Davis, CA Historic Preservation: Historic-Cultural Monuments (2026)

060, the council may designate a landmark if a resource meets at least one of four tests at the local, state or national level: association with a significant historical event, association with a significant person, embodiment of a distinctive architectural type, period or method of construction, or the likelihood of yielding important archaeological or anthropological information, and the resource must retain a high level of historic integrity. Merit resources and historic districts are judged against the same four criteria but at the local level of significance.

020(b) says a designated resource stays subject to all zoning ordinances that would otherwise apply. Once a building is on the Davis Register, any exterior alteration needs a certificate of appropriateness from the Historical Resources Management Commission or, on appeal, the city council. A demolition or relocation certificate follows a similar path: the commission must hold a public hearing within sixty days of a complete application and post ten days' site notice, and if it fails to act within sixty days, or thirty days after the hearing, the application is deemed approved.

Owners facing extreme hardship, defined as a showing that denial would leave the property with substantially no value or make lawful use impractical, may ask the commission to approve an application even if it does not meet the normal standards. Appeals of any commission decision go to the city council within ten calendar days of the decision.