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City staff outline citywide cultural resources survey, ARCHES data platform and goal to adopt citywide context by mid‑2024
Summary
Planning staff updated the Historic Preservation Commission on progress for the citywide cultural resources survey, described the ARCHES data management platform and pilot fieldwork scheduled for summer 2021, and set an aspirational target to adopt the citywide historic context by mid‑2024.
Planning Department staff provided a comprehensive update on the Citywide Cultural Resources Survey and related methodology during the Historic Preservation Commission meeting on April 7.
Staff described the three‑part approach: thematic/cultural/architectural historic context statements, field survey and archival research, and development of an intangible cultural heritage methodology. Susan Parks and other staff summarized recent outputs (the Residents Parks context statement) and in‑progress topics (earthquake era and redevelopment agency contexts). The department noted ongoing partnerships with community groups — including meetings with the American Indian Cultural District — and planned focus groups to inform cultural contexts.
For data management, staff described an Arches implementation (the Getty‑supported open‑source platform) to host a dynamic cultural resources inventory, enable field collection via a mobile Collector app, and provide geospatial search, fuzzy dating and community input tools. Maggie Smith reported on staging: system design, survey unit model testing and a pilot phase for Phase 1 to begin in summer 2021. Planning staff presented a phased schedule and an aspirational adoption target for the full citywide historic context by mid‑2024, contingent on staffing and funding (additional Planner 2 staff could shorten the timeline by about a year).
Commissioners praised the revised vocabulary and new research focuses; they asked about integration with the existing Property Information Map (PIM) and about funding for staffing and outreach. Staff said PIM would continue but link to Arches, legacy survey data would be migrated and cleaned for the new platform, and department staff are pursuing grant and Ad Back funding to support additional positions and consultant work. Staff flagged upcoming pilot work, an outreach consultant engagement, and the next quarterly update on methodology and pilot kickoffs.
