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

455 of the zoning code, its historic preservation regulations, adopted pursuant to the municipal affairs provisions of the City Charter. 210, but the property owner's consent is required before that recommendation can move forward, and the council's resolution must find that the property meets the code's "landmark" or "point of interest" definition, has significance to the people of the city, and would not require preservation spending disproportionate to its value. 510 makes it a misdemeanor to demolish, relocate, or demolish by neglect the landmark without prior city council approval at a public hearing, and the code attaches two mandatory consequences beyond the criminal charge: the owner must pay the city the greater of $10,000 or the drop in the property's appraised value caused by the demolition, and no building permits may issue for new development on the site for five years afterward.

545, requiring restoration to the original condition or the same $10,000-or-value-loss payment if restoration is not possible. Both prohibitions include an exception: prior approval from the historic preservation committee, or on appeal the planning commission or city council, removes the criminal exposure entirely.