Preservation Commission Meeting – March 15, 2017: Downtown Specific Plan, Ad Hoc Updates, and Public Comments
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Preservation Commission Meeting – March 15, 2017
The Sacramento Preservation Commission met on March 15, 2017, at 5:30 p.m. at New City Hall, 915 I Street, Council Chambers. The meeting included approval of previous minutes, a director's report covering development projects and surveys, election of a new chair and vice-chair, an update on the Downtown Specific Plan (LR16-006), an oral report from the ad hoc committee on alley-side infill development, and public comments on matters not on the agenda. All seven commissioners were present.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes (February 15, 2017): Approved unanimously (7:0:0) on a motion by Commissioner Marshack, seconded by Commissioner Piner.
Director's Reports
- Carson Anderson, Preservation Director, provided updates on the O Street and P Street office development projects (State DGS), Memorial Auditorium, a National Register nomination for the Moore and York Market Building (11th & K St.), the mid-century modern survey effort (kickoff imminent, ~30 volunteers), and recognition of departing Commissioner Mark Huck. The report was received and filed.
- New Commissioner Alice Valania (preservation architect seat) was welcomed.
Public Comments & Testimony
- William Burg (Preservation Sacramento board member) commented on the Downtown Specific Plan. He expressed concern that the plan's survey of historic resources is insufficient, noting that the opportunity sites map omitted historic districts and that a citywide survey update is needed to identify eligible resources for CEQA purposes. He also flagged that the R Street corridor survey was limited to the existing district’s period of significance, ignoring other potentially eligible resources.
- Public Comments – Matters Not on the Agenda (four speakers):
- Anita Clevenger (volunteer curator, Historic City Cemetery rose garden) requested the commission ask the city to report on the status of a promised technical advisory committee to review planting/pruning guidelines for the cemetery, which is under a moratorium.
- Judy Eitzen (cemetery volunteer) echoed the request, noting the guidelines affect all plantings in the cemetery and that the historic rose garden is celebrating its 25th anniversary.
- Delphine Cathcart (cemetery volunteer) highlighted upcoming events (April 8, 15, 22) and urged an open, transparent process.
- Jan Wooley (retired state historian) suggested the city apply for a Certified Local Government (CLG) grant to develop a cultural landscape report and historic cemetery preservation plan, noting the May 1, 2017 deadline.
- Kate Gillespie (speaking as an individual) commended Commissioner Whitelam on her new book, "Mending a Wounded City's Heart," and noted the city's I Street Press as a unique public publishing resource.
Discussion Items
- Item 3: Election of Chair and Vice-Chair for 2017 – Following a motion by Commissioner Moffett, seconded by Commissioner Bowns, Commissioner Marshack was elected Chair and Commissioner Whitelam Vice-Chair, effective after the meeting (7:0:0).
- Item 4: LR16-006 Downtown Specific Plan Update – Greg Sandlund (Senior Planner) and Amber Grady (ESA Historic Resources Consultant) presented the plan's scope, opportunity site selection, and initial policy ideas. Key points:
- The plan projects 13,400 housing units in the grid over 20 years, with a 10,000-unit goal in the first 10 years, consistent with the General Plan.
- Opportunity sites (tier one) are shown on a map; they exclude historic landmarks but include some sites within or adjacent to historic districts.
- Amber Grady reported on the R Street Corridor survey: 615 parcels surveyed, 420 buildings, 12 potential contributing resources identified for possible district expansion. The survey did not evaluate individual eligibility outside the district's period of significance (1910–1930).
- Staff asked for commission input on policies, including adaptive reuse incentives, smaller minimum unit sizes (from 750 to 350 sq ft), and possible streamlining of CEQA/permitting.
- Commission questions and comments included:
- Commissioner Whitelam asked about stakeholder groups, opportunity sites in historic districts, and the relationship between R3A zoning and historic districts. She expressed concern about potential removal of appeal rights.
- Commissioner Marshack requested adding the May 20 preservation roundtable to stakeholder meetings, scheduling a formal preservation commission workshop, and including development standards for historic districts in the plan. He also suggested exploring a Mills Act program.
- Commissioner Piner noted the need for updated surveys of central city properties.
- Commissioner Fuller inquired about the preservation incentive program and the inclusion of alternative housing types (tiny houses, shipping containers).
- Chair Moffett supported the call for a commission workshop.
- Public comment by William Burg raised concerns about inadequate survey coverage and the absence of historic districts on the opportunity sites map.
