Landmark agency needs council check

 

Rocky Mountain News   Landmark agency needs council check Panel is unelected and not in charter October 17, 2005 We have few architectural pretensions and are reluctant to weigh in on the merits of building a 320-foot condominium tower on what is now historic-district land near Cherry Creek in LoDo. Instead we want to narrow the issue to this: Should an unelected board with no authority in the city charter have the final say over the borders of that historic district? No, it shouldn't, and the law should be adjusted accordingly. The Denver Landmark Preservation Commission was created three decades ago by ordinance. The voters were not asked to certify its powers. It is in the news because it voted last month to kill a request to move the outer edge of the Lower Downtown Historic District boundary so the tower could be built. It could have forwarded the request to the city council with a go or no-go recommendation, but vetoing the project outright was within its authority. The tower would go up on land near Speer Boulevard and Market Street that Mayor John Hickenlooper's administration swapped for a couple of parking lots at Fox Street and W. Colfax Avenue that it needs for the new Justice Center. The city originally agreed to pay $450,000 on top of a $2.7 million price for the parking lots if the land sale isn't completed by Nov. 1, but last week the developer said he won't demand the extra payment. As far as we can ascertain, the preservation commission is the only non-charter board in the city with the power to terminate a proposed zoning modification. The Board of Adjustment for zoning appeals also has powers that city council can't override, but the board is established in the charter. Councilwoman Jeanne Faatz said she was astounded that the commission, whose members are appointed by the mayor for set terms, can keep the council from reviewing its decisions. The commission is rarely asked to shrink district boundaries. Usually it is asked to expand them, or to designate certain structures as historically worthy. But there's no reason boundaries shouldn't be revised if a project would clearly benefit the city. Council should make sure it has the power to review proposed changes in historic district boundaries, accepting or rejecting recommendations of the commission. Short of that, citizens should be asked to vote on a charter amendment that establishes the commission as final arbiter on what areas and buildings are eligible for historic designation. Copyright 2005, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved.