Corona, CA Historic Preservation: Historic-Cultural Monuments (2026)
Key Facts
- Listing body
- City Council, by finding all criteria met
- Age threshold
- Pre-1950, or exceptional importance if newer
- Commemorative works covered
- Statuary, murals, monuments, sculptures, graves, birthplaces
- Marker listing
- By City Council resolution, § 17.63.070
- Unauthorized alteration penalty
- Misdemeanor plus mandatory restoration
Summary
Corona lists cultural monuments, statuary, murals and memorials as "landmarks" on the Corona Register under Code of Ordinances § 17.63.050. The City Council must find the site meets all listing criteria, but commemorative works qualify on design, age, tradition or symbolic value alone, and the city can pair a listing with an official historic marker under § 17.63.070.
A site, improvement or natural feature that is intended to be primarily commemorative shall be eligible if its design, age, tradition or symbolic value creates its own historic significance. Examples include, but are not limited to, public statuary, murals, monuments, sculptures, graves and birthplaces. These sites or improvements may be identified by the placement of an historic marker.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2025 S-56: Supplement contains: Local legislation passed through Ord. 3423, passed 12-3-2025).
Full Breakdown
050. Subsection (A) requires the City Council to find the resource existed before 1950 (or, if newer, is of exceptional importance), has significant historic, cultural or architectural value, exhibits at least one qualifying characteristic such as association with a significant person or event, and retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association. Subsection (B) lets a reconstructed improvement qualify if the reconstruction is historically accurate and no other original improvement survives with the same association. Subsection (C) speaks directly to cultural monuments: a site or improvement that is "primarily commemorative" is eligible if its design, age, tradition or symbolic value creates its own historic significance, and the code lists public statuary, murals, monuments, sculptures, graves and birthplaces as examples.
070 and created by City Council resolution. 040, which also automatically pulls in any site already on the California Register, National Register or California Historical Landmarks. 220 to maintain the resource, prevent deterioration and decay, and comply with all applicable codes governing its upkeep. Any alteration, relocation or demolition of a listed monument requires plan review and approval before work begins.
Violations & Fines
Corona Code of Ordinances § 17.63.230 makes it a misdemeanor to violate this chapter or to fail to comply with a condition of a permit, entitlement or approval issued under it. Altering, relocating or demolishing a listed monument without approval is a separate misdemeanor, and the responsible person must restore the resource, and any contributing site, improvement or natural feature, to its pre-violation condition at their own cost.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes a monument eligible as a Corona cultural landmark?
Does a listed monument also get a historic marker?
What happens if someone damages or removes a listed monument?
Who has to maintain a monument once it is listed?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Corona
California rules heatmap·Compare Corona to another location·View the California historic preservation overview
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Historic-Cultural Monuments in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Riverside County handle historic-cultural monuments.