Historic plaque program updated to include heritage trees; commission asks about funding

The Carlsbad Historic Preservation Commission voted July 8 to adopt an updated plaque program and recommended that City Council consider funding options to support plaque installations and maintenance.

Staff member Mr. Strong presented the draft plaque program and said the proposed edits would allow heritage trees to be eligible recipients of plaques "somewhere on the premises rather than it being affixed to the building structure itself." He told the commission three edits had been incorporated into the draft and recommended adoption of the attached resolution.

Commissioners discussed funding approaches including the city subsidizing a portion of plaque costs, the property owner covering nomination and installation costs in the near term because the staff report notes there is no current budget allocation, and batching nominations to manage a fixed annual allocation. Commissioner Schreiber suggested the commission could prioritize which structures receive funding in a given year.

Commissioner Diaz asked that staff add recital language noting the plaque program reestablishes a previous city-funded practice; Mr. Strong confirmed the City Council had funded plaque installations in past budget cycles but that the program had recently been discontinued.

The commission moved, seconded and approved the resolution unanimously and asked staff to include potential funding sources for future budget cycles when forwarding the program to the City Council.

Next steps: staff will finalize the program materials and include funding recommendations when presenting the resolution to City Council.