What form should Boulder City’s Historic Preservation ordinances take? Should there be a committee that has the ability to tell a homeowner what changes they can or cannot make to their property? And what would the process of appealing a decision look like?
Should these decisions be based upon the National Register of Historic Places criteria? And, should Boulder City Neighborhoods be able to band together to create their own ‘Historic Preservation’ neighborhoods?
These are just some of the important questions you’ll be asked when you take the Historic Preservation Plan Survey – online HERE. It takes about 5-10 minutes, and you only have until next Monday, November 30th, so find some time soon, as this is really important for our community and the future of Historic Preservation and what changes might be made to our City Code.
We told you just a few months ago HERE, how a complete inventory had recently been completed in Boulder City, identifying which properties in town in the Historic District were considered to be ‘contributing’ or ‘non-contributing’ structures. (There is also a YouTube video summary as part of this article that is worth a view, :50 minutes long.)
That’s super important, because according to that survey, less than 50% of our homes within the Historic District are still contributing. We’re still retaining our listing on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), but we shouldn’t assume we will continue to receive that distinction ongoing.
But if we’re serious about historic preservation in town, and most would agree this is at least somewhat important, then what sorts of laws and city code should be put in place to protect that? And what about the property rights of existing owners? There’s a lot to discuss, and this is the next step in a long line of steps that will be opportunities for public input.
And…let’s be honest, given the whole situation with the pandemic, whatever your position on that is, our ability to meet in a large ‘workshop’ format as a community is for now, diminished with no clear end in sight. which makes taking this online survey NOW even more important!
This will give the City Council, staff and other leadership some clear guideposts on what YOU in the community think. So get busy folks, we all love our town and want it’s treasures maintained. But there is much to discuss on how we as a community should go about this, and to find a path forward that works for all.
