New Historic Preservation Law Includes Opt-out Provision, ADN

In the summer of 2007, the Aspen City Council council passed an emergency ordinance — Ordinance 30 — that required any property more than 30 years old seeking a demolition or building permit to first submit to a historic review, which could potentially have resulted in an involuntary historic designation. Designation — common for most of Aspen’s remaining Victorian-era homes — prevents demolition and requires improvements to be overseen by the city’s Historic Preservation Commission.

ASPEN REAL ESTATE - Owners of 34 post-World War II era properties, deemed by the City of Aspen to be potentially historic and subject to additional bureaucratic scrutiny if any development is pursued, will soon be able to opt out of the historic preservation program for 10 years. After three and a half years of debate over the historic preservation of so-called "Aspen modern" era building styles and architecture, Aspen City Council, in its first meeting back after the new year, is poised to approve a new historic preservation ordinance.
By Curtis Wackerle, Dec. 23, 10 Aspen Daily News

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Read about the public debate for preserving structures perceived important to Aspen's cultural and historic past