The Cultural Heritage Commission (CHC) met with liaisons Mayor Sharona Nazarian and Councilmember John Mirisch on Oct. 13, seeking direction on the new historic preservation awards program and updates to the Historic Preservation Ordinance.
The new historic preservation awards program is part of the commission’s work plan for fiscal year 2025-26. The CHC’s Community Outreach and Education Subcommittee met three times over the course of 2024 to discuss the development of an awards program.
The inaugural program seeks to recognize significant contributions to the city’s architectural and cultural heritage, culminating in an award ceremony in May.
To fully fund the awards program, the number of Golden Shields the commission recommends annually to City Council will be reduced from 12 to four, starting with the current FY 2025-26.
The historic preservation awards program differs from the Golden Shield Cultural Recognition Program, which honors locations of historical and cultural significance with a custom gilt-bronze plaque. In contrast, the new historic preservation awards program focuses on recognizing efforts to restore and preserve historical structures. Award categories include The Restoration/Preservation Award, The Renovation/Rehabilitation Award, The Historic Site Stewardship Award and the Historic Awareness and Education Award.
The final concept of the program outlines a set award nomination period, nomination eligibility requirements and award categories. The nomination period would be publicly advertised and open annually to the public in October. The commission aims to hold the awards program during the first week of May to coincide with Preservation Month.
Both Nazarian and Mirisch expressed their support for the final concept. Nazarian inquired about how many applicants are anticipated to apply for the awards program. Given that this is the program’s first year, Commissioner Lori Greene Gordon said she believes the nominations will largely be driven by the commission, but will consider other means of getting the word out, such as through mailers and advertisements in local newspapers.
Moving on to the final item of the meeting, council liaisons and commissioners engaged in a lengthy discussion on the proposed updates to the city’s Historic Preservation Ordinance and the overall process for designating historical landmarks.
Some of the updates include increasing the number of CHC meetings from four to six times per year; removing the requirement that at least one commissioner be an architect, contractor or California real estate licensee; and modifying the criteria for the designation of an eligible historic property.
Commissioner Marc Teren said that Beverly Hills has a very complex Historic Preservation Ordinance, which makes it difficult to recognize historic property. Gordon took issue with the number of meetings being increased to six per year, noting the difficulty of getting commissioners to commit to the existing four-meeting requirement.
The discussion evolved into debate on how the updated ordinance can make the process for designating historic properties more efficient, while also allowing homeowners living in those properties to more freely make renovations to their homes.
Nazarian said the historical designation process takes too long and that there are too many restrictions on what renovations or changes can be made to historical properties. Mirisch refuted by saying that there are avenues for homeowners to make those changes, like adding windows, that still allow properties to maintain their historical integrity, and that a solution would be “to try and match historic properties with people who like them.”
Assistant City Manager Ryan Gohlich said that the revised ordinance will make it more challenging for property owners, because it would “capture more properties.” Thus, the updated ordinance would cause more properties to go through the historic designation process, require more time and require additional topics for consultants to research.
Commissioners and council liaisons brought up potentially looking into a survey of single-family residences, which staff initially considered several years ago. Gohlich said that a survey would cost a couple hundred thousand dollars, and that homeowners will most likely want to challenge the historical designation of their property because of the potential implications on property values.
Teren and Gordon were both in favor of the surveys.
“If we did what we’re talking about here and did the survey, which would be incredibly of value to the city—but it doesn’t deem anybody historic—it says these 200 homes may potentially fit the criteria. They could still apply for a certificate of ineligibility immediately when they were identified, which would put it through the review process,” explained Teren, giving an example.
Nazarian requested that another liaison meeting be held to formally discuss the consideration of a survey as part of the city’s historical designation process.
