Culver City established its historic preservation ordinance in 1991. That same year, the city adopted its historic resource survey, which led to the simultaneous designation of over 100 historic structures and three historic districts.

Not all of the designated sites are protected, however, as Culver City created a three-tiered approach to its landmark designations. The lowest-designation category, called "recognized structures," is honorary and provides no preservation design review. Buildings in the middle category, "significant structures," can be demolished following a six-month delay.

The city has a longstanding goal to update its historic preservation ordinance to more closely align with standard models of landmark designation, while also looking at a historic resource survey update that will identify postwar and recent-past structures.