Certificate of Appropriateness

How to apply for design review to obtain a Certificate of Appropriateness.

For local landmarks and historic districts, exterior modifications of buildings, monuments, objects, or sites require a Certificate of Appropriateness (CoA) from the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC). 

(Exempt from design review are exterior maintenance or landscaping, and interior changes or remodeling.) 

The goal of design review is for the plan to closely conform to the Standards of Appropriateness for Alteration, New Construction, Reconstruction, Restoration, Rehabilitation and Relocation of Pueblo’s Historic Landmarks and Districts.

A pre-application review with staff is encouraged. 

A formal application for Certificate of Appropriateness is required. The HPC and staff strive to review and respond to an application within 30 days.

The staff planner needs three (3) weeks to write a report and recommendation to the HPC for their next meeting. At that time, a public hearing of the application will provide a forum where anyone may speak in favor of (or opposition to) the proposal. The HPC then discusses the application, preferably with the applicant present. Then the HPC by formal motion decides to approve or deny the application. Approvals might include certain conditions to mitigate negative impacts on the historic features of the landmark or district.

• How to have a pre-application review with staff 
• Application for a Certificate of Appropriateness
• Calendar with application deadlines
• The Standards of Appropriateness, adopted in 2005 by the City Council.
• Applicants and their consultants are encouraged to read the Secretary of Interior’s technical preservation briefs. 

A property owner may apply for a Certificate of Economic Hardship, to be considered by the HPC at a public hearing, for relief from certain requirements of the Code.