The Old City Cemetery Committee's master plan has always had as one of their goals, to be on the National Register of Historic Places. The Center for Sacramento History wrote up the proposal and it was approved. With that goal achieved it brought much with it. That included another city agency all to do with preservation and the responsibilities as follows.
The Preservation Director's responsibilities are:
Oversee the operation of the city's historic preservation program and staff in the identification, protection and assistance in the preservation of Sacramento's Historic Resources.
Advise the city and its various entities and staff on historic preservation issues, including rehabilitation standards and historic resources surveys.
Preliminary determinations as to a property's eligibility for listing in the Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural Resources.
Maintain the Sacramento Register.
Review and approve site plan and design review projects that are located in an historic district and/or involve a landmark structure.
The Cemetery is now an historic district. They are trying to do that job. The volunteers were given no voice in the planting guidelines nor was the add-hock committee of volunteers involved in the formulation of these guidelines. Naturally they made them easy to apply. Very simple and straight forward. They basically boil down to this. Nothing touching or blocking the view of, from any approach, any monument or headstone. Nothing over the edge of any hardscape. No structures or supports of any kind. As you can imagine, these are hardly condusive to any plants but short muffin shaped plants with a bare area between them and all the hardscape. The City says they want the gardens there but the guidelines don't give that impression. Some of the volunteers spoke to the press as a last resort and it's been chaotic since. The hue and cry of mass emails from around the world and meetings with the next level of city officials has but things on hold for the time being but has left some of us in limbo and on the naughty list. Now we wait. But your right about volunteers feeling discouraged Donald
@needrain and your correct also
@Alyssablue it is madness. The cemetery has been revitalized by a core of volunteers for more than two decades. They have raised funds to fix what was broken.They have inventoried and catalogued all those buried here along with there monuments photographed. All the documents have been scanned and uploaded to a database built by a volunteer. All accessible from the website they pay for. And the local plant clubs have been enlisted long ago to help to beautify this place and they along with other volunteers have done substantial parts of the 30 acres here. The head butting is over but those relationships between the city and volunteers will be hard to mend I think. Even the volunteers have been add odds amongst themselves over this issue and the ensuing air of tension. We need the city counsel to step up along with the preservation board to hammer out a solution that is best for the public. To keep the cemetery relevant to the community at large. If we can save the supports for the roses that would be a major step in the right direction. I'm hopeful that more thoughtful minds will find the guidelines as needlessly rigid as I do.
Sorry this is so lengthy......I could go on and on about this and that and the other but I see i've done that already.
