Good evening.

Welcome to the Wednesday, September 17th, 2025 meeting at 5 30 p.m.

Meetings now called to order.

Will the clerk please call the role to establish a quorum?

Thank you, Vice Chair.

Please unmute me, unmute your microphones.

Vice Chair Merker.

Here.

Commissioner Ombacher?

Here.

Commissioner Burns.

Commissioner Rika.

Commissioner Cross.

Yeah.

Commissioner McSlavikin.

Here.

And Chair Nayar is absent.

Thank you.

We have a 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 will have two minutes to speak once you are called on.

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

We will now proceed with today's agenda.

Please rise for the opening acknowledgments in honor of Sacramento's indigenous people and tribal lands.

To the original people of this land, the Nissanon people, the Southern Maidu Valley and Claims New Walk, Patlin Winton peoples, and the people of the Winton, Wilton Rancher, 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 in the active practice of acknowledgement and appreciation for Sacramento's indigenous peoples' history, contributions, and lives.

Thank you.

Please remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands.

One nation, invisible, liberty and justice for all.

Our first business today is approval of the consent calendar.

Thank you, Vice Chair.

I have no speaker slips for this item.

Thank you.

Are there any commissioners who wish to speak on this item?

Is there a motion and a second for the consent calendar?

Make a motion to accept the consent calendar.

All right, motion from Commissioner Cross and a second.

I'll second.

Second Commissioner McSlavkin.

Will the clerk please call the roll for the vote?

Thank you, Vice Chair.

Commissioners, please make sure your mics are unmuted.

Um Vice Chair Merker.

Yes.

Commissioner Ambacher.

Yes.

Commissioner Burns?

Yes.

Commissioner Rika?

Yes.

Commissioner Cross.

Yes.

Commissioner McSlavkin?

Yes.

And Chair Naya is Ebbs.

Thank you.

The motion passes.

Thank you.

I'll have a discussion item.

Is there a staff presentation for item two?

Good evening, Commissioners.

My name is Henry Fuse, Preservation Planner for the City of Sacramento, and I'll be presenting on the Accessory Dwelling Unit Design Standards Project under file M24002.

Since 2016, the state of California has updated regulations to remove barriers that municipalities can impose on new accessory dwelling units, also known as ADUs.

This has led to an exponential rise in permitting of these units.

As the popularity of these units has increased, it has become apparent that the existing adopted objective standards found within the historic district plan and the subsequent objective standards adopted in response to SP 35 are not effective or clear.

Therefore, staff has worked to draft a set of objective criteria for ADUs on historic properties to streamline permitting, place all standards in one location, and ensure ADUs are compatible with their historic surroundings.

Starting in 2024, state law has removed the ability of local jurisdictions to have mandatory separate planning review for ADUs outside of the building permit process.

If the project meets all objective criteria, the project can be approved through the ministerial design review process.

However, given the applicable design, applicable objective standards are scattered throughout the historic district plan and in a separate document, it is often unclear to applicants which standards apply.

The purpose of this of drafting this set of objective standards is so to place all standards in one easy to navigate location so applicants can understand what is being reviewed up front.

The objective standards found in this new document include an existing objectives found within the historic district plan, including the 150% height standard and the 30-foot separation distance for unsplit central city parcels.

New objectives found within the proposed standards pertain to siting on the lot to ensure connection with the alley through the placement of windows and entrances, building materials, roof forms, and the visibility of HBAC and utilities.

Materials and designs are mostly limited to traditional forms.

However, should someone wish to deviate from these standards and design a modern building, the ability to review the project at a discretionary application is still allowed.

Staff initiated development of the objective ADU design standards by presenting the concept to the preservation commission in March 2024.

Following commission feedback, staff prepared a public review draft, which was presented to the commission in June 2024.

The meeting resulted in significant public comment, particularly from the architectural design community.

In response, staff met with representatives from the AIA Central Valley chapter, including members of the policy subcommittee, to review the draft and gather further input.

Staff received both written and verbal feedback, which informed the next phase of revisions.

To ensure the revised standards were both effective and technically sound, staff formed a working group that included design professionals with extensive experience in Sacramento's historic districts.

Members included preservation commissioner and practicing architect Ian Merker and local architects Jackie Whitlam, Matthew Piner, and Craig Houseman.

Although not a formal member of the group, architect Mike Malinowski also provided valuable input throughout the drafting process.

Staff incorporated recommendations from the working group and continued refining the design guidelines to ensure consistency with state law and assign with align with city policies.

The final draft is now being provided to the preservation commission with a request for recommendation to the city council for adoption.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Fuse.

Are there a clerk?

Are there any members of the public who wish to speak on this item?

Thank you, Chair.

I have no speaker slips on this item.

Thank you.

Are there any commissioners who wish to speak on this item?

Hearing and seeing none.

Is there a uh vote needed for this item?

Clerk?

Yes, all right.

Is there a motion and a second for this item?

All right.

Motion from Commissioner Cross?

Sure.

Yes.

I make a motion to accept the um.

Sorry, design standards for historic properties and to forward this to city council.

Thank you.

And sorry.

I want to move staff recommendation because there's other elements in the recommendation that are included in the motion.

Okay, so we would like to uh ask for a friendly amendment.

A friendly amendment to the staff recommendation.

So accept the friendly amendment.

I would like to accept the friendly amendment.

Thank you, Commissioner Cross.

And we have a second.

Oh, second, a friendly second.

Thank you, Commissioner McSlavkin.

Will the clerk please call the roll for the vote?

Yes, thank you, Chair.

