Community Planning and Development

If you’re reading this, chances are that you enjoy historical places in Denver and you want to see them preserved. But how is this goal achieved? Historic preservation is largely accomplished through either advocacy or regulation. Denver is lucky to have several historic preservation advocacy organizations, such as Historic Denver, the Denver Old House Society, Colorado Preservation, Inc., and a regional office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The essential mission of these non-profits is to educate people about the benefits of historic preservation and advocate for the preservation of historic places in Denver, the state, and our region as a whole. Examples of work these organizations do include the educational workshops that Historic Denver conducts, the Old House Fairs from the Denver Old House Society, the lobbying efforts of Colorado Preservation, Inc. on statewide preservation issues, and the funding and informational resources offered by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. As is often quoted, knowledge is power and these organizations empower the citizens of Denver to protect and care for their built heritage.

 

On the regulatory side of the spectrum is the work we do in the Department of Community Planning and Development as part of Landmark Preservation. Through Chapter 30 of the Denver Revised Municipal Code, the city is legally empowered to do the following activities:

In addition to the items above, we also have contractual agreements with History Colorado (the Colorado Historical Society), a state agency, to review applications for the state historic preservation tax credit, comment on new National Register nominations, and participate in federally-mandated environmental review.

 

All of the work we do in Landmark Preservation is designed to involve many opportunities for public input. The key vehicle for this transparency is our volunteer-staffed Landmark Preservation Commission (LPC) and the Lower Downtown Design Review Board (LDDRB). The LPC and LDDRB are responsible for reviewing all historic district and building nominations (and sending approved nominations to City Council for final approval). The LPC and LDDRB also review and approve approximately thirty percent of all design review applications (the remaining seventy percent are done as approvals at the staff level and usually involve very minor changes). The public is encouraged to attend the meetings of these bodies, which are posted on our web site.

 

The phrase “historic district” without any further qualifiers is ambiguous at best as not all historic districts are created equal. The city, through a public process, creates what are known as local historic districts and it is only in these kinds of districts where there is a requirement for property owners to seek Landmark approval for certain changes to their properties. Owners in federal or state historic districts do not need Denver Landmark approval before making changes to their properties. If you don’t know if your property is in a local district or not, go to Denver Maps and enter your address. You’ll get a complete report on the Landmark status of your property along with zoning and local amenity information.

 

Similar to districts, there are also locally, federally, and state designated individual historic properties. If your property is individually designated at the local level, then certain changes need to be approved by Denver Landmark prior to obtaining a zoning or building permit. Buildings only designated at the state or federal level do not need this approval. The report from Denver Maps will also tell you if your property is an individually designated historic property at the local level.

 

So what kinds of changes need to go through Landmark design review? The simplest way to answer this question is that if the changes to the outside of your property require a building or zoning permit, you’ll need to submit a design review application to Landmark prior to obtaining a permit and commencing work. If no permit is required, then there is no requirement for Landmark design review. For instance, these changes require Landmark review because they require a permit:

The work of preservation advocacy organizations balances the regulatory activities of the city and both aspects are critical to effective historic preservation in Denver. By working together, we can help assure that Denver’s irreplaceable built heritage will be here for future generations to come.