From the President’s Desk

Dear Members, Merchants, and Neighbors;

As many of you know, Russian Hill Neighbors has a long history of historic preservation. When our organization was formed in the 1980’s, we worked hard to ensure three notable areas of Russian Hill were added to the National Register of Historic Places: the Vallejo Crest, the 1000 Block of Green Street (the “Paris Block”), and Macondray Lane.

In keeping with our mission to preserve the character of Russian Hill, we are re-doubling our efforts on historic preservation in 2017. We now believe it is vital for historically and architecturally-significant buildings and landmark areas of Russian Hill to achieve San Francisco’s Landmark Designation as outlined in Article 10 of the SF Planning Code. This process allows for the collaborative identification and codification of the important character defining features of a neighborhood. This in turn ensures the appropriateness of proposed changes in these Landmark Districts through additional reviews by the Planning Department and the Historic Preservation Commission.

At our Russian Hill Neighbors’ Board Meeting on February 6, we established an Historic Preservation Fund to make it easier for members to earmark donations to fund this important work, which often includes hiring of experts for historic evaluations. We also committed to supporting neighbors, including the Lombard Hill Improvement Association, in their landmark and historic preservation projects.

Carol Ann Rogers, RHN’s Board Vice President and member of the Design Zoning Land Use Committee (DZLU), has worked successfully for more than 30 years on historic preservation in Russian Hill. She was instrumental in restoring the Vallejo Stairway Gardens, among other projects, and she is leading our efforts again. Please get in touch with Carol Ann via email if you would like to join us.

I hope to see you around our beautiful neighborhood this month!

Warm regards,

Emily Harrold
President
president@rhnsf.org

P.s. Please mark your calendars for our Annual Members Meeting on Thursday evening, April 20. More details to come!