The Northeast San Francisco Conservancy has nominated 625 North Beach homes in this map. Is yours a 'Contributor'?

Click image to see details. 

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If Historic Districting goes through...

• Expect significantly higher costs and more delays for exterior remodels.

• Changing the exterior of a home will be virtually impossible

• Buyers will be concerned about remodeling restrictions.

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When you want to remodel, an un-elected committee who may not value the same things as you (more eco-friendly, more space for evolving family, etc.), who doesn't have the same urgency as you and certainly isn't as vested in your property as you, may decide, after you've spent money to architect a solution that meets City Building Codes and City Design Guidelines, that your changes aren't, "In keeping with the character of the neighborhood".

There is no clear evidence that living in a historic district increases the value of your home over time, and most of the evidence presented by preservationists (the Heritage Alliance included) is, quite simply, propaganda. Many legitimate academic research studies show a decrease in home values, others show no change or a slight increase. 

Some people like living in “historic” homes, but many potential home buyers are turned off by the increased regulatory and cost burdens of owning a home in a historical district. 

No. The City of San Francisco already has rigorous design standards in place that limit house sizes relative to lot sizes and incorporate neighborhood design reviews, as well as other regulations which help ensure the character of the neighborhood. ​

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The NFSC attempting to scare you into thinking that our neighborhood is “in trouble” and that historical districting will “solve” the problem. The real trouble will come once you lose your right to control your own property, and when regular folks, young people and families have no chance of living in North Beach. 

Historic districting is a “forever tax” on your home. Many layouts of North Beach homes have not kept up with the needs of modern families, not to mention seismic and other safety standards (knob and tube wiring, old plumbing/sewer, asbestos, etc.). At some point in the future, you, your children, your grandchildren, or someone you sell your home to might want to update your home. At that point, you will discover that the renovation process is much more difficult and expensive and in many cases impossible if your home is considered a “contributing resource” in the historic district.

Historic districting doesn’t keep North Beach beautiful, it prevents change. In some cases, historic designation makes our neighborhood uglier. For example, the burned-out building at Columbus and Union has been a vacant, crumbling, eyesore for years and the costs and risks to demolish it and build something new were too high as a result. 

If the historic district is enacted, we will see many more of these eyesores, since many homeowners and potential home buyers will be unwilling or unable to deal with the red tape and additional costs of renovating their properties in a “historic” manner.

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Many supporters point to Jackson Square as a success...but who lives in Jackson Square? Probably nobody you know – and the shops are all selling luxury goods, and the offices are full of VCs and attorneys. Is that what you want for North Beach?

No. Owners will not get to vote on something so significant. To get more time to have this issue adequately discussed at the local level, affected North Beach Owners need to send in an Objection Letter.  (See About Page for how to do this.) Even if you are in favor of more guidelines, those should be clear before a historic designation is applied given the significant financial implications of a historic district. The default is to be historic so Owners need to act to stop this.

You cannot opt-out. If 51% or more of the affected residents do not send an objection letter within 45 days of receiving the notice letter from the state, your home will be 'historic'. Many of your rights as a property owner will have been taken away.

If the State Historical Resources Commission (SHRC) sends a letter to the Home Owner and they don't respond within 45 days, that will be considered an acceptance of the nomination.

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What could go wrong?

- The address that they have on file could be wrong.

- There are multiple owners and notifications aren't received by each owner.

- The home owner could be living at a different address.

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To increase the likelihood that you'll know when to object:

1) Sign-Up for Email Communications from this group.

Email support@nohistoricheist.com and provide your email and phone number so that we can notify you when it is critical that you respond.

2) Verify the registered owner(s) of the property and the mailing address(es) on file.

On top of the regular steps that you will go through to remodel (assess your needs, determine you budget, hire a licensed architect to design something that will support your needs and optimize resale value, etc.), if the historic designation passes, your submitted plans for permitting will need to go through an additional historical compliance review.

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If your house is a 'contributor', demolition is nearly impossible. In addition to the architectural review for aesthetics currently performed by city staff, the new structure must be approved by the personnel monitoring historic compliance. There is no specific rule but currently when historical requirements come into play the process takes up to four times as long and cost up to four times as much.​

If the nomination for historical designation is made, the City will have to interpret the designation into the ordinances and assess its obligations. 

Most critical is the Objection Letter.  See a sample HERE.

It will vary greatly from permit application to permit application depending on what is involved in the remodel. For one couple in a nearby Bay Area historic district, the work they wanted to do took 9 months and $40k when it should have taken 90 days and $9k.  Our average estimate is a 4X increase in time and money.

Just like swimming pools, historical restrictions eliminate a percentage of buyers.  That means your house will be harder to sell.  There are arguments about increase and decrease in sale price but price has mostly been driven by young families and older adults.  These families have needs to update the house to meet the newer needs of today and are planning for the next 20 to 50 to 100 years.  The inability to remodel, update or demolish will affect demand. The historic district designation could steal away your future profit!

A Historic House is a home that has been registered by the owner.  If your home has historic significance, Historical Registration is available to anyone that wants it. 

A Historic District is an area outlined by boundaries.  All homes located in that boundary are included.  There are no exclusions or exemptions.  And a district can be registered over the objection of up to 49% of its resident owners.  Furthermore, even if the district is not registered but is found to be “eligible”, the restrictions ("protections") of a historic district apply.

To have oversight control on the aesthetic of the neighborhood that restricts your rights to modify your house to better suit modern living needs (ex: open floor plans) within already established City Guidelines that cover things like height limits, etc.

The Northeast San Francisco Conservancy commissioned a consultant and they classified the properties.  You have no say in the classification. They've essentially taken away your right to choose. 

CLASSIFICATION CRITERIA

The Northeast San Francisco Conservancy determined that houses in yellow on the map are a 'Contributor' and houses in red are a 'Non-Contributor' to the historical designation.  Being a 'Contributor' house significantly reduces the actions an Owner may be able to take on their house which in turn reduces resale value.

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Generally, if your property was built (or rebuilt) after the 'period of significance' it was classified as a 'Non-Contributor.' If your property was built before earlier it was by default a 'Contributor' unless substantial modifications have been made to the property.​​

If we all were still using colonial-era wood-burning stoves, they would certainly be historic! 

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In this rebuttal by CP Chang, a Ph.D. from the University of Washington in Atmospheric Sciences and also a distinguished professor at the Naval Postgraduate School, he talks about old houses and the environment. Find his points HERE. 

Email us at support@NoHistoricHeist.com and someone will get back to you!

You should definitely express your objection to the historic effort with the Board of Supervisors and the Mayor, especially the undemocratic way that a small group of people can put a major restriction on a property that you bought as non-historic. District 3 Supervisor Sauter has released an informational post about the proposed North Beach Historic District. HERE

1) Be on the look out for a designation letter from the State and make sure you send an objection letter 2) Write your representatives and tell them that you disagree with this effort 3) Put a sign in your window.