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Historic Preservation
On August 14, 2007, the San Jose City Council approved the Martha Gardens Conservation Area. The Martha Gardens Conservation Area is generally bounded on the north by Interstate 280, on the east generally by the rear property lines of the lots on the east side of South Third Street, on the west by the alley between South First and Second Streets, and on the south by Martha Street.
 The Martha Gardens Conservation Area is only the second neighborhood (after the 2004 Market Almaden Conservation Area) to receive this designation since the formal Conservation Area designation process was adopted by ordinance in 2004. The three Conservation Areas previously established are Hanchett and Hester Park, Naglee Park, and Palm Haven.
The City of San José, the Spartan Keyes Neighborhood Advisory Committee (NAC), Martha Gardens Specific Plan Advisory Committee (SPAC), and the community collaboratively developed an SNI Neighborhood Improvement Plan in May 2002 and a Specific Plan for the East Gardner and Martha Gardens neighborhood areas, respectively in December 2003. The Martha Gardens Specific Plan established Neighborhood Design Guidelines for the area. Within those guidelines is Policy 2.7, which states that: “the City should prepare an intensive and comprehensive level historic resources survey of the Victorian Neighborhood Sub-Area, to identify historically and/or architecturally significant resources in this area.” Furthermore, Policy 2.8 within the Plan calls to: “Conduct a feasibility study to determine whether designating all or part of the Victorian Neighborhood Sub-Area as a Historic District is warranted.”
In the Historic Preservation Ordinance, Chapter 13.48 of the San José Municipal Code, the definition of a conservation area is as follows: “a ‘Conservation Area’ means a geographically definable area of urban or rural character with identifiable attributes embodied by: (1) architecture, urban design, development patterns, setting, or geography; and (2) history”. The criteria for designation as a Conservation Area includes meeting the intent as defined above, and shall meet one or both of the following additional criteria:
- The neighborhood or area has a distinctive character conveying: (1) a sense of cohesiveness through its design, architecture, setting, materials, or natural features; and (2) its history, or
- The neighborhood or area reflects significant geographical or developmental patterns associated with different eras of growth in the City.
The Study, recently prepared by Archives & Architecture, concluded that the Martha Gardens neighborhood meets the criteria for listing as a Conservation Area.
Martha Gardens Historic District Study
Martha Gardens map
The Department of Parks & Recreation forms |
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