Cultural Heritage Board votes to seek City of Stockton’s inclusion in Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area

The City of Stockton Cultural Heritage Board voted Sept. 7 to ask staff to place on a future agenda a recommendation that the City of Stockton submit a letter of support to the National Park Service and the U.S. Congress seeking inclusion of the city limits within the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area.

Member Holmes, a member of the Cultural Heritage Board and a member of the heritage area’s community advisory committee, framed the request as an opportunity to increase Stockton’s access to federal preservation and interpretive grant programs. “It's a very low risk, I would say no risk opportunity to join the national story and bring more resources into our region, which I think we can all agree that we need,” Holmes said during the informational discussion.

The board’s motion — which added the Delta Protection Commission and the Community Advisory Planning Committee to the list of stakeholders to be involved — passed by voice vote after being moved by Member Merlot and seconded by Member Holmes. Chair (name not specified) called for those in favor; the motion passed.

Why it matters: inclusion in a congressionally designated National Heritage Area does not change local land-use authority but can make sites within the boundary eligible for National Park Service and National Historic Preservation grant programs. Holmes told the board that the current management plan for the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area must be finalized by Dec. 31, 2023, and that securing inclusion now would be preferable to trying to seek amendment afterward. “So we absolutely need any general management plan approved by this December,” Holmes said.

Board members discussed the procedural steps and timing required to move a recommendation from the Cultural Heritage Board to the planning commission and ultimately to city council. Planning staff present cautioned that placement on a city council agenda typically requires a multi-week internal review process that involves legal and clerks’ office reviews and recommended advance coordination with staff. Board members indicated a desire to have a full presentation from the Delta Protection Commission and Heritage Point Consultants at an upcoming meeting so the board could make a well-informed recommendation.

Members also discussed Brown Act limits on communications outside public meetings. A staff speaker reminded the board that a majority of five or more members cannot meet outside of an agendized meeting; members said they would be careful to avoid prohibited serial meetings while coordinating outreach to council members.

The board’s conversation also touched on related preservation opportunities: Member Holmes said the City of Stockton previously lapsed in a certification program that helps local governments qualify for additional National Park Service funding and that staff-led action to restore that certification would remove administrative barriers for property owners seeking grants. Holmes also updated the board on the Japanese American Confinement Sites (JACS) grant opportunity for a World War II incarceration-era site at the county fairgrounds; she said the site is eligible for large federal grants (the National Park Service’s JACS program funds multiple awards nationally, with individual grants typically in the low millions) but that infrastructure work at the fairgrounds — water, sewer, power — must be resolved before an application would move forward.

Next steps: the board directed staff to pursue agendizing a recommendation for the October meeting so the board could formally vote to ask the city to send a letter of support. Staff said it would confirm whether the planning commission must review the recommendation prior to council and would coordinate with the Delta Protection Commission and Heritage Point Consultants to prepare materials for board and council consideration.

Votes at a glance: the Cultural Heritage Board approved a motion to request that staff agendize consideration of recommending the City of Stockton submit a letter of support to the National Park Service and the U.S. Congress to add the City of Stockton’s limits to the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area; the motion included coordination with the Delta Protection Commission and the Community Advisory Planning Committee and passed by voice vote.