Long Beach — Historic Preservation

Last reviewed: July 2, 2026

Overview

Long Beach's zoning regulations embed historic-preservation rules across the Zoning Regulations (Title 21). The code creates a local landmark/district designation process (referenced to Chapter 2.63) and ties substantive benefits and limits — exemptions from some nonconforming restrictions, special review requirements, and sign/telecom treatment — to formally designated Historic Landmarks and Landmark Districts. Key controls for applicants are the Certificate of Appropriateness requirement and the Cultural Heritage Commission's role; see § 21.27.130 for the central exemption rule.

Note: this page explains only what the Long Beach zoning/planning ordinance (Title 21) says about historic preservation; building-code rules (Title 24 / state codes) and other permit streams are discussed on other pages — link-outs to those pages appear below.

Important internal links (first natural mention of each in the prose):

• Long Beach development standards are discussed throughout the code; see the city Long Beach Development Standards.
• Historic properties often have special rules for parking; see Long Beach Parking.
• Many projects in Long Beach require Long Beach Design Review.
• Historic designations can interact with Long Beach Overlay Districts.
• Rules for accessory units and historic areas may interact with Long Beach ADUs.
• For accessibility and alternate building rules for historic structures consult the California Building Standards Code.
• Nonconforming rights preserved for historic properties are covered under Long Beach Nonconforming Uses.

How the ordinance treats historic resources — core rules

• Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) requirement and exemption from some nonconforming restrictions: any property designated as a City Historic Landmark or a contributing property in a City Landmark District is exempt from the ordinary nonconforming restoration/maintenance/expansion limits of Chapter 21.27 provided the work is approved with a Certificate of Appropriateness issued by the Cultural Heritage Commission. See § 21.27.130.

• Coastal/LCP constraint on expansion of historic resources: a property designated as historic that sits in the Coastal Zone still cannot be expanded where the change would increase nonconformity with Local Coastal Program (LCP) shoreline or coastal resource policies — replacement/major rebuilds in coastal locations must comply with the LCP. See § 21.27.130.

• Historic signs: signs that are City-designated historic signs (or listed by State or National registers) are treated as historic signs and are largely exempt from the normal sign-size/illumination/location rules so long as they are properly maintained; full reconstruction or major alteration requires Site Plan Review and, for City-designated landmarks, Cultural Heritage Commission review. See § 21.44.250.

• Nonconforming rights and adaptive reuse: a City-designated historic landmark that has been abandoned or is being adaptively reused may be allowed special administrative or conditional approvals to restore economic viability, but adaptive reuse proposals and changes that affect nonconforming status typically require a COA and special building inspections to show the building can meet minimum safety standards. See § 21.27.050 and § 21.27.070.

• Parking and legalization of existing units in historic districts: the unpermitted-dwelling-unit amnesty rules exempt some historic-district conversions from new parking requirements where adding parking would harm historic character; see § 21.66.020.B.2.

• Special limits for infrastructure/telecom on historic structures: the Wireless Telecommunications chapter requires that rooftop or façade telecom installations on a City-designated Historic Landmark make no changes to the external appearance unless the Cultural Heritage Commission approves the change. See the Wireless Telecommunications chapter (Chapter 21.56) performance/siting rules (e.g., § 21.56.110 / related subsections).

District-by-district breakdown (how historic rules interact with specific zoning districts)

NOTE: Historic designation is a status that overlays the base zoning and therefore affects development across multiple zoning districts. Below are the principal Long Beach zoning districts where the code explicitly calls out historic-related rules and how they interact with common district standards. For base-purpose, uses and dimensional standards see the referenced zoning tables and chapters; where the Title 21 text ties historic treatment to a district we cite the controlling §.

RP — Residential Planned Unit (e.g., RP-6, RP-12 etc.)

