owners to explain the process and address their concerns, after which the owner of 2685th Street, 26th Street, expressed support for the nomination.

Staff also met with the owners of 2404 21st Street to address concerns over the nomination and explain the listing process.

With that, staff recommends the Preservation Commission pass a motion recommending the City Council determine the proposed project is exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act,

pursuant to CEQA guidelines, section 15308, adopt an ordinance listing 12 properties as landmarks and the new Helvetia Historic District as a historic district on the Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural Resources,

and lastly, adopt an ordinance adopting the historic district plan for the new Helvetia Historic District.

This concludes my presentation. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And it is our hope and expectation and aim, with some projects in the works, that there will be more along these lines.

So thank you for your time and for your support of these nominations.

Thank you for your comments.

Chair, there are no other speakers.

Thank you.

Are there any commissioners who wish to speak?

Thank you.

Anyone?

Anyone?

Anyone?

Anyone?

Well, I think it's fabulous.

Oh, here we go.

Mr. McSloffkin.

Excuse me.

I also think it's fabulous.

Really just a thought, I guess, for the commission moving forward that I was thinking about looking through all of these and seeing the criteria of involving this,

a significant person in Sacramento's past.

And it's come up in the past where we've had properties getting landmark designation where the significant person,

I think more often in the past, was like a lawyer or a banker or like some rich, usually white guy way back in the day.

And that's kind of all we know about them that made them prominent.

And we've done with other properties, just kind of knocked that criteria because we didn't need it because it met a number of the other criteria and wasn't relevant.

This is obviously like such a different situation where we know a lot more about these folks and what they did and why they're prominent.

But it just made me wonder about that, the use of that criteria generally and when we apply it and when we don't.

It's something, I guess, to think about or curious if others have thoughts about.

Anybody have thoughts about Max's thoughts?

I'll go ahead and second.

Clerk, can we call a vote?

Thank you, Chair.

Yes, so that was a motion by Commissioner McSlavkin with a second by Chair Nayar.

Commissioners, please unmute for the vote.

Commissioner Ambacker?

Yes.

Commissioner Burns?

Yes.

Commissioner Cross has recused.

Commissioner McSlavkin?

Yes.

Commissioner Merker?

Yes.

Commissioner Rica?

Yes.

And Chair Nayar?

Yes.

Thank you.

Motion passes.

Next item on our agenda is the discussion calendar.

Item number three, Rail Yards Special Planning District, Strategic Digital Signs, or Large Entertainment Venues with Sacramento Shops Historic District.

Thank you.

Good evening, Chair.

Members of the Commission.

My name is Carlo Felix, Senior Planner with the Community Development Department.

I'm here on behalf of Matthew Seitz, Senior Architect, also with Community Development.

The item before you is related to digital signage within the Sacramento Shops Historic District, a historic district encompassing or centered around 14 acres around the central shops of the rail yards.

Tonight, the Commission is being asked to consider establishing regulations related to static digital signs for large entertainment venues.

The intent of these amendments are to allow for limited digital signage within the Sacramento Shops Historic District to support the adaptive reuse of historic structures.

Any proposed signage would be subject to site plan and design review under the direction of the preservation director.

Staff is recommending that the Commission forward a recommendation to the City Council to adopt the ordinance included in your staff board as attachment three.

That concludes my presentation.

I'm available for questions the Commission may have.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Yes, thank you.

Just a couple of questions in general about the planning ordinances.

Is there anything in the current planning ordinance that addresses light pollution in relation to residential zoning adjacent to these signs?

Anything related to...

Anything related to...

What do they call it?

Light pollution related to flyways and birds?

And...

I have one other question about the...

I guess that's what...

It was light pollution in relation to residential development and bird flyways.

Yeah, if there's anything in the current ordinance.

Sure.

So the current ordinance is based on an existing ordinance related to large entertainment facilities.

That current ordinance does not allow for those to be requested in a historic district.

So largely these are the same ordinances.

The ordinance does not directly address those.

There are...

There is language in there relating to the brightness of each of these pixels and how they need to dim at a certain rate based on sunset and sunrise.

We also have provisions within design guidelines that, you know, that also address light and glare.

But I would say that there is no direct or no specific provision of this related to bird flyway zones.

Yeah, I saw the note about changing it no more than once per day.

And I wondered if there are exceptions.

Like if they put up their sign in the morning and then the concert's canceled, can they say that it's canceled or is that going to break the rule?

You know, as proposed, they're only allowed to change it once per day.

But that is certainly a comment that the commission could convey to the council and to staff as we consider this ordinance further.

How, if they did put up in the current setting that it was canceled as their second change of the day, like what would happen or how, how would you know and what would you do?

You know, I believe the operator would have to find another means to do that other than through the marquee.

If that's under the current proposal, that's compared to our existing ordinance, which allows for a change based on how many seconds this image is up.

But a cancellation or other types of notification isn't anticipated or isn't considered as part of this ordinance.

Let me respond to that in a slightly larger context.

Because of the entertainment venue planned here and the need for a marquee, there was a desire to be a changeable marquee.

