Planning Code - Landmark Designation - The Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples
Ord. No. 0125-23
in effectFILE NO. 230493
ORDINANCE NO. 125-23
[Planning Code - Landmark Designation - The Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples]
Ordinance amending the Planning Code to designate The Church for the Fellowship of
All Peoples, at 2041 Larkin Street, Assessor's Parcel Block No. 0572, Lot No. 003, as a
Landmark consistent with the standards set forth in Article 10 of the Planning Code;
affirming the Planning Department's determination under the California Environmental
Quality Act; and making public necessity, convenience, and welfare findings under
Planning Code, Section 302, and findings of consistency with the General Plan, and the
eight priority policies of Planning Code, Section 101.1.
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Be it ordained by the People of the City and County of San Francisco:
Section 1. CEQA and Land Use Findings.
(a) The Planning Department has determined that the actions contemplated in this
ordinance comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (California Public Resources
Code Sections 21000 et seq.). Said determination is on file with the Clerk of the Board of
Supervisors in File No. 230493 and is incorporated herein by reference. The Board of
Supervisors affirms this determination.
(b) Pursuant to Planning Code Section 302, the Board of Supervisors finds that the
proposed landmark designation of The Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples, at 2041
Larkin Street, Assessor's Parcel Block No. 0572, Lot No. 003, will serve the public necessity,
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convenience, and welfare for the reasons set forth in Historic Preservation Commission
Resolution No. 1325, recommending approval of the proposed designation, which is
incorporated herein by reference.
(c) On April 19, 2023, the Historic Preservation Commission, in Resolution No. 1325,
adopted findings that the actions contemplated in this ordinance are consistent, on balance,
with the City's General Plan and with the eight priority policies of Planning Code Section
101.1. The Board adopts these findings as its own.
Section 2. General Findings.
(a) Pursuant to Charter Section 4.135, the Historic Preservation Commission has
authority "to recommend approval, disapproval, or modification of landmark designations and
historic district designations under the Planning Code to the Board of Supervisors."
(b) Planning Department Preservation staff prepared a Landmark Designation Fact
Sheet for The Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples. All preparers meet the Secretary of
the Interior's Professional Qualification Standards for historic preservation program staff, as
set forth in Code of Federal Regulations Title 36, Part 61, Appendix A. The report was
reviewed for accuracy and conformance with the purposes and standards of Article 10 of the
Planning Code.
(c) The Historic Preservation Commission, at its regular meeting of April 19, 2023,
reviewed Planning Department staff's analysis of the historical significance of The Church for
the Fellowship of All Peoples set forth in the Landmark Designation Fact Sheet dated April 19,
2023.
(d) On March 1, 2023, after holding a public hearing on the proposed initiation, the
Historic Preservation Commission initiated landmark designation of The Church for the
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Fellowship of All Peoples by Resolution No. 1317. Said resolution in on file with the Clerk of
the Board in File No. 230493.
(e) On April 19, 2023, after holding a public hearing on the proposed designation, and
having considered the specialized analyses prepared by Planning Department staff and the
Landmark Designation Fact Sheet, the Historic Preservation Commission recommended
designation of The Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples as a landmark under Article 10 of
the Planning Code by Resolution No. 1325. Said resolution is on file with the Clerk of the
Board in File No. 230493.
(f) The Board of Supervisors hereby finds that The Church for the Fellowship of All
Peoples has a special character and special historical, architectural, and aesthetic interest
and value, and that its designation as a Landmark will further the purposes of and conform to
the standards set forth in Article 10 of the Planning Code. In doing so, the Board hereby
incorporates by reference the findings of the Landmark Designation Fact Sheet.
Section 3. Designation.
Pursuant to Section 1004.3 of the Planning Code, The Church for the Fellowship of All
Peoples, at 2041 Larkin Street, Assessor's Parcel Block No. 0572, Lot No. 003, is hereby
designated as a San Francisco Landmark under Article 10 of the Planning Code. Appendix A
to Article 10 of the Planning Code is hereby amended to include this property.
Section 4. Required Data.
(a) The description, location, and boundary of the Landmark site consists of the City
parcel located at 2041 Larkin Street (aka The Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples), in
Assessor's Parcel Block No. 0572, Lot No. 003, in San Francisco's Russian Hill
neighborhood.
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(b) The characteristics of the Landmark that justify its designation are described and
shown in the Landmark Designation Fact Sheet and other supporting materials contained in
Planning Department Record Docket No. 2022-003913DES. In brief, The Church for the
Fellowship of All Peoples is eligible for local designation because it is associated with the lives
of historically significant people, specifically, Dr. Howard Thurman and Sue Bailey Thurman,
and because it is associated with events that have made a culturally and historically
significant contribution to the broad patterns of San Francisco history. Designation of The
Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples is proper for its association with Dr. Howard
Thurman, co-founder and pastor of The Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples from 1944 to
1 o
1953, who was a nationally prominent theologian, religious scholar and educator, renowned
author, prolific lecturer, spiritual advisor to many African American religious and political
leaders, one of the principle intellectual influences shaping the modern, nonviolent civil rights
movement, and a visionary for a new, multi-racial American Christianity. Designation of The
Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples is also proper for its association with Sue Bailey
Thurman, author, editor, lecturer, historian, and community organizer, renowned for her efforts
to integrate and progress the lives of Black women, dissemination of African American history,
and advocacy of interracial, intercultural, and international understanding in support of
universal emancipation. Designation of The Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples,
established in 1943, one of the first inter-racial, inter-cultural, inter-denominational churches in
the United States, is also proper as a culturally and historically significant site representative
of African American social, cultural, and intellectual life, and associated with the struggle for
integration and civil rights, as described in the African American Citywide Historic Context
Statement (Final Draft: May 2019). The Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples moved into
its permanent home at 2041 Larkin Street after purchasing the property in 1949.
