Historic Resources Board - April 10, 2025

Board adds preservation awards to its bylaws

The Palo Alto Historic Resources Board unanimously amended its bylaws to add Article 8, creating a formal provision for preservation awards. The board removed language specifying that the program would begin in 2025 but retained a five-year awards frequency. Members discussed, without formally approving, a possible awards presentation during National Preservation Month in May 2026.

Staff expanded the potential candidate list from roughly 50 projects to 440 projects covering the past 10 years. Staff said the list could be narrowed by excluding interior-only work and potentially like-for-like maintenance. Possible categories included stewardship, adaptive reuse, restoration, rehabilitation and small projects, but the board did not finalize categories or eligibility rules.

Members differed over the program’s priority and scope. Vice Chair Samantha Rohman supported a flexible, selective program to recognize exemplary preservation and build public interest. Boardmembers Christian Pease and Geddes Ulinskas supported recognizing adaptive reuse and compatible additions. Boardmember Caroline Willis questioned whether the candidate pool adequately represented residential preservation and stewardship and favored prioritizing preservation incentives and inventory updates.

The board reached consensus to reconstitute an awards subcommittee and anticipated a report in approximately two months. Members also discussed placing preservation incentives on the June agenda, but did not take formal action on that step.

Primary sources

Watch the meeting on YouTube · Read the official meeting packet