Mayor Lurie, President Mandelman Take Action To Protect San Francisco's Historic Buildings

SAN FRANCISCO – Mayor Daniel Lurie and Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman today announced resources and reforms to strengthen historic preservation and celebrate the unique legacy of San Francisco’s neighborhoods. The package includes new resources to survey the city’s historic properties, legislation to streamline the landmark designation process, and a joint letter to the California Office of Historic Preservation requesting that San Francisco’s locally designated landmarks be listed on the California Register of Historic Resources. The package is expected to more than double the city’s number of designated landmarks by 2030 and ensure the landmarks receive consistent protection under state law. 

The Lurie administration is making it easier to protect what makes San Francisco’s neighborhoods unique while reducing delays for residents and businesses. Since launching PermitSF, the city has introduced 20 ordinances, including common-sense reforms to remove burdens for homeowners to repair their decks and park in their driveways, or for businesses to set up cafe tables on sidewalks and paint their own business names on their storefronts. Mayor Lurie recently launched a fully digital permitting portal that will allow homeowners and business owners to obtain the permits they need online—it is already cutting Fire Department wait times in half and reducing Permit Center trips by as much as 15%. And just last week, Mayor Lurie signed legislation to make it easier for residents to host special events and throw block parties in their neighborhoods. 

“Whether it’s the Painted Ladies or Harvey Milk’s camera store in the Castro, San Francisco’s historic landmarks tell the story of our city.” said Mayor Lurie. “San Francisco doesn’t have to choose between growth and preservation, and as our city evolves, we are protecting what makes San Francisco special and gives our neighborhoods their character. I want to thank President Mandelman for his partnership on this work and his leadership in preserving the history of our city.” 

“San Francisco’s historic built environment is one of its valuable cultural and economic assets,” said President Mandelman. “It draws visitors, anchors neighborhood economies, and provides the sense of place that defines San Francisco and sets it apart. It also carries the remarkable stories of the city and the communities that built it. Together, these three actions address a range of preservation challenges and will help ensure that San Francisco can meet the preservation needs of this moment.” 

San Francisco passed its Landmark Preservation Ordinance in 1967, among the first such laws in the country, and has since designated more than 300 individual landmarks and 16 historic districts. In 2008, San Francisco voters approved Proposition J, a charter amendment creating the Historic Preservation Commission, reflecting broad public support for protecting the city’s historic resources. 

Many of San Francisco’s historic structures have never been surveyed, most of those that have been surveyed and determined to be significant historic resources have never been officially landmarked, and those that have been given landmark status receive inconsistent protection under state law. Today’s package addresses all three of these challenges: building the infrastructure to identify what assets the city has, streamlining the landmark designation process to protect the most significant of those assets, and moving to secure state recognition for locally designated landmarks. 

As part of the package introduced today, the city will ensure the Planning Department has the tools needed to carry out the historic preservation work, combined with the new technology needed to complete our citywide survey of historic properties and speed up the designation process. These investments will enable the department to complete a citywide survey of San Francisco’s historic resources by the end of 2027, which will inform the designation of approximately 2,500 new individual landmarks and several landmark districts over the next five years. Supporting this effort, the streamlining legislation will cut out redundant hearings and streamline landmark review, potentially removing months of delays from the process.  

“Historic preservation is a core value in San Francisco,” said Sarah Dennis Phillips, Planning Director. “Building new housing for future generations goes hand in hand with preserving treasures from previous generations. This investment in preservation will not only uplift our most emblematic and unique buildings and places, but will bolster clarity and confidence in the development review process as we continue the work to revitalize San Francisco.” 

State laws can be inconsistent in their protections for historic resources, with some carving out locally designated landmarks for protection and others instead referencing the California Register of Historic Resources. The state reciprocity request, which amplifies a resolution the Historic Preservation Commission adopted in April 2024, asks the California Office of Historic Preservation to incorporate current and future locally designated landmarks into the California Register of Historic Resources, securing them equal protection.  

“As San Francisco plans for growth and change, it also needs to preserve its special places before they are lost,” said Woody LaBounty, President and CEO of San Francisco Heritage. “Less than 1% of San Francisco’s properties have historic designation compared to 3-5% in cities like Boston, New York, and Los Angeles. Mayor Lurie and Board President Mandelman’s plan is a great step forward to keep San Francisco special.” 

"This initiative, led by Mayor Lurie and President Mandelman, will allow us to expand formal recognition of our city’s cultural and historic structures,” said Diane Matsuda, President of San Francisco’s Historic Preservation Commission. “It will allow us to highlight resources that have not received the attention they deserve and embrace stories that should be told and preserved. We applaud their leadership and look forward to working with them.”