Commissioners, please unmute your mics.

There.

Okay.

Vice Chair Merker?

Yes.

Commissioner Ambacher?

Yes.

Commissioner Burns?

Yes.

Commissioner Rika?

Yes.

Commissioner Cross.

Yes.

And Commissioner McSlavkin.

Yes.

Thank you.

The motion has passed.

Thank you.

Next item on the agenda.

Item number three, Preservation Commission Annual Report and 2026 work plan.

Do we have a presentation?

Yes, thank you, Chair Merker, Sean DeCourcy Preservation Director.

All um the City Council rules of procedure require all legislative bodies to submit an annual report to the PNP committee for recommendation to the full city council.

The draft report before the commission tonight is for review and comment to provide the commission an opportunity to reflect on the accomplishments from the past year and review a proposed work plan for 2026.

This item will return to the commission next month for a recommendation to city council.

So this is your chance to affect the draft.

I want to highlight some key accomplishments for over the past year.

And in addition, you reviewed the uh new Helvetia Historic District.

You will also have an opportunity in the coming months to review a national register nomination for the Dodd offices at 2710 X Street.

And you provided policy direction on a number of documents, including the accessory dwelling unit objectives design standards, which you reviewed tonight, the New Havisha Historic District Plan, the Rail Yard Special Planning District uh sign regulations, the water plus EIR, and we hope to bring you the uh a draft of recommended changes for old Sacramento special sign district uh before the end of the year.

As for your 2026 work plan, uh we've identified the hackett house, network to freedom nomination, the LGBTQ plus historic context and survey, Lavender Heights Historic District, Historic District Plan, and a number of landmark nominations associated with the LGBTQ experience project.

Um the we are working on an update to the old Sacramento National Historic Register listing, which will come in draft form before the commission.

I anticipate there'll be a chance to further refine the old Sacramento signage regulations and the finalize the old Sacramento Historic District nomination.

We anticipate additional Sacramento Register and National Register nominations that will come before the commission, including the uh grant union high school national register nomination, which will all mention in our director's report, but we're currently working on and um continuing other policy documents uh and other um initiatives that are are directed by the department that concludes my remarks on this item and I can answer any questions uh from the commission.

Thank you, Director DeCursey.

Uh Clerk, do we have any members of the public who wish to speak on this item?

I have excuse me, I have no speaker slips.

Thank you.

Any commissioners wish to speak on this item?

Hearing none.

Uh thank you again for your presentation, Director DeCursey.

And do you have a director's report?

I do.

Um I have actually a quite extensive director's report this evening.

Um, so in and since the commission has not met for two months with your uh summer recess as well as uh last the last meeting being canceled.

Some of this item dates back quite a ways.

So in July, uh council took two uh took action on two items that are of uh significance to the commission.

The first they raised the limit on number of MILS Act contracts from 12 to 50 due to the increased demand that we saw this year for the program.

In addition, city Council approved your recommendation to list land park lanes at 5850 Freeport Boulevard on the Sacramento Register.

Um and I wanted to note that as I mentioned in the last during the last item that staff has been coordinating a partnership between the Grant Union High School Alumni Association, Aztec Environmental Consultants, and our former intern, uh Ifa Gunny, to prepare a national register nomination for Grant Union High School.

And last week we submitted a draft on behalf of the alumni association to the Office of Historic Preservation, and we anticipate receiving comments back on that nomination in the coming months.

On uh August 26th, City Council approved the Commission's recommendation to list the 12 landmark properties associated and the new Havisha Historic District that were identified as part of the African American Experience Historic Context and Survey Project.

And on September 16th, actually last night or yesterday, the City Council approved a resolution completing the dissolution of Sacramento Heritage by directing the remaining funds of the organization to the California Preservation Foundation, a qualified nonprofit organization.

Um I did want to note that during the fall semester, uh Henry Fuse and I have begun teaching a class in historic preservation at Sacramento State University as part of the public history masters program, and two of our students have applied to be interns with our department because uh at the same time as we started teaching, we had two vacancies come become available in our internship program.

And so they will start actually one started today and the other will start in the next couple of weeks.

I'm hoping to I'm hoping they can attend your next meeting so you can uh we can introduce them and you can put a face to the name.

And then I wanted to look ahead to October 14th when the city council will consider a recommendation to approve 19 new MILS Act contract agreements, the 19 contracts uh that were applied for during this past calendar year.

And I wanted to note that on uh November 7th, the State Historical Resources Commission will hear the national register nomination for the Dodd offices at 2710 X Street.

These were prepared.

This nomination was prepared by groundwork historical consultants as part of the California Preservation Foundation's work on under rec under-recognized California grant program, which is a spin-off or was identified as part of the African American Historic Context Statement and Survey, and was a landmark recently listed as part of the 12 properties that the commission recommended to City Council.

So that property, if all goes well at the preservation or the uh historical resources commission by the state, the that property will be listed on the national register as well.

And as I mentioned, we'll bring the draft nomination forward to the commission next month for a review and comment to forward any comments from the commission to the state historical resources commission as we're obligated to under our certified local government designation.

So that concludes my uh rather lengthy director's report for this evening, and uh I'm available to answer any questions from the commission.

Thank you, Director DeCourcy.

Any questions from the commission?

Hearing none, the next item is uh member comments ideas, questions, and meeting conference report.

Uh, are there any commissioners who wish to speak?

No, and 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, Vice Chair.

I have no speaker slips on this item.

Thank you.

Uh on that note, this concludes today's agenda.

Thank you, everyone.

Uh, the meeting is adjourned at 5 48 p.m.