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Prioritizing Equity in Historic Preservation
July/August 2025
In 2008, during discussions about proposed changes to the City of San Diego’s historic preservation ordinance, SOHO pushed to ensure that provisions for low-income homeowners were included. City officials assured us that this would happen and even included “verbiage” in the reforms.
The City promised extensive public assistance with preservation programs. Staff would provide better guidance on restoring and maintaining historic homes, disseminate more information about Mills Act applications, help low-income families write historic designation nominations. Fees for those families would be eliminated. Yet here we are, 17 years later, and these vital reforms remain unfulfilled.
 This modest Victorian cottage in Sherman Heights represents the kind of historic resource that could thrive if the City delivered on its preservation commitments. Courtesy patandkathie.blogspot.com |
Let’s not forget: The City created a special fee specifically to fund additional historic preservation staff. Everyone, including SOHO, understood that these fees would support exactly the kind of outreach and services that are still missing. And while we were not initially in favor of these fees, as we were concerned they might be misused, we supported them in the end. We did so with the express understanding that the money would serve low-income homeowners, improve oversight, hire additional Heritage Preservation staff, and strengthen protections of historic resources.
Equity is not optional. Preservation is not a luxury. It is a public good. It’s time for San Diego to stop shifting blame and start doing the hard work of living up to its own values and promises. We cannot allow San Diego's historic working-class neighborhoods to continue shouldering the cost of bureaucratic inaction.
Under the guise of the new Preservation and Progress initiative, the City is again asking us to trust that they will get it right this time. Yet, there are strong signs that elected officials actually want to gut hard-won preservation policies and protections. New so-called promises must not paper over years of inaction. The preservation ordinance must not be further weakened by the same empty promises.
Furthermore, the City has been acting in vacuum. We have now sent our written recommendations including equity reforms and will hope for the requested in person meetings with staff will follow. You can read our letter online.
We call on the City to uphold their 17-year-old promises, to make preservation equitable at last, and to finally act in good faith. San Diegans deserve not one bit less.
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