Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Landmark Designation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Preservation commission unanimously initiates landmark designation for former Welsh Presbyterian Church at 449 Fourteenth Street
Summary
The Historic Preservation Commission voted 6–0 Aug. 15 to initiate an Article 10 landmark designation for the former Welsh Presbyterian Church at 449 Fourteenth Street after a staff nomination and remarks from the property owner. Staff will return with a resolution to the Board of Supervisors.
The San Francisco Historic Preservation Commission voted unanimously on Aug. 15 to initiate an Article 10 landmark designation for the former Welsh Presbyterian Church at 449 Fourteenth Street.
Desiree Smith of the planning department told commissioners the nomination—prepared by Verplank historic preservation consulting—documents the building’s association with San Francisco’s post‑1906 reconstruction period and with the city’s Welsh immigrant community. "The department recommends that the HPC initiate Article 10 landmark designation of 449 Fourteenth Street," Smith said, and added that, if initiated, staff would return at a subsequent hearing with a resolution recommending designation to the Board of Supervisors.
Property owner Jerry Agosta, identifying himself as Noe Vista, said he purchased the church to preserve its large assembly spaces and architectural character and then paused an earlier residential conversion plan to seek designation that would allow compatible uses while retaining historic features. "I was in the assembly room, that upper room with its 30‑foot ceilings and its trusses and its open space and volume and realize that that would... be gone," Agosta said, explaining the decision to pursue landmark status.
Commissioners praised the applicant and the staff report. After brief remarks, Commissioner Johns moved to initiate the Article 10 designation; a second was made and the motion passed 6–0. Commissioners on the record voting yes included Commissioners Black, John, Johns, Perlman, Hyland and Commission President Wolfram.
The department’s staff report describes the building’s character‑defining exterior and interior features, notes some later alterations, and ties the property’s period of significance to the 1908–1913 completion phases. The department will return at a later hearing with a formal resolution recommending Article 10 designation to the Board of Supervisors and any conditions for the designation.
The initiation places the property on the commission’s docket for future hearings and for subsequent actions by the department and the Board of Supervisors.
