By Keith Menconi : sfexaminer – excerpt
Two miniature neighborhoods in the Mission district could soon gain historical-preservation protections.
A committee of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors advanced a pair of resolutions Monday marking the first step in a legal process that could eventually result in the residential areas — which together comprise 53 properties — receiving official historical-landmark designations.
Monday’s resolution, sponsored by Board President Rafael Mandelman, is part of a decades-long campaign to preserve buildings within the Mission Dolores neighborhood, the historical core of the broader Mission district with roots tracing all the way back to the 18th-century Spanish settlement that sprung up around the still-standing Mission Dolores adobe chapel that now gives the neighborhood its name.
Two miniature neighborhoods in the Mission district could soon gain historical-preservation protections.
A committee of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors advanced a pair of resolutions Monday marking the first step in a legal process that could eventually result in the residential areas — which together comprise 53 properties — receiving official historical-landmark designations.
Monday’s resolution, sponsored by Board President Rafael Mandelman, is part of a decades-long campaign to preserve buildings within the Mission Dolores neighborhood, the historical core of the broader Mission district with roots tracing all the way back to the 18th-century Spanish settlement that sprung up around the still-standing Mission Dolores adobe chapel that now gives the neighborhood its name…
If the full board approves Mandelman’s resolution, it will trigger further rounds of public review by San Francisco’s Historic Preservation Commission. Final approval of the designations will still require another sign off from the Board of Supervisors as well as the mayor.
The two districts would join a roster of other highly recognizable historic districts in San Francisco, including Alamo Square, Civic Center and Dogpatch.
In recent years, local preservationists have redoubled their efforts to add historical protections to San Francisco buildings in response to a raft of housing legislation aimed at spurring widespread development in the coming years.
During his remarks Monday, Mandelman echoed their fear that unchecked construction could lead to demolitions that would erase San Francisco’s history from the cityscape.
“The reality is that healthy cities do change and grow,” Mandelman said, “but as we prepare for that growth and that change, I think it is especially important that we take steps to preserve our architectural heritage.”… (more)