And staff had not been supportive of a digital sign in the historic district and specifically prohibited.

And we talked about part of the concern that if it looked like a digital marquee and it was constantly changing and it had a moving thing and it had pictures that you saw,

it would be highly inappropriate.

And when we did some research across the nation and other historic districts, we found multiple numbers of entertainment venues,

which had replaced a static, put up the signs by hand with a static electronic.

The visual appearance will essentially be the same if it's static, but it keeps somebody from having to go up on a ladder and change the letters.

So based on what we've seen in other areas and the success of that, we thought static would be fine, but it still needs an opportunity to change.

And we thought if it was a once a day, we wouldn't see flashing messages, which is what we've been trying to avoid.

If there was an emergency situation and they put up something like canceled, actually nobody would notice because there was nobody monitoring it.

This is really a situation where we're setting the standard.

And if they're not following the standard, then there would be an enforcement action there.

Unforeseen circumstances could change that.

We wouldn't take exception to it.

What we're trying to avoid is telling this moving story, which is constantly changing message, which is the reason why we picked once a day, which seemed like a reasonable thing to do.

Thank you.

I have one question as well.

It's my understanding that this ordinance would only pertain to large entertainment venues.

Is that correct?

Correct.

Correct.

It's defined in our code as between 2,000 and 10,000 spectators.

How many other buildings within this district might become large entertainment venues?

I'm only familiar with one.

It was an approval for the paint shop building back in 2022.

I believe that was about a 4,400 or so spectator capacity.

So that would qualify under this ordinance.

One building total so far that this ordinance would apply to.

Correct.

You know, my guess is that we would not see another large entertainment venue within this district.

But as of right now, we have one that's eligible.

Other commissioner comments or questions?

Other commissioner comments?

Is there a motion for this item?

Okay.

I'll go ahead and make a motion to move as staff recommended.

Is there a second?

I'll second.

All the vote.

Thank you, Chair.

Yes, that was a motion by Chair with a second by Commissioner McClaskin.

Sorry.

Commissioners, please unmute for a vote.

Commissioner M. Backer?

Yes.

Commissioner Burns?

Yes.

Commissioner Cross?

Yes.

Commissioner McClaskin?

Yes.

Commissioner Merker?

Yes.

Commissioner Ryka?

Yes.

And Chair Nayar?

Yes.

Thank you.

Motion passes.

The next item is the director's report.

All right.

Thank you, Chair.

Sean DeCourcy, Preservation Director.

I have a couple items for the director's report this evening.

First, I wanted to let the commission know we're continuing work on our accessory dwelling unit objective design standards.

This month, we met with a working group of design professionals to go through the proposed guidelines, step-by-step, section-by-section, to make sure that they were clear, objective, reasonable.

And the working group had some great feedback, and we are incorporating that into a final draft, along with developing additional graphics to help express the points in the design guidelines.

And we will be bringing those back to the commission later this summer, after we do additional outreach, and asking for a recommendation to City Council.

Next, we're working on an Old Sacramento Special Sign District update.

The sign district for Old Sacramento includes a city code section that is grossly out of date.

And we've been working with the Downtown Partnership on updating those signage regulations.

And we introduced the concept at a public meeting earlier this spring, and have convened a working group for that effort, as well, of business owners and property owners to go through those proposed changes, section-by-section,

to make sure that they are reasonably addressing the signage issues that the district faces.

And we'll continue to meet with that working group as needed, and we're looking to have another public meeting, really marketed towards property owners and business owners who operate in the district,

so that we can get their feedback on some of the specific changes that we're proposing to make.

So that's, since your last meeting, that's the two items that I wanted to mention to the commission, and I can answer any questions that you may have.

But that concludes my report.

Commissioners with questions or comments?

Commissioner Rica.

I just kind of wanted to know, just kind of in a nutshell, what that is all about, that you were talking about with the signs.

So the Old Sacramento Historic District has a set of special signed district regulations that apply to the district.

Some elements of that, of those signage regulations, make sense.

And some of them don't and are very out of date.

And so, and some of the regulations are actually unconstitutional because they go beyond time, place, and manner of the sign and get into the messaging on the sign.

And so we're going to update those regulations.

We're going to remove a lot of the outdated guidelines.

They've referenced positions at the city who do not exist anymore.

This commission at the time that those were adopted was, went by a different name.

And that name is written into the regulations, for instance.

It talks about the history manager at the city.

That doesn't exist.

The town manager of Old Sacramento.

That doesn't exist.

So there's a lot of that sort of administrative stuff.

And then there's also, it's a very discretionary process where the city basically can just thumbs up or thumbs down on proposed signs based on no objective criteria.

That's not how our sign code works.

So we're establishing some clear objective standards for business owners and property owners so that they know how many signs they get, how big they can be, what types of signs they can be, those sorts of things.

The next item is the commissioner comments, ideas, questions.

Are there any commissioners who wish to speak?

All right.

The last item is public comments.

Matters not on the agenda.

Clerk, are there any members of the public who wish to speak?

Thank you, Chair.

There are no speakers for this item.

That concludes today's agenda.

Thank you, everyone.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.