AB 2580
Historic preservation plays a vital role in protecting California’s architectural heritage and conserving places of historical significance. Historic districts, and buildings designated as “historically significant,” receive special protections that subject new developments, building renovations, and design changes to a more rigorous and thorough review process to protect the integrity of historic elements.
However, the process for designating a building as “historically significant,” or creating a new historic district, often encourages abuse by individuals and small local groups who seek to prevent more inclusive and affordable housing development. There are also currently no measures in place to ensure local governments balance legitimate historic preservation with potential impacts on a community’s ability to meet its housing needs.
AB 2580 requires local governments to monitor how new historic designations could impact their ability to meet housing needs under existing state law, and report new historic buildings and districts to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) during the Annual Progress Report of the Regional Housing Needs Assessment process.
Updates: AB 2580 passed the Assembly floor on 5/21/24 by a vote of 71-0. It passed the Senate Housing Committee on 6/18/24 and awaits action in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Author: Wicks (D, AD 14)
Sponsor: California YIMBY
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