Department of Community Development
Reference: Municipal Code Article 2-66 Update
To: Mayor Gregory Mills and Members of City Council
Through: Michael P. Martinez, City Manager
Prepared By: Emma Lane, AICP, Senior Planner - Historic Preservation
Date Prepared: September 10, 2025
PURPOSE
The purpose is to update the Brighton Municipal Code (“BMC”) to lower the number of regular members to five (5) members and lower the quorum requirement to three (3) members, which differs from the current BMC requirement which dictates a Historic Preservation Commission (“HPC”) of seven (7) members with a quorum of four (4) members. Changes to the BMC require approval by the City Council with an Ordinance.
BACKGROUND
The HPC currently has four members and one City of Brighton (the “City”) City Council representative (non-voting member). The HPC, like many other boards and commissions of the City, has had difficulty filling vacant positions on the Commission, thus requiring all appointed Commissioners to be present at each meeting. This is a difficult task and has resulted in a lack of quorum for several meetings.
The Certified Local Government (“CLG”) program, which is the enabling program for historic preservation commissions in the state of Colorado, dictates that a CLG commission must meet at least four times per federal fiscal year. It has become increasingly difficult to meet at least four times during the year because of the lack of quorum. In an attempt to remedy this, City staff has suggested that the HPC lower their required members and correspondingly lower the required quorum. An HPC Bylaw Amendment has gone before the HPC and was approved on September 25, 2025.
PROCESS
The BMC shall be amended with review and approval by the City Council via Ordinance.
PROPOSED CHANGES TO ARTICLE 2-66
Changes to the BMC include the following:
• Lowering the member requirement from seven (7) to five (5);
• Lowering the quorum for meetings from four (4) to three (3); and
• Lowering the number of required professional members from three (3) to two (2).
CRITERIA BY WHICH THE CITY COUNCIL SHOULD CONSIDER THE ITEM
CLG Criteria:
Staff has determined that the updates to the BMC meet the CLG program criteria, namely that Historic Preservation Commissions have a minimum of five (5) regular members and that professional members must make up 40% of the Commission.
Staff Review:
Applicable staff have reviewed the update and recommend approval.
OPTIONS FOR COUNCIL CONSIDERATION
The City Council has four options when reviewing the Bylaw updates. The Council may:
1.) Approve the code amendments as drafted;
2.) Deny the code amendments;
3.) Approve the code amendments with changes; or
4.) Continue the item to be heard at a later, specified date if the City Council feels it needs additional information.
ATTACHMENTS
● Draft City Council Ordinance
● Agenda Item Notice
● Adopted HPC Bylaws
● BMC Article 2-66 Redlines
● Draft PowerPoint Presentation