• Purpose: The RP district encourages flexible, innovative residential development and explicitly lists preservation of serviceable structures of historic value as an objective. See § 21.31.310.
• Typical permitted uses: residential development consistent with approved PUD plan; allowed uses and densities are site-specific (RP-* number expresses DU/acre). See § 21.31.310 and PD/PD procedures in Chapter 21.37.
• Historic interaction: RP developments are expected to consider preservation; an RP application that affects a designated historic resource will be evaluated under the COA process and the PUD/site-plan review; consult § 21.27.130 for exemptions tied to COA.

R-1, R-2, R-3, R-4 — Residential districts

• Purpose & typical uses: single- and multi-family housing uses and accessory uses per the zone tables (see the Table of Uses for Residential Zones; e.g., Table 31-1). See the uses table in Chapter 21.31.
• Key dimensional standards: setbacks, lot coverage, and height limits vary by sub-zone (see the applicable tables such as Table 32-2 and accessory standards; exact numbers are in the development standards chapters). Verify the precise numbers for your subzone in the Code. Not all dimensional tables are reproduced here; see the Development Standards reference.
• Historic interaction: interior repairs, restoration, or limited expansion of a designated Historic Landmark in R zones are eligible for the Chapter 21.27 exemption only with a COA. The Wireless Telecommunications chapter restricts external telecom changes on City-designated Historic Landmarks in residential districts. See § 21.27.130 and the Wireless provisions in Chapter 21.56.

Commercial districts (e.g., CNR, CCR, CCP, CCN)

• Purpose & typical uses: mixed retail, office, restaurants, and sometimes residential above ground-floor (see Table 32-1 / Table 32-3 uses). Many historic commercial buildings are within these commercial districts. See the commercial use tables (Chapter 21.52 / Table 32-3).
• Key dimensional standards: building heights, setbacks and parking follow the commercial development standards in Title 21; see the Development Standards chapter.
• Historic interaction: historic commercial properties may retain historic signs as legally conforming under § 21.44.250; reuse or interior conversion that affects nonconforming parking may rely on the COA exemption in § 21.27.130 and related change-of-use rules. See § 21.44.250 and § 21.27.130.

PD / Planned Development and Specific Plans (PD / SP) and overlays (including HL Height Limit overlays)

• Purpose & typical uses: PD and SP districts are site-specific and allow tailored design standards; they can expressly require preservation measures in their implementing documents. See Chapter 21.37 for PD purpose and procedures and Chapter 21.40 for the Height Limit overlay.
• Historic interaction: PDs and SPs often include explicit historic-preservation policies; if a PD contains a designated historic resource, COA/cultural-review requirements and tailored development standards will apply (COA per § 21.27.130). Overlay limits (e.g., HL) do not remove the need for Cultural Heritage review.

Quick reference table — decision-relevant code items

Checklist

• Confirm whether the property is a City Historic Landmark or contributor in a Landmark District (City designation records / Chapter 2.63) — Verify with the City. Not found: full Chapter 2.63 text in retrieved materials.
• If designated, prepare a scope of work that identifies all exterior and interior changes and whether they touch character-defining features. See § 21.27.130.
• Obtain a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Cultural Heritage Commission before relying on the Chapter 21.27 exemptions. See § 21.27.130.
• Check sign status: if the sign is historic, document its listing and maintenance plan (see § 21.44.250).
• For adaptive reuse or change of use, budget for a special building inspection to confirm life-safety compliance (see § 21.27.070).
• If in the Coastal Zone, confirm LCP constraints before proposing expansions or rebuilds (see § 21.27.130).
• If work involves telecommunications, expect Cultural Heritage Commission sign-off for any external-appearance changes (Chapter 21.56).
• Where parking questions arise (e.g., ADU, legalization), check the Long Beach Parking rules and the special amnesty provisions § 21.66.020.

Risks & Ambiguities

Plain-English Summary

If your Long Beach property is a City-designated Historic Landmark or a contributor to a City Landmark District, you must get a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Cultural Heritage Commission before relying on special historic exemptions; designated properties get some flexibility on nonconforming repair/expansion but still must follow Coastal, safety, and other overriding rules. See § 21.27.130 for the core rule.

