Following 12 months of discussion at various commissions, amendments to the Downtown Historic Conservation Plan’s (DHCP) design guidelines will go before the Benicia City Council for adoption at Tuesday’s meeting.

In Sept. 2017, the council approved an agreement with the State Office of Historic Preservation for a $40,000 Certified Local Government Grant to update the DHCP’s design guidelines, which were adopted with the plan in 1990. Additionally, the Historic Preservation review Commission (HPRC) has made it a priority to update the guidelines, which resulted in a comprehensive review in 2014, according to a staff report by Community Development Director Shawna Brekke-Read.

“The commission’s analysis, which concluded that updates to the guidelines were necessary to improve the usability of the document and implement current preservation standards, supported the city’s subsequent CLG Grant application,” Brekke-Read wrote.

Following approval of the grant, the Colorado-based Winter & Co. was chosen as the consulting firm in November. An ad hoc advisory group was formed that year to provide guidance and feedback during the guideline update process.

Staff’s goal is to make the document more user-friendly with additional graphics and resources. Currently, the DHCP contains five chapters in addition to six appendices, which will be revised to make room for the adoption of new guidelines and the zoning text amendment for design review procedures. The preface and first two chapters— which deal with a plan overview and historic resources will be kept. The third chapter, which covers design review procedures, will be removed since the topic will be addressed in Chapter 17 of the Benicia Municipal Code. The fourth and fifth chapters, which provide design guidelines for commercial and residential building types respectively, will be removed to clear a path for the Downtown Historic District Design Guidelines. The appendices will also be removed, with some items being included in the index for the new guidelines.

At its June 28 meeting, the HPRC recommended approval of the new guidelines. The Planning Commission followed suit following a public hearing at its Sept. 13 meeting. The City Council will vote to adopt the guidelines on the recommendation of both commissions. If approved, staff will work with a consultant to finish any remaining edits to the document and print the guidelines, which will be available at City Hall, the Benicia Public Library and the city’s website at ci.benicia.ca.us.

In other business, the council will consider amendments to the BMC’s rehearing provisions on council items and vote on amending the BMC regarding design review procedures and off-street parking dimensions.

The council will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 2 in the Council Chambers at City Hall, located at 250 East L St. A closed session will precede the meeting at 5:30 p.m. to discuss legal matters. A live stream of the council meeting can also be found online at ci.benicia.ca.us/agendas.

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