Item 6D - 2018 LB Letter to Council - DRAFT
2018 Letter to City Council from the Landmarks Board – Page 1/2
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2018 Letter to City Council from the Landmarks Board
December 2, 2018
Dear City Council,
The Landmarks Board considers historic preservation critical to quality of life for all Boulder
citizens. We appreciate the opportunity to provide input on current historic preservation issues.
They are: the new ADU changes, incentives for preservation, environmental hazards and historic
preservation particularly in meeting Boulder’s Disaster Response Plan.
ADU CHANGES
For the past few years the Landmarks Board has requested support for changes in the ADU
ordinance that would offer incentives to benefit historic preservation and affordable housing
while preserving smaller historic structures. Council recognized some of these suggestions in
the new ADU ordinance. This policy change helps achieve the Historic Preservation Plan
(HPP) recommendation 1.3 Explore Ways to Preserve Smaller Buildings that are eligible
for Landmark Designation. The council’s new ordinance is one answer in a long-standing
priority for this board.
The Landmarks Board urges the City Council to continue pairing preservation with new
initiatives to preserve our endangered resources, including permitting large lots not in historic
districts to be subdivided allowing small buildings to remain in place. Repurposing small
historic buildings (ADUs) for accessory uses can avoid demolition. Currently there is no other
protection for small homes not individually landmarked or in historic districts. This policy also
avoids construction of super-large homes.
INCENTIVES FOR PRESERVATION
The Landmarks Board requests that City Council create a designated funding source similar to
Louisville’s Historic Preservation Tax to encourage landmarking and assist property owners to
make appropriate alterations to their historic buildings. As identified in HPP recommendation
1.6 Initiate New Incentives, possible options include low- or no interest loans, increases to
existing fee waivers, or specialized funding for maintaining historic properties. We recognize
that introducing new financial incentives will require a great deal of planning, but feel it is
important to the future of our program.
There is currently no city enforcement of violations of the preservation code. We are
requesting code enforcement just as all other building codes in Boulder.
Landmarks Board
1739 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80302
303-441-1881
www.boulderhistoricpreservation.net
2018 Letter to City Council from the Landmarks Board – Page 2/2
ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION
Boulder is at high risk for things like flash floods and urban wild fires and destructive weather
events. We must consider how best to deal with historic resources in the wake of natural and
human-made disasters. The Board requests City Council support for HPP recommendation 3.8
Develop a Disaster Response Plan for the Historic Preservation Program. The plan should
include pre-disaster mitigation steps such as updated and accurate survey forms and
appropriate collaboration with other city departments with the possibility of fast-track design
review. Key action steps include a disaster for Boulder’s historic resources.
There is need for collaboration between city departments that yields more coordinated plans.
The Gregory Creek Mitigation Plan produced in 2015 is a perfect example. The plan
designates the city purchase and demolish twelve small private historic houses. Because
planning is inadequate, and funds are short for the remediation of the vacated properties, this
plan will create unnecessary blight in one of our oldest neighborhoods as well as significant
loss of affordable housing stock and embodied energy. Creative interdepartmental
collaboration strategies might save these buildings.
The surveys of historic properties are woefully out of date. It is critical that the surveys are
updated. The city must take the lead in designating all city owned buildings that meet the
qualifications for landmarking in Boulder.
The Historic Preservation Program was nationally recognized in 2008 for our efforts in
integrating energy efficiency into our design guidelines and for many years, the City of
Boulder was the model for many programs across the country. Ten years later, the significant
loss of affordable housing and pressures of development to build supersized houses are putting
Boulder’s reputation at risk.
Environmental sustainability and historic preservation continue to be a priority for the
program, as reflected in the HPP goal Continue Leadership in Historic Preservation and
Environmental Sustainability.
The Historic Preservation Plan was adopted in 2013 is helping both staff and the board set
priorities and shaping the staff’s work plan. We are currently in the midst of updating the plan to
take stock of progress made to date and to ensure the document continues to be relevant and
provide clear guidance over the next ten to fifteen years.
We welcome Council's questions and feedback on these and other topics and look forward to
supporting Council's work plan for 2019. We welcome joint study sessions.
Cordially,
The Landmarks Board
Fran Sheets, Chair
John Decker, Vice Chair
Abby Daniels
2018 Letter to City Council from the Landmarks Board – Page 3/2
Bill Jellick
Ronnie Pelusio