Preservation Roundtable Lectures

Preserve Orange County’s Preservation Roundtables provide OC residents interested in protecting historic resources in their communities the opportunity to connect with each other and learn best practices from experts on a variety of relevant topics ranging from financial incentives to registration programs to environmental and preservation law. Some of the roundtable lectures were recorded and can be found in the links below.

Multiple Property Submission is a time-saving tool for nominating a culturally significant building or landscape to the California Register of Historical Resources or the National Register of Historic Places. With the MPS, a property can be nominated if it fits within an established context statement developed by the National Park Service or the State Office of Historic Preservation. Examples of context statements include Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in California, 1850 to 1970, and Native Americans and the California Mission System, 1769 to 1848. For a list of MPS for California, click here. The following roundtable lectures in April 2024 addressed the MPS:

How to Use “Multiple Property Documentation'“ to Nominate Historic Places to the National Register with Teresa Grimes. Teresa is a preservation professional with over 30 years experience in the field. She is the co-author of five Multiple Property Submissions under which numerous properties have been listed not the California and National registration programs.

Multiple Property Documentation Case Study with Flora Chou, Page & Turnbull. Flora is an Associate Principal and Cultural Resources Planner at Page & Turnbull in Los Angeles. She co-authored the MPS, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in California, 1850 to 1970.

Tax Incentives for Preservation are a financial tool for motivating property owners to maintain and protect their historic properties. There are tools available in the US for residential and commercial owners. In October 2024, our roundtable covered the Mills Act from a city planner’s perspective, and the preservation tax credit programs in California and federally, described by an accountant with a practice focused on tax credits. We didn’t address conservation easements which is another unique tax incentive. More to come!

Tax Incentives for Preservation: Mills Act Property Tax Rebate with Ali Pezeshkpour, City of Santa Ana

Tax Incentives for Preservation: Federal and State Historic Preservation Tax Credits with Brent Parker, Novogradac & Co.

California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) This roundtable in July 2025 offered a CEQA primer with a consultant who advises cities and developers on its application, and advice from a citizen-advocate who has used CEQA to protect historic places in Laguna Beach.

California Environmental Quality Act: Historical Resources in the CEQA Process with Samantha Murray, South Environmental

California Environmental Quality Act: the Public Advocacy Perspective with Cathy Jurca, Laguna Beach resident