01/12/2026
On Wednesday, January 14, the San Diego City Council’s Land Use & Housing Committee will consider the City’s Preservation and Progress Package A.
This fast-tracked proposal would weaken San Diego’s historic preservation program by allowing the City Council to override expert historic designations, thereby stripping protections from historic districts such as Ocean Beach’s Cottage Emerging District and the Asian Thematic District, while prioritizing new construction over true preservation.
Your voice matters now. Please attend the meeting if you can and send a letter or email urging the committee to reject these harmful changes.
Land Use & Housing Committee
City Council, City of San Diego
Wednesday, January 14, 2026 • 2pm
City Administration Building
Council Chambers – 12th Floor
202 C Street, San Diego, CA 92101
Agenda Item: 3
Preservation and Progress Package A
Agenda: https://sandiego.hylandcloud.com/211agendaonlinecomm/Meetings/ViewMeeting?id=6815&doctype=1&site=comm
Send your letters and emails to Council Administration
Email [email protected]
Subject Preservation and Progress Package A / Land Use & Housing Committee
What’s at stake in Package A
The City’s proposals directly threaten San Diego’s preservation program and the places you love that make San Diego thrive. Use these points as your own, or personalize.
De Novo
A de novo process would allow the City Council to rehear historic designation cases from scratch—overriding the determinations of the Historical Resources Board (HRB), a body of trained experts in history, architecture, and archaeology. This politicizes what should remain a fact-based, impartial process.
It gives developers but not advocates a second bite at the apple
It creates unnecessary costs, delays, and uncertainty
It weakens public trust in the preservation program
Erosion of Historic District Protections
Neighborhoods—especially Ocean Beach’s Cottage Emerging District and The Asian Thematic district will be stripped of its current protections opening it up for the City’s destructive Complete Community program, along with pending districts, all are left vulnerable in this misguided initiative.
Misplaced Focus on New Construction
The plan prioritizes streamlining new construction under the banner of “preservation.” This is fundamentally incompatible with preservation policy nationwide. Adaptive reuse, infill, and design guidelines are what is appropriate. Bulldozing protections to clear the way for demolition is not only shortsighted, but it also goes directly against the city’s climate action goals.
