Comments on: Mission Neighborhood: A National Historic Place?

By: Bartola Mejia

Bartola Mejia — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 05:15:43 +0000

Why is having a historic district so important for society? A historic district is the physical VOICE that helps us to connect & identity in some way with our past. The preservation of such a district encourages everyone to learn, understand, celebrate & protect all that was shaped & built by those who came before us. For those who still have doubts:
1. A Nat. Register Historic District won’t add any protections that CEQA already gives. Yet it will give property owners tax benefits for storing or maintaining their historic resources through The Mills Act.
2. NO historic district within SF protects the interior of historic resources, NO matter if it is a local or Nat. Register Historic District. It also doesn’t add restrictions to plumbing, electrical, or whether you can move a garbage can in the Mission Dolores Park.
3. MDNA has helped protect or save from demolition many important historic resources within the neighborhood. They include the former Golden Gate Lutheran Church @ 601 Dolores & the former 2nd Church of Christ Scientist @ 651 Dolores.
4. The nomination that made Mission High School City Landmark #255 was written by MDNA Board member Dr. Ted Scourkes & endorsed by MDNA.
5. MDNA very much supports quality new construction as long as NO historic resources are demolished. Yet so does CEQA. MDNA’s role is simply to help the system work & protect the neighborhood like most other neighborhood organizations while helping to shape its future.

By: bob

bob — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 02:40:17 +0000

Horrible idea…. this is a living city neighborhood, not a Disney theme park.

By: Grace

Grace — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 06:14:27 +0000

To be clear — the proposed designation would NEVER require additional review related to ANY interior feature and/or maintenance and repair. National Register designation WOULD NOT have any impact whatsoever on a property owner’s ability to repair a door, window, toilet, wiring, install new plumbing, re-roof etc… Don’t believe me? Look it up!

By: Miles

Miles — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 18:05:21 +0000

Marcos,

This issue is not just minor cosmetic modifications. Basic maintenance will become prohibitively expensive. Time to deal with the approval process is not cheap, especially if you need to hire a lawyer to navigate it. This creates a higher risk of blight and dangerous buildings, fires, etc. if the owners aren’t able to pour their savings into a building. Imagine having to replace wiring or plumbing in a building covered by this district!

If you want to prevent developers from creating projects that disturb the character of the neighborhood, that’s fine – it can be done by designating a few properties in strategic locations around the neighborhood, but please, have it done to owners who want it. Leave the rest of us out of it.

By: whinton

whinton — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 23:09:33 +0000

marco that’s why there’s so little new housing that goes in, and why rents become so high.

By: marcos

marcos — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 20:31:52 +0000

I’ll take getting approval for minor cosmetic modifications if that puts the neighborhood off limits for the get rich quick schemes of fly by night developers and their enablers on the Board of Supervisors.

A lot less Wiener and many more controls on development is what we need around here.

By: Miles

Miles — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 16:37:44 +0000

This is a very bad idea. Imagine having to get approval from a preservation condition in order to upgrade the trash cans at Dolores Park. If your house is listed as a landmark, you’ll need approval to change a toilet or repair a doorway or window. The costs to those covered by the district are not worth the benefits to the community as a whole.