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

Highland Municipal Code Chapter 16.32 runs the City of Highland's cultural resource program. Section 16.32.030 creates a Historic and Cultural Preservation Board of five uncompensated voting members appointed by the city council, all of them city residents, with a quorum of three. Section 16.32.050 sets the test: an improvement, natural feature, or site qualifies if it meets National Register of Historic Places criteria or one of the local criteria listed A through J, which cover items such as association with significant persons or events, a distinctive architectural style or craftsmanship, the work of a notable builder or architect, a familiar view or vista, and being one of the few remaining examples of a type.

Under § 16.32.060, any person or group can file a nomination with the board, and the board or the council can start one on its own motion. Owners and occupants must be notified within 30 days of receipt of the nomination. Hearing notice goes by first class mail at least 30 days ahead to the applicant, owners and occupants of the site and of contiguous properties. For a historic district, the mailing reaches every property inside the district and every property within 300 feet of its boundary. The board must send a written recommendation, with findings of fact tied to the § 16.32.050 criteria, within 30 days after the hearing, and the council then has 45 days to approve by resolution or disapprove by motion.

While a hearing or appeal is pending, no building, alteration, demolition, or removal permit issues for a nominated resource or for property in a proposed historic district. After designation, § 16.32.070 requires a certificate of appropriateness from the board for alteration, restoration, rehabilitation, remodeling, addition, change of use, demolition or relocation. The certificate goes void unless construction starts within 12 months of issuance, and a project not finished within 36 months of starting, once the building permit has expired, needs a new certificate. An owner facing denial can seek a certificate of economic hardship under § 16.32.090, which the board must decide within 45 days of receiving the application. Removal from the list is narrow under § 16.32.060(H): only erroneous or false original information, or circumstances wholly beyond the owner's control that make restoration infeasible.