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Commission hears quarterly cultural‑heritage report; staff cites small Office of Small Business capacity slowing legacy business processing
Summary
Planning staff updated commissioners on landmark and cultural‑heritage work, reporting five legacy business registry applications processed this quarter and ongoing cultural‑district work. Staff said Office of Small Business staffing limits have slowed application processing and pledged to provide more dashboard data in future reports.
The Historic Preservation Commission received a quarterly cultural heritage work program update Aug. 15 covering April 1–June 30 and discussed legacy business registry processing, cultural district work and performance measures.
Desiree Smith (planning department) summarized recent actions: the Board of Supervisors approved the Phillips Building landmark and staff recommended designations for several other properties and districts that remain in the queue. She outlined the survey‑team projects and performance measures staff uses to track designation work.
Shelly Caltagironi, preservation staff, reviewed cultural heritage items including five legacy business registry applications the department processed in the quarter and for which the commission recommended approval to the Office of Small Business. She said the department partnered with the University of San Francisco to assist applicants and expects the branding and marketing plan for the legacy program to increase application volume.
On staffing and processing, Caltagironi said she has coordinated with "Rick" in the Office of Small Business and that there has been a hold on processing because OSB has "very limited resources and... really just 1 staff person," but she said the department expects roughly five applications at the next hearing and more afterward as marketing and grant deadlines approach.
Commissioners asked staff to present a running dashboard showing how many legacy business applications have been received, forwarded and funded and for staff to incorporate Office of Small Business numbers in the next quarterly report. Commissioners also discussed coordinating legacy business outreach with cultural districts and requested that staff investigate whether a prior realtor education program (coordinated with the California Preservation Foundation) could be reinstated or linked on the planning website to encourage property owners to take advantage of preservation incentives.
Staff said the next quarterly update will be presented Oct. 17, 2018, and that they will return with further materials and performance data for commissioners to review.
