City Fees for Historic Designation
On November 5, 2025, PSPF received a less positive email response from city manager Scott Stiles, which stated in part, “…Council made some difficult across-the-board decisions to better align user fees, including these ones, with actual costs to…ensure that we are recovering the costs of providing our services.”
On October 29, 2025, PSPF received a very positive email response from council member David Ready, which stated in part, “With regard to waiving the fees as a policy, I think that process has worked well in the past and helped the City achieve its goals with regard to preservation.”
On October 14, 2025, PSPF delivered a letter to Palm Springs city manager Scott Stiles asking that the city reconsider the implementation of new fees for the processing of Class 1 Historic Resource and Historic District nominations. PSPF coordinated the letter with Modernism Week, Palm Springs Modern Committee, and Palm Springs Architectural Alliance. The letter states in part “Our concern is that the proposed roll-out of these significant fees will slow the rate of historic nomination submissions, and make them only affordable to the affluent. We ask the city to re-evaluate the proposed fee schedule recognizing the obvious and significant cultural and economic benefits that accrue from a vibrant historic preservation program.” To read the PSPF letter click here.
The new fees can be found on page 227 (and elsewhere) of the September 25, 2025 city staff report. To read the city staff report click here.