- Item 5: Ad Hoc Committee Update on Alley-Side Infill Development – Commissioner Marshack reported that the committee (Marshack, Whitelam, Moffett) met on March 11 and reviewed past drafts of a historic preservation design manual. They plan to consolidate the most recent version with missing chapters, update it, and potentially link it to the Downtown Specific Plan. The committee will continue reporting monthly for at least six months.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Calendar approved (7:0:0).
- Director's Report received and filed.
- New Chair (Marshack) and Vice-Chair (Whitelam) elected (7:0:0), effective April 2017.
- Commission provided comments on the Downtown Specific Plan, including requests for a formal workshop, broader stakeholder engagement, updated historic resource surveys, and inclusion of historic district standards. Staff will consider these before the August public review draft.
- Ad Hoc Committee on Alley-Side Infill will continue its work and report back monthly.
- Public comments on the Historic City Cemetery were heard; commissioners directed speakers to also contact the Parks Department and noted staff capacity constraints for pursuing a CLG grant.
- Commissioner Marshack requested that future letters and recommendations from the commission be tracked and reported back to the body.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening. Welcome to the Preservation Commission March 15th 2017 meeting. I call the meeting to order. Before we start, I'd like to just review a couple quick little housekeeping procedures. Copies of tonight's agenda for tonight's meeting are located outside the door on the kiosk. We will be taking everything tonight on the agenda in order. There have been no changes to it. When we hear item on the agenda on the public hearing portion of the agenda, we'll start off with a brief presentation by staff, followed by questions of staff by the commission. And then we will, if if the uh item has a applicant, we'll hear from the applicant, uh, followed by questions from the commission of the applicant, and then there'll be opportunity for public comments. The speakers for public comments, um, either for any of the items on the agenda or for item six, public comments, uh matters not on the agenda, are located in the back of the room on the table. Um, we encourage you to uh fill out one of those speaker slips and return them to the left-hand side of the dais, the clerk on the left-hand side of the dais. Um then we'll uh call you to speak. Um, generally, we uh do limit a public comments to a three minutes uh per item. Um, and I just remind people uh to turn off your uh cell phones uh before we get started with that. So with that, I will uh turn it over to uh the director uh for roll call. Commissioner Marshak. Here, Commissioner Bounds, Commissioner Fuller, Commissioner Velania, Commissioner Piner here, Commissioner Whitlam and Chair Moffitt here. Excellent. Um we have a full uh complement of commissioners tonight. Um so with that we will work into the uh consent calendar um which uh consists of the meeting minutes from the February 15th, 2017 uh meeting. Um commissioners have had a chance to look at those if there are any uh comments or edits, otherwise, I would uh entertain a motion to approve the consent calendar commissioner vice commissioner Marshak, Vice Chair Marshak. I move to uh approve the minutes as written. Do I hear a second? Okay, Commissioner Piner seconds. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Excellent. Abstentions, none. Moving on to item two, the director's report. Director Anderson. Hey, that would be me. Uh so I'm gonna speak about three things having to do with development. One of them is the EIR for the O Street and uh Pea Street Office Development Projects. Uh these are being proposed by the State Department of General Services. Uh and uh following up on a comment letter from the the preservation director, DGS has been in uh monthly contact with uh staff and uh is also in consultation with the Office of Historic Preservation. Um got some information in early March from DGS that suggests that they're carefully studying both the relocation and the retention on site alternatives. Um they declined an invitation to speak to you uh at today's meeting, but we expect they will be here for the commission's May meeting, and that will be um before the uh publication of the draft EIR. So a bit before that, and they will have more uh information related to the potential environmental uh effects of the project at that time, and they'll have a better sense, they'll have a better sense of the project uh at that juncture and felt that meeting with you in May would uh be helpful for that reason. Uh Memorial Auditorium uh still continues to percolate and um the planning and the design team have been a meeting with city staff, uh including the urban design manager and the preservation director. Uh we did a walkthrough of memorial auditorium about a week ago uh to better understand some of the design improvements and minor changes that are under consideration. Um there is also uh a theater technical group that has been established. You're probably aware of that. And uh there was a meeting last Friday uh to go over the details related to the uh both the architecture and project planning components of that. Um be a report to you about memorial auditorium at your May meeting. Possibly uh next month's meeting, but I I'm not uh certain at this juncture about that. There will also be a national register nomination coming your way for the commercial building that is at the northwest corner of 11th and K Street. I believe it is called the Moore and York Market Building. So you will have the opportunity to review the National Register nomination for that at the April meeting. Um happy to report that our beleaguered mid-century modern survey effort.
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