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(c) The particular features that should be preserved, or replaced in-kind as determined
necessary, are those shown in photographs and/or described in the Landmark Designation
Fact Sheet, which can be found in Planning Department Record Docket No. 2022-
003913DES, and which are incorporated in this designation by reference as though fully set
forth. Specifically, the following features are character-defining and shall be preserved or
replaced in kind:
(1) All those exterior elevations, architectural ornament, and materials of The
Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples, identified as:
(A) Two-story height;
(B) Bell tower, clad in smooth stucco, rising from southeast corner of
structure;
(C) Smooth stucco (front fac;ade) cladding with bas relief decoration at
apex of peaked-gable parapet and flanking the upper floor window opening;
(0) Window and door openings at front and side elevations;
(E) Entrance doors, consisting of three recessed, pointed arch openings
with paired wood doors under wood transom sash with translucent glazing;
(F) Wood windows, consisting of:
(i) Wood-framed, arched, double-hung, stained-glass, wood sash
at side elevations of second floor;
(ii) Wood-framed, multi-lite, fixed, stained-glass, wood sash
window with pointed arched head at front fac;ade;
(iii) Wood-framed, arched, single-lite over single-lite, wood double-
hung at side elevations; and
(2) The following are character-defining interior features of The Church for the
Fellowship of All Peoples, all of which were historically accessible to the public:
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(A) Entrance vestibule with walls of textured stucco, mimicking travertine;
(8) Stairs to second floor sanctuary, including mirrored dog-leg
configuration, wood treads and risers, wood handrails with turned balusters and posts, and
wood wainscot with chair rail;
(C) Intermediate and second floor stair landings, consisting of a double-
height space with walls of textured stucco, mimicking travertine, capped with a picture rail of
molded plaster, under a curved and arched dome ceiling clad in smooth plaster;
(D) Sanctuary;
(i) Painted wood ceiling beams that curve to extend as brackets
along the sidewalls;
(ii) Wood-framed, arched window openings;
(iii) Raised platform at west end of sanctuary bounded by a tall,
wood-paneled railing with wood corner posts;
(E) Stained-glass windows and angled, stained-glass and wood-paneled
walls, at second floor stair landing and east end of sanctuary; and
(F) Spatial configuration and layout of Thurman Hall (also known as
Fellowship Hall) at ground floor of building.
Section 5. Effective Date. This ordinance shall become effective 30 days after
enactment. Enactment occurs when the Mayor signs the ordinance, the Mayor returns the
ordinance unsigned or does not sign the ordinance within ten days of receiving it, or the Board
of Supervisors overrides the Mayor's veto of the ordinance.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
DAVID CHIU, City Attorney
Supervisors Peskin; Preston, Melgar
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By:
Isl Peter R. Miljanich
PETER R. MILJANICH
Deputy City Attorney
n:\legana\as2023\1800206\01667523.docx
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City and County of San Francisco
Tails
Ordinance
City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton 8. Goodlett Place
San Francisco, CA 94102-4689
File Number:
230493
Date Passed: June 27, 2023
Ordinance amending the Planning Code to designate The Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples, at
2041 Larkin Street, Assessor's Parcel Block No. 0572, Lot No. 003, as a Landmark consistent with the
standards set forth in Article 10 of the Planning Code; affirming the Planning Department's
determination under the California Environmental Quality Act; and making public necessity,
convenience, and welfare findings under Planning Code, Section 302, and findings of consistency with
the General Plan, and the eight priority policies of Planning Code, Section 101.1.
June 05, 2023 Land Use and Transportation Committee - RECOMMENDED
June 13, 2023 Board of Supervisors - PASSED ON FIRST READING
Ayes: 11 - Chan, Dorsey, Engardio, Mandelman, Melgar, Peskin, Preston, Ronen,
Safai, Stefani and Walton
June 27, 2023 Board of Supervisors - Fl NALLY PASSED
Ayes: 11 - Chan, Dorsey, Engardio, Mandelman, Melgar, Peskin, Preston, Ronen,
Safai, Stefani and Walton
File No. 230493
London N. Breed
Mayor
City and County of San Francisco
Page 1
I hereby certify that the foregoing
Ordinance was FINALLY PASSED on
6/27/2023 by the Board of Supervisors of the
City and County of San Francisco.
/
Angela Calvillo
Clerk of the Board
Date Approved
Printed at 9:40 am on 6/28/23
References
amendsSec. 1015
Source: sf_ordinance_pdfURL: https://sfbos.archive.sf.gov/sites/default/files/o0125-23.pdfFetched: 7/4/2026