Information Gaps (what I could NOT confirm in the retrieved materials)

• Full text of Chapter 2.63 (Cultural Heritage Commission authority, membership, and COA procedural rules) — Not found in retrieved materials.
• The full text of § 21.52.265.5 (the specific permitted uses / special conditions that apply to Residential historic landmark buildings) — only referenced, the body text was Not found in the returned snippets.
• The City's published schedule, submittal checklist, fee schedule, or formal COA application form used by the Cultural Heritage Commission — Not found.
• A parcel-by-parcel map of landmark districts / list of currently designated landmarks within Long Beach — Not found. Verify with the City’s Planning Department.

Source References

• § 21.27.130 (Historic landmark and landmark district exemption)
• § 21.27.020, § 21.27.040, § 21.27.050, § 21.27.070 (Nonconforming rights / abandonment / change of use / restoration provisions referenced in the context of historic properties)
• § 21.44.250 (Historic signs)
• § 21.66.020 (Unpermitted dwelling unit amnesty — parking exemption where in architecturally and historically significant historic districts)
• Chapter 21.56 (Wireless Telecommunications Facilities — restriction on external changes to City-designated Historic Landmarks) and § 21.56.110 (performance standards)
• § 21.31.310 (RP district purpose — encourages preservation of serviceable historic structures)
• Tables and use lists (Table 31-1, Table 32-3 references to residential historic landmark entries) — see the residential and commercial use tables in Title 21 (multiple table snippets).

(If you want, I can fetch the missing Chapter 2.63 and the full text of § 21.52.265.5 from the ordinance files or confirm current designated landmark maps — say which you prefer and I will retrieve them.)

Retrieved passages

• Long Beach Zoning Code (Section shall) Medium relevance show source text
• CBC § 5 (Section 21.66.020.A) Medium relevance show source text
• Long Beach Zoning Code (§ 5) Medium relevance show source text
• Long Beach Zoning Code (§ 1) Medium relevance show source text
• Long Beach Zoning Code (§ 1) Medium relevance show source text
• Long Beach Zoning Code Medium relevance show source text
• Long Beach Zoning Code (§ 19) Medium relevance show source text
• CBC § 1 (Section is) Medium relevance show source text
• Long Beach Zoning Code Medium relevance show source text
• Long Beach Zoning Code (§ 5) Medium relevance show source text
• Long Beach Zoning Code (§ 19) Medium relevance show source text
• Long Beach Zoning Code (Chapter 21.21) Medium relevance show source text
• Long Beach Zoning Code Medium relevance show source text
• Long Beach Zoning Code (§ 1) Medium relevance show source text
• CBC § 120 Medium relevance show source text
• Long Beach Zoning Code (Chapter may) Medium relevance show source text

Cited sections

• **§ 21.27.130** (Historic landmark and landmark district exemption) (§ 21.27.130)
• **§ 21.27.020**, **§ 21.27.040**, **§ 21.27.050**, **§ 21.27.070** (Nonconforming rights / abandonment / change of use / restoration provisions referenced in the context of historic properties) (§ 21.27.020)
• **§ 21.44.250** (Historic signs) (§ 21.44.250)
• **§ 21.66.020** (Unpermitted dwelling unit amnesty — parking exemption where in architecturally and historically significant historic districts) (§ 21.66.020)
• **Chapter 21.56** (Wireless Telecommunications Facilities — restriction on external changes to City-designated Historic Landmarks) and **§ 21.56.110** (performance standards) (Chapter 21.56)
• **§ 21.31.310** (RP district purpose — encourages preservation of serviceable historic structures) (§ 21.31.310)
• Tables and use lists (Table 31-1, Table 32-3 references to residential historic landmark entries) — see the residential and commercial use tables in Title 21 (multiple table snippets). (Title 21)
• LongBeach_ZoningCode.md

• Official Long Beach code library