Sloan's Lake Citizen's Group

Public Hearing: C.B. 214, Periods of significance in Landmark Or

Public Hearing: C.B. 214, Periods of significance in Landmark Or

TO: All Registered Neighborhood Organizations
FROM: Denver City Council
DATE: May 10, 2007
SUBJECT: Public Hearing: C.B. 214, Periods of significance in Landmark Ordinance

This is not your usual notice of public hearing. This hearing pertains to proposed additions to Chapter 30, the Landmark Preservation Ordinance. Public hearings are not required for Chapter 30 amendments, but Council has scheduled a courtesy public hearing on this bill.

Council meets at 5:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers, 4th floor of the City and County Building, 1437 Bannock Street. Anyone wishing to speak in favor of or against the proposed amendment must sign a speaker card, available from the Council Secretary, during the Recess.

Hearing Date: June 11, 2007
Council Bill Number: C.B. 214, Series of 2007 Applicability of C.B. 214

These amendments affect only the six historic districts named below. If your neighborhood is not within one of these historic districts, the proposal does not include your neighborhood.

Periods of significance
Chapter 30, Landmark Preservation, defines “period of significance” (POS) as the time period during which a structure or district gained its architectural, historical or geographical importance. This period is used to determine if a structure is contributing or non-contributing and if proposed alterations are acceptable. Case law indicates that the City needs to identify a period of significance for each district so that property owners know what is expected. Adding specific periods of significance offers a clarity that currently does not exist.

Denver has designated 44 historic districts since the ordinance was adopted in 1974. Only 11 have periods of significance identified in ordinance. The ones designated prior to 2000 do not. From now on, any ordinance designating a new district will include a period of significance.

The Landmark Preservation Commission (LPC) plans to adopt periods for all designated districts over time. Research of the information in the original designation applications and other documents has been completed on the following six districts. The LPC proposes to add the indicated periods of significance to the ordinance:

District POS
Montclair 1940
Lafayette Street 1918
Frank S. Snell 1918
Witter-Cofield 1943
Potter Highlands 1943
E. Seventh Ave. 1943


Council Bills are available on the DenverGov website at the Council Administration page; bills can be e-mailed or faxed; or bills may be purchased in the Council Office for 25 cents per page.

If you need more specific information about the hearing process, please contact Gretchen Williams at the City Council Office, Gretchen.williams@ci.denver.co.us or 720-865-9341.

RNO Information to present at Public Hearing

Anyone speaking at the Public Hearing as an authorized representative of a Registered Neighborhood Organization [RNO] should begin testimony with the following information:

1. Name of the RNO you are representing;
2. Boundaries of the RNO;
3. Number of people, households, institutions/businesses represented by the RNO and the basis for membership;
4. Date/time of the meeting when the RNO decided on its position;
5. Type of meeting, i.e. board, committee, or general membership meeting;
6. Number of members present at that meeting;
7. Description of the process for reaching the position, including if and how residents were informed of the proposal and invited to participate in decision-making
8. Votes cast for and against the proposed position.