Progress & Preservation...Together

LETTER FROM COUNCILMAN CHARLIE BROWN ON HISTORIC DESIGNATION

Proposed Historic Designation of Washington Park East

By Councilman Charlie Brown

"Progress & Preservation Together", a neighborhood, non-profit advocacy group, has undertaken the task of requesting the Denver Landmark Preservation Commission to designate portions of the Washington Park neighborhood as historic. The area currently under consideration would be bounded by Exposition to Louisiana and South Franklin to the alley between South Race and South Vine. It includes approximately 650 homes.

Since the creation of an Historic District may be a quasi-judicial City Council action, I feel it is appropriate to remain neutral at this time. However, procedural matters are appropriate for me to discuss. Therefore, I am taking this opportunity to outline the process.

The Historic Designation Process

The City and County of Denver has a Landmark Preservation Ordinance, Chapter 30, of the Revised Municipal Code, which details the process for determining historical designation. Following is a review of key elements in the historic district designation process, which, as you can see, is long and comprehensive.

The Denver Landmark Preservation Commission (LPC) receives applications from various sources - Historic Denver, Inc., neighborhood organizations and individuals, for example. Only on very rare occasions, generally when the city owns the property in question, is the city the applicant. Sometimes the LPC asks groups like Historic Denver to serve as the applicant in these cases.

Prior to the submission of a final application for designation, applicants seeking designation meet with the Designation Committee of the LPC for guidance. This meeting is called a "pre-application conference." There may be a series of pre-application conferences before an application is ready for review by the full Commission. When an application comes into the LPC office, the staff reviews it for completeness and checks that it adequately demonstrates that the criteria required for historic designation are met. Progress & Preservation Together is pursuing a second pre-application conference this fall.

Landmark Preservation Commission Review
If it looks complete, the application goes to the Landmark Commission for a preliminary investigation to confirm that the application is complete and that the criteria are met.

After preliminary review (which may take more than one meeting) the Commission will schedule a public hearing. At this point, notices are sent out to all property owners in the district notifying them of the hearing on the proposed designation.

District designations are generally reviewed by the Planning Board for consideration of broad planning issues. The Planning Board then makes a recommendation to be read into the record at the Landmark Preservation Commission hearing.

The LPC public hearing provides an opportunity for public testimony and questions on the proposed designation. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Commission makes a recommendation to City Council as to whether the proposed district qualifies for Landmark designation. Receiving approval from the Landmark Commission is an all important first step in the historic designation process.

City Council
The Land Use Committee of City Council receives and reviews the application with the Landmark Commission's recommendation for designation. If everything is in order, the application along with the recommendation for designation is forwarded to the full City Council, where it is presented to the Council at "First Reading." Then, typically one week after First Reading is the Second Reading at City Council. This second reading is a public hearing, which affords interested parties another opportunity to speak in favor of, or against the designation. As part of the public testimony during this public hearing, the LPC makes its recommendation regarding the designation. At the conclusion of this hearing the City Council will vote whether to approve the District as a Denver Landmark Historic District. It takes all of Council to consider a landmark application, not just the Councilperson who has that property in his/her district.

Time Frame
The designation process for a residential district can take an average of three years, depending on complexity of issues.

What Happens If Historic Designation Is Approved?

Design Review
Once the designation is in place for a district, any changes to the exterior of a property which requires a building permit must go through design review. All decisions are based on the LPC Design Guidelines which are available on the web at www.denvergov.org. The Guidelines incorporate the Secretary of the Interior's Standard for Rehabilitation of Historic Buildings.

Generally the Landmark Preservation Committee must approve all alterations and additions. However, there are some minor changes that can be reviewed by Planning staff, such as re-roofing, detached garages, replacement of downspouts and gutters, or tuck-pointing and receive a "quick sign-off" with no wait. Other minor changes may need "administrative approvals" from Planning and can be done in less than two weeks. If the project requires review by the full Commission, the process takes two to four weeks unless there are some unusual difficulties.

Demolition
The Landmark Commission must review requests for the demolition of any structure in a Denver Landmark District. The Commission may deny such requests.

Tax Credits
State and Federal tax credits are available for certain rehabilitation expenses to structures in historic districts. More details are available on the web at www.denvergov.org.

Additional Information

If you would like updated information of the application effort, please contact Progress & Preservation Together at 303-733-7089.

If you would like more general information on historic designation please call Devon Buckels at the City's Community Planning & Development office, 720-865-2931.

I hope this information will be helpful. Please feel free to contact me or my staff on this issue. If you have questions on other issues or concerns, my district office is located at 2324 East Exposition. My phone number is (303)871-0601, and my e-mail address is charlie.brown@ci.denver.co.us.