§ 30-4 — Procedure for designating structures and districts for preservation

Sec. 30-4. - Procedure for designating structures and districts for preservation.

(1) Initiation of procedure. An application for designation shall be submitted to the commission for due consideration through the process described herein. An application for designation may be submitted: (a) By the owner or owners of the property or properties to be designated; (b) By the executive director; (c) By a member or members of city council; (d) By non-owners of the property or properties to be designated, in which case the application must be submitted by three (3) persons who are residents of the City and County of Denver. Such an application for designation shall describe the appearance of the structure or district and shall demonstrate how the structure or district meets the criteria for designation set forth herein. The commission shall provide an application form and instructions that set out the required information for designation applications. (2) Withdrawing of applications. An applicant may withdraw its application at any time before a bill for an ordinance to designate a structure or district is filed with city council. An application filed by three (3) persons as allowed in section 30-4(1)(d) above, must be withdrawn by all three (3) persons who filed the application. (3) Preliminary review. The commission staff shall conduct a preliminary review to determine whether the application is complete, and whether the structure or district is eligible for designation. If the applicant is not the owner of the property, the owner shall be notified at every stage of the designation proceedings. If preliminary review determines the application to be complete and the structure or district to be eligible for designation, the commission staff shall set the time, date and place for the public hearing before the commission (hereinafter called a "designation hearing") and the review shall proceed as described. If not, the applicant shall be advised of the reasons the application is incomplete or the structure or district does not meet the criteria for designation. However, the applicant may require that the application be forwarded to the commission, which shall then decide whether to send it to a public hearing. (4) Scheduling of designation hearing by the commission. If an application has been forwarded to the commission in spite of staffs findings that it was not complete or did not meet the criteria for designation, the commission shall review the application and staff's recommendation to determine if the application is complete and demonstrates that the structure or district is potentially eligible for designation. If the commission finds the application complete and the property potentially eligible for designation it shall schedule a public hearing on the question of designation at a specified time, date and place. (5) Notice of hearing. Notice of the designation hearing shall be given as follows: (a) Written notice of the time, date, place and subject of the hearing shall be sent no fewer than twenty-five (25) days and no more than forty (40) days prior to the hearing to all owners of record as determined from records in the assessor's office who own property containing a structure being proposed for designation for preservation or within a proposed district for preservation. The written notice to owners of property containing a structure being proposed for designation for preservation shall be by first class and certified mail. The written notice to owners of property within a proposed district shall be by first class mail. (b) Signs indicating the proposed action and the time, date and place of the hearing shall be posted by the commission on all property proposed for designation as a structure for preservation and on the boundaries of all areas proposed for designation as a district for preservation, no fewer than fifteen (15) days prior to the hearing. These signs shall be prominently displayed and easily readable from abutting public ways. (c) Written notice of the proposed designation, including the identification of the property, the basis for commencing the designation procedure, and the time, date and place of the hearing shall be given to the executive director no fewer than twenty-five (25) days prior to the hearing. (6) Review by planning board. The planning board may review a proposed designation for a district for preservation with respect to: (a) Its relationship to the comprehensive plan; (b) The effect of the designation upon the surrounding neighborhood; and (c) Such other planning considerations as may be relevant to the proposed designation. The board may recommend approval or denial of the proposed designation and if a recommendation is made it shall contain a statement of the basis therefor. If a recommendation is made by the board, said recommendation shall be delivered to the city council for council's consideration. (7) Hearing: (a) A quorum of the commission shall conduct the hearing. A hearing may be continued. If the hearing is continued, the time, date and place of the continuation shall be established and announced to those present when the current session is to be adjourned. (b) Reasonable opportunity shall be provided for all interested parties to express their opinions regarding the proposed designation or designations. However, nothing contained herein shall be construed to prevent the commission from establishing reasonable rules to govern the proceedings of the hearings, or from establishing reasonable limits on the length of individual presentations. (c) Transcripts of the hearings are not required; however, the commission's records shall include the name and address of each speaker; the organization or person the speaker represents, if any; whether or not the speaker is an owner or holder of some interest in an affected property, or represents such owner or holder; and each speaker's position on the designation. Written presentations, including the report of the board, shall be incorporated into the record of the hearing. All recordings, documents, and physical evidence considered shall be retained for sixty (60) days after designation. (8) Findings and recommendations of the commission. The commission shall consider the designation criteria in section 30-3 in making its determination. The commission shall act officially on each proposed designation within forty-five (45) days after the hearing thereon. The commission may recommend to approve or recommend to modify any proposal, but no proposal may be extended beyond the boundaries of the land described in the final application for designation unless the initiation and hearing procedure is repeated for the enlarged boundaries. The commission may also deny the application, which shall terminate the designation procedure. The commission shall set forth in its recommendation the findings of fact which constitute the basis for its decision. If the commission fails to act within the forty-five-day period, the designation shall be deemed to have been denied, and the designation procedure terminated. If more than one (1) property is involved in the designation procedure, the commission may approve in part and deny in part. Each part shall then be treated as a separate action. In no event may any property be added to the area described in the final application for designation without instituting a new designation procedure. (9) Transmittal to city council. Within thirty (30) days after reaching a decision to recommend approval or recommend to modify a designation application, the commission shall forward to city council the commission's recommendation on the designation of a structure or district for preservation, including the description of the property involved, and the findings upon which the recommendation was based. (10) Action by city council. City council shall hold a public hearing if the commission recommends approval or modification to designate property as a structure for preservation or a district for preservation. Prior to general comment at a public hearing, owners and applicants of a structure for designation and owners or residents of structures in a district for designation shall have a reasonable opportunity to present their case regarding the proposed designation or designations at the public hearing, pursuant to the council's rules of procedure. City council may approve the designation of property as a structure for preservation or a district for preservation after considering the recommendations of the commission, the written views of owners of affected property, and any other comments received at the public hearing; and city council may deny the designation based on any of the considerations above. However, if no bill for an ordinance to designate a structure or district is filed within ninety (90) days after transmittal of the recommendation, the designation procedure is terminated. (11) Recording of designation. Within fifteen (15) days of the effective date (date of final publication) of an ordinance designating property as a structure for preservation or a district for preservation, the commission shall notify the executive director of the official designation and shall record among the real property records of the clerk and recorder a notice stating that specified property has been designated as a structure for preservation or a district for preservation, and citing the ordinance and the effective date thereof which made the designation effective. Failure to record such notice within the required time shall suspend the effective date of the designation until the recording has been made. (12) Notification. Within twenty (20) days after the recording of the notice of designation, the staff of the commission shall send to the owner of each property affected by the designation a letter outlining the reasons for such designation and the obligations and restrictions created by such designation.

(Code 1950, § 131.12(6); Ord. No. 174-82, 4-12-82; Ord. No. 277-82, § 1, 5-24-82; Ord. No. 426-87, §§ 1—3, 8-4-87; Ord. No. 934-94, § 1(a), 11-14-94; Ord. No. 594-97, § 1, 9-2-97; Ord. No. 419-01, § 3, 5-21-01; Ord. No. 159-03, §§ 1, 2, 3-3-03; Ord. No. 69-10, §§ 1—4, 2-1-10; Ord. No. 616-12, § 4, 12-3-12; Ord. No. 914-19, § 4, 9-30-19; Ord. No. 841-22, § 1, 8-22-22)