Neighborhood Character and Preservation

During the 2020 Unified Development Code Assessment, the project management team heard that neighborhood character is particularly important to many community members. Neighborhood character can be described as the look and feel of individual areas and is primarily comprised of the design and dimensions of existing architecture, streetscape treatments, and overall aesthetic of an area block by block. The community expressed interest in increased efforts to preserve existing neighborhoods, including revitalizing, and repairing older homes rather than demolition and scraping lots. During the Assessment many respondents stated that the Downtown, Bates-Logan Park, and Cushing Park neighborhoods should be considered for neighborhood preservation overlays with regulations for architectural style and form.

By way of next steps, Pinyon Environmental, Inc. (Pinyon), is underway with completing a city-wide Historic Resource Survey Plan for the City of Englewood. The City-Wide Historic Resource Survey Plan will identify historic contexts, likely to include transportation, Post-World War II development, water resources, and other key themes as identified through research, coordination with the Historic Preservation Commission, and public input.

Pinyon will create a GIS map to organize relevant planning data, including sites with current state or federal designations, sites indicated by the community as high interest, and year built organized by decade. (Please see the Englewood By Decade map in the Documents Library) This map provides flexibility in the planning process and will be used to assist in identification of survey priorities for individual resources and potential historic districts and will be provided to Englewood as a value-added deliverable. While a formal historic survey is not included as part of this context document, the Pinyon team will complete a reconnaissance of target areas identified through the GIS map and coordination with the project stakeholders. Results of the reconnaissance survey will be included as a table in the City-Wide Historic Resource Survey Plan. The City-Wide Historic Resource Survey Plan will follow the outline specified by History Colorado and Englewood. The document will outline recommended next steps regarding further exploration of significant historic contexts for the community, key geographic and/or thematic resource groups for future historic survey, and recommendations regarding application of reconnaissance survey screening and intensive survey evaluation of the identified priorities. Pinyon believes the final product should be a viable working document that reflects both the academic historic significance of the City and areas of historic interest and importance to the community.

Please contact Erik Sampson, Planner II for more information at 303-762-2345.