San José Rules Committee Meeting - November 19, 2025
San José Rules and Open Government Committee Meeting - November 19, 2025
The San José Rules and Open Government Committee met on November 19, 2025. The committee approved the consent calendar and referred a memo on historic preservation ordinance reform for a workload analysis. No public comments were received.
Consent Calendar
- The committee approved the agenda for the meeting with an add sheet (vote 5-0).
- The consent calendar, consisting of three items, was approved unanimously (5-0).
Discussion Items
- Historic Preservation Ordinance Reform (Memo C1): Councilmember from District 3 presented a memo with four recommendations: (1) improved outreach and education for property owners on the Historic Resources Inventory; (2) an amnesty program for previously unpermitted construction on inventory properties, excluding health/safety hazards; (3) a simplified legal framework for demolishing or removing blighted or substandard structures where historic elements are no longer evident; and (4) modernizing regulations to facilitate installation of modern windows and energy-efficiency improvements. The councilmember noted that the issue affects all districts, not just Japantown. Discussion included questions from Councilmember Verk and Delis about applicability to city-owned historic landmarks (e.g., Metzger Ranch) and from Councilmember Duane about the scope of the inventory. Vice Mayor Foley expressed support, citing precedent with ADU amnesty programs. The committee voted to refer the memo for a workload analysis.
Key Outcomes
- The committee approved the consent calendar (5-0).
- The committee voted 5-0 to refer Memo C1 on historic preservation ordinance reform to staff for a workload analysis, with a return to the Rules Committee for final consideration on December 3rd or 10th, 2025.
Meeting Transcript
Thank you. the agenda for Tuesday December 2nd that meeting is noticed for 930 closed session and 130 regular session and consent starts on page 4 and continues on pages 5 6 7 and 8 and section 3 we have clean energy project revenue bonds the acceptance of the comprehensive annual investment fee report and actions related to North San Pedro Park and Bassett Park projects section for amendment to our gaming control municipal code section six the semi-annual report from climate smart San Jose clean energy pilot program options and San Jose Clean Energy customer bill credits. We have two items on land use consent which will be heard immediately after regular consent and one item on land use item 10.2. Do we have any public comment on the agenda? We do not. All right. Back to the committee. Do we have a motion? Move approval with the add sheet. All right. Great. That's a vote. I don't see any other hands. okay motion carries 5-0 thank you so much and we're on to our consent calendar today we have three items on consent public comment no public comment public comment all right back to the committee for consent move approval all right let's vote alright consent patch is 5-0 and it looks like our district 3 council member has just arrived just in time to do a brief introduction of the memo item C1 historic preservation ordinance reform so if you'd like to just come down to the box and briefly let us know give us an overview and then we'll have a discussion. Sounds good. Hello colleagues. It's my first time at RULES, so good to be here. Here with a memo that touches on a broad set of recommendations on improving our city's approach to historic preservation. This has been something that's been of interest to a lot of folks in District 3, just with everything that we've seen with business closures in Japantown. But I want to be clear that I think this is an issue that really affects the entire district and other districts in the city as well, not just Japantown. So there's a number of different recommendations in the memo that I'm happy to walk through. First is that we've heard a lot from residents who may not even realize that their property is on the historic resources inventory. They may not have a good understanding of the city's historic preservation ordinance and what that entails. So this one is just focused on outreach and education, improving that for owners of historic properties on the resource inventory. And I think this will also help when these properties go up for sale, since if the owners are aware that the properties are on the inventory, it can then be disclosed and there can be more transparency throughout the process. The second recommendation is focused on exploring an amnesty program for previously unpermitted
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