Be a Preservation Steward
4288 Cleveland Avenue
Founded in 1888, University Heights is one of San Diego’s oldest neighborhoods with many older, historic homes and buildings built at the turn of the 20th century. While many homes are historically-designated or part of historic districts, many are not. As urban infill increases in our older neighborhoods, these un-designated properties are at risk for demolition. A property may still qualify for historic designation even if the owner has not previously applied for it.
As a resident of University Heights, there is much you can easily do to help protect our historic heritage including monitoring older properties listed on the City of San Diego’s Historical Review website, and keeping an eye on older properties that come up for sale in University Heights.
We would like to acknowledge and thank Save Our Heritage Organisation for their help in compiling this article.
Monitoring Building Permit Applications
Fortunately, the City of San Diego Development Services Department provides the public with the opportunity to review and comment on properties over 45 years old when the owner or developer applies for a building permit or a preliminary review. If a property is deemed potentially historic, the owner or developer may either:
Devise a project consistent with the The Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation, or;
Prepare and submit a site-specific survey of historical resources on the property. If Historical Resources staff determines there are historical resources present on the project site, the applicant may again devise a project consistent with The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation, or be reviewed for designation by the Historical Resources Board. The Board then determines if the property is historically significant. If designated, a project at the site would be required to meet the Standards and if demolition is sought, an environmental impact report and CEQA process would be required.
The project address is listed on the Historical Reviews website for five days which satisfies the California Environmental Quality Act requirement to obtain public input about potential historical resources. Please note this website does not list properties that are historically designated because they are already identified as historic buildings.
Building permit applications may be searched by address here. Permit information is not always immediately available for properties listed on the Historical Reviews website and must be checked periodically for updates.
Comments must be submitted on potentially historic properties here within 5 days of the initial posting. The goal of commenting is to provide City staff with historical information they may not have about a particular property (historic photos, newspaper clippings, memories, etc.) and/or to reinforce existing historical information about the property. Historic surveys may be searched by address using the following online resources:
California Historic Resources Inventory Database (CHRID): Please note that the City of San Diego's records on the CHRID are incomplete and its listings may lag years behind official designations.
Uptown Historic Survey Report lists potentially historic properties in University Heights west of Park Blvd.
North Park Historic Survey Report lists potentially historic properties in University Heights east of Park Blvd.
If you have questions or concerns about a particular property listed on the City’s website, please feel free to reach out as soon as possible to the University Heights Historical Society at uhhs@att.net.
Monitoring Older Properties for Sale
Potentially historic properties that come up for sale are a great opportunity to educate the realtor and any potential buyers about our historic community and the benefits of designation. Such properties can be easily monitored on websites like Realtor.com, Zillow, and RedFin.
Take the following steps if you see an older property for sale:
Check to see if it’s listed in one of the historic surveys above. The survey provides basic information about potentially historic properties that you can reference in your email to the realtor including date built, architectural style, and proposed historic district, (if any). The survey also includes an assessment of the property’s condition (at the time of the survey) under “Desrciption.” Properties described as “Unaltered” or “Minimally Altered” typically have the best chance of designation but that is not always the case.
Check the “For Sale” sign for the realtor’s name and email address. You may have to check the realtor’s website for an email address.
Send an email to the realtor, explaining the benefits of historic designation and providing information about our community’s history. Following is a sample email to personalize and send to the realtor. Please bcc the University Heights Historical Society at uhhs@att.net.
“Dear (Realtor Name):
While out on my walk this afternoon, I noticed the beautiful home for sale at (address). This property was built in (year) in the (architectural style) and may be eligible for historic designation by the City of San Diego. Historic designation offers property owners many potential benefits:
Eligibility for significant property tax reductions through the Mills Act
Potential tax credits of 20% to 25% through the California State Historic Tax Credit for qualified rehabilitation expenditures for rehabilitation of a certified historic structure or a qualified residence
Potential tax benefits for historic preservation easements
City of San Diego development incentives for the preservation of designated historic resources including exclusion of designated historic resources from parking calculations and Floor Area Ratio (FAR) limits; as well as new allowances for deviations from base zone development regulations, such as setbacks, height, coverage, etc.
Use of the more lenient California Historical Building Code for all local, state and federal historically-designated sites
Potential increase in property values, as documented by many studies
I hope you will share this information with any potential buyers. As one of San Diego’s oldest communities founded in 1888, we are proud of our significant history in San Diego and very interested in preserving its many fine examples of historic architecture. For more information about our community’s history, please visit https://www.uhhs-uhcdc.org/history. We also offer a comprehensive online guide for researching and designating your historic home at https://www.uhhs-uhcdc.org/research-your-home.
Please feel free to reach out to the University Heights Historical Society at uhhs@att.net if you have any questions or would like additional information.”
For More Information
If you have questions, please feel free to reach out to the University Heights Historical Society at uhhs@att.net. And thank you for helping to preserve our precious historic resources in University Heights!