First things first: Karen does a good job with a very confusing subject.

The article covers 3 very different and confusing things. land use, zoning and preservation. The article weaves historic preservation, zoning, and land use together as if all three were equal. In fact, they are not.

For example, my wife, my daughter and I are one family, but we are 3 very different people. Likewise, land use, zoning and historic preservation are related but govern different things.

Land use = what kinds of uses are allowed in our neighborhood, residential, commercial, industrial etc

For example: Multi-family also known as high density/medium density residential and single family (low density residential) are classified as residential land uses.

Zoning = how we use our individual properties within our neighborhood. Otherwise known as our property rights.
Longmont’s zoning code dictates among others, the types, kinds and how many homes are allowed in a specific residential zone.

Historic Preservation Ordinance = how a landmarked or designated property or district (multiple properties) looks in relation to other properties.

The historic preservation ordinance only dictates what a landmarked home, business or historic district can look like. The historic preservation ordinance cannot dictate how historic properties are used. The preservation ordinance does not distinguish between a landmark being used for a residence or a hair salon.

SO what do we know?

352 Baker Street is a single family home in a low density residential zone (zoning), and happens to be eligible for local historic designation.

Also - 352 Baker Street is NOT in a local historic district.

What does this mean for 352 Baker Street and the Historic East Side Neighborhood?

A historic preservation ordinance cannot stop a multi-unit building from being built. The preservation ordinance CAN influence how it looks BUT ONLY if the building is located IN a local historic district.

352 Baker is located in a zoning district that requires neighborhood compatibility but not to the extent that local historic district design guidelines would.

Title 15 the land development code – dictates zoning and among other things how we use property. The specific zoning district for 352 Baker uses math to determine how many homes can be located on a particular block. For the 300 Block of Baker (which includes the even side of Baker and odd side of Martin) up to 27 homes are allowed. There are approximately 19 on that block. Which means according to the zoning code, 8 units could be added.

The discussion regarding this property and perhaps historic preservation in the Historic Eastside will no doubt, come down to City Council. The legal facts are in favor of the property owner – the use is allowed, the residential density requested is allowed and there is no way except by an act of Council to stop a demolition.

I think the discussion should focus on “can“. Can 352 Baker be saved and renovated to achieve the developer’s goals and support the historic character of the neighborhood? I would suggest yes, the property can be reused and still allow the developer to meet their goals. BUT, not without some sort of incentive that offsets the costs associated with preserving something derelict.

As I noted earlier quite a few residential units can be added to this block. An option for Council/staff to consider is to allow a density increase and possibly exemptions from certain requirements like parking standards and/or setbacks, in exchange for saving a certain percentage (more than 50%) of the historically eligible structure.

There are several examples of old homes that were condo’d in the neighborhood, 4th & Collyer, and several along Kimbark Street and 3rd Avenue. There is also an example of a newer building on a similar sized lot at 10th & Kimbark Street.

Lastly - Historic preservation should not mothball or freeze neighborhoods in time. Rather a good preservation program allows historic neighborhoods to stay relevant by allowing historic properties and neighborhoods to change and evolve in a way that preserves neighborhood character.

Glad to see the house is being preserved. Can't wait to see the brownstones go up.

Congratulations, Jerry! Good luck on Saturday.

Congratulations to everyone who rode to work today!

two words. Opposable Thumbs.

All rides this year will begin and end at Roosevelt Park. Due to the Greenway closure we won't ride to Golden Ponds and the Solstice ride which usually occurs late in June (to Oskar Blues) has been updated to show greenway closures. See you tonight!

Be a part of Longmont's biggest, free, family friendly bike event! Bike Night starts tomorrow. See you at 6:30pm - near the flag pole on the east end of Roosevelt park.

On behalf of the directors of Bicycle Longmont I'd like to thank the Longmont Foundation and it's funders for investing in our Earn-a-Bike program. Thank you very much.

Old Town keeps getting better. Great news, congratulations to the Hollenbecks and thanks to Cotton Burden for making this happen.

Congratulations to the folks who showed up to the open forum a couple weeks ago, and to City Council for not letting this Longmont tradition go-away. Nice work.