Planning Commission adopts preservation design standards to apply objective rules for historic properties

The San Francisco Planning Commission unanimously adopted preservation design standards on March 20 that add objective rules for additions and modifications to identified Category A historic properties.

Planning staff presented the chapter as a supplement to the citywide design standards adopted in November 2024; the preservation standards were developed to provide objective guidance for projects that, under state law and some state programs, may be reviewed ministerially using only objective standards. Rebecca Salgado, lead planner for the standards, told the commission the rules are designed to preserve character‑defining features while allowing compatible new additions and to provide predictability for project sponsors and reviewers.

The standards apply only to Category A properties (Article 10/11 properties, locally or state‑listed or eligible), staff said; the department intentionally…