City of Louisville

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COUNCIL EXPECTED TO APPROVE HISTORIC PRESERVATION ORDIANANCE
Historic Preservation has taken center stage in Louisville and will appear on the March 1, 2005 City Council agenda for a public hearing. This report went to press the morning of March 1. We expect Council to approve the proposed regulations. BARA staff and former Louisville City Council member Steve Anderson (also a former BARA President) reviewed the proposed ordinance and found it to be well crafted relative to protection of private property interests. A combination of property owner provisions to limit unwanted designations and a requirement for a super majority vote of City Council to over-ride property owner objections only in cases where the subject property is of “overwhelming historic importance” provides a balance that furthers broad community interests and private interests. A couple of areas of interest include provisions for demolition permit review for properties 50-year old or more, coupled with a demolition delay of up to 180 days drew some objection, but the provision is standard fair in virtually all preservation/landmark regulations. The delay is imposed if further review is needed to determine a building’s historic value. Another area of interest is relatively low 40% of property owners’ approval to consider forming a district, but that is tempered by another provision that allows written objections by 40% of property owners in a proposed district to halt the process.

COMP PLAN UPDATE DRAFT ADDS HOUSING AND BRINGS OUT CRITICS
Citizens had an opportunity to react to a draft update of the Centennial Valley Comprehensive Plan at a public meeting on February 24. In a city with about 500 acres of vacant land available citizens comments naturally focused on planned/proposed growth. In particular, the draft plan calls for an addition 1600 housing units above the 1000 that are currently planned for bring the total number to about 2600. Much of the new housing would be developed in connection with redevelopment of the StorageTek headquarters, in Centennial Valley, along South Boulder Road straddling Colo. 42, and in the Colo. 42 corridor east of downtown that is slated for redevelopment as part of the rail station and transit oriented development planned in conjunction with the implementation of FasTracks. Right now, blight studies are being conducted on the South Boulder Road and Colo. 42 properties to make way for redevelopment. Citizens at the update meeting were critical of any additional housing and expressed concerns over high-density projects being built in a traditional suburban community. The public hearing on the draft update will continue at the next Planning Commission meeting scheduled for March 10.