Historic Preservation Ordinance

Boulder Revised Code Section 9-11  

The Historic Preservation Ordinance has four areas of focus:

• Designation of landmarks and historic districts;
• Review and approval authority of proposed alterations to these buildings, and to new construction or proposed demolition in these areas;
• Review of applications for demolition or moving of non-landmarked buildings over 50 years old to prevent the loss of buildings that may have historical or architectural significance and to provide the time necessary to initiate designation or to consider alternatives for the building.
• In order to preserve the historic integrity of the individual landmarks and properties within historic districts, the historic preservation ordinance requires prior approval of exterior changes to buildings or sites, or proposed demolitions. Proposals must meet the purposes and standards outlined in the historic preservation code, and adopted design guidelines. These tasks are carried out by the Landmarks Board. 

---

In the early 1970's, Boulder residents saw the demolition of a number of important structures and formed a grassroots effort to protect the city’s abundant historic resources. Out of this effort rose the urgency for a legal mechanism for evaluating and preserving historic sites. In 1974, the Boulder Historic Preservation Ordinance was passed. With the City Council adoption of the code, Boulder became one of the first cities in Colorado with the authority to designate historical, architectural or cultural resources considered valuable to the community as a whole and to prevent the demolition or destruction of such resources.

Today, Boulder has an impressive supply of architectural and historic resources from its early history. This historic character- from neighborhoods with intact late 19th-century/early 20th-century buildings to scattered individual landmarks- is part of what defines Boulder’s unique quality of place and charm.

 

Last Updated on Thursday, 01 November 2007 02:32