The Board of Supervisors of Santa Cruz County hereby finds and declares as follows:
(a) Within the County of Santa Cruz there presently exists numerous historic structures, objects, sites, and areas of historic, cultural, architectural, engineering, or aesthetic significance, importance, and value;
(b) Said sites and structures are endangered by loss, alteration, or destruction;
(c) Preservation of such sites and structures as community resources for present and future generations requires a comprehensive program;
(d) It is beneficial to the public interests and welfare to preserve and protect sites, structures, objects and areas that are significant reminders of past eras, events, and persons important in local, state, or national history, or are significant architectural styles of the past, or have particular aesthetic value;
(e) The County General Plan includes historic resources policies with an objective to protect historic structures, objects, sites and districts in the unincorporated portion of the County;
(f) The purpose of this chapter is, therefore, to:
1. Implement the General Plan historic resources policies to designate, preserve, protect, enhance, and perpetuate those historic structures, districts and sites which contribute to the cultural benefit of Santa Cruz County, and to provide for this, and future generations, examples of the physical surroundings of past generations;
2. Foster civic awareness and pride in the rich diversity of the County’s heritage;
3. Protect and enhance the County’s historic structures, objects, sites and districts as a physical record of its heritage;
4. Enhance property values and the stability of the neighborhoods and areas in the County;
5. Enhance the County’s attraction to visitors through protection of the historic resources that constitute much of the County’s unique character.
6. Encourage preservation and maintenance of the cultural and historical heritage of the County for purposes of education and the fostering of the knowledge of the past. (Ord. 2493, 10/18/77; 3445, 8/23/83; 3930, 6/28/88)