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Rules Committee continues charter amendment to create Landmarks Preservation Board after broad support and Planning Department input
Summary
The Committee heard extensive public support for elevating the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board into a Charter Landmarks Preservation Board, accepted technical amendments and a requested enactment date, and continued the item for further drafting and Planning Department coordination.
The Rules Committee heard a lengthy and largely supportive public record on a draft charter amendment that would convert the advisory Landmarks Preservation Board into a Charter commission with strengthened authority.
Sponsor remarks and extensive testimony from preservation professionals, community groups and planning staff emphasized the need for specialized technical expertise, faster and more predictable reviews, and stronger preservation protections. Preservation advocates said the advisory board currently spends many hours preparing technically complex reviews and that making the Landmarks Board a charter body would bring San Francisco into alignment with major U.S. cities.
The Planning Department supported the overall objective but asked for clarifications on multiple-entitlement projects and the role of the Planning Commission on general-plan elements and large planning entitlements. Several speakers and Planning staff urged that certificate-of-appropriateness decisions that intersect with other planning entitlements remain reviewable by the Planning Commission or be appealable to an elected body in appropriate cases.
The sponsor accepted a minor amendment (inserting an enactment date of 12/31/2008 into the draft) and the Committee agreed to continue the item for a week to allow further drafting and public review.
Next steps: staff and the sponsor will incorporate Planning Department recommendations and public input into a revised draft; the item will return to the Committee the following week for further consideration and potential movement to the full Board.
