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Home My WebLink AboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 12/02/2008 - SECOND READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 137, 2008, DESIGNA ITEM NUMBER: 9 AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY DATE: December 2, 2008 FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL STAFF: Karen McWilliams SUBJECT Second Reading of Ordinance No. 137,2008,Designating the Ricketts Farm,2300 West Mulberry, as a Fort Collins Landmark Pursuant to Chapter 14 of the City Code. RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends adoption of this Ordinance on Second Reading. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This Ordinance,unanimously adopted on First Reading on October 21,2008,designates the Ricketts Farm, 2300 West Mulberry, as a Fort Collins Landmark. The owners of the property, Richard and Teresa Ricketts, are initiating this request. ATTACHMENTS 1. Copy of First Reading Agenda Item Summary - October 21, 2008. (w/o original attachments) ATTACHMENT 1 ITEM NUMBER: 21 AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY DATE: October 21, 2008 FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL 0-11,, TAB: Karen McWilliams a� x SUBJECT First Reading of Ordinance No. 137,2008,Designating the Ricketts Farm,2300 West Mulberry,as a Fort Collins Landmark Pursuant to Chapter 14 of the City Code. RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinance on First Reading. At a public hearing held on September 24, 2008, the Landmark Preservation Commission voted unanimously to recommend designation of this property. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CC) PY The owners of the property,Richard and Teresa Ricketts, are initiating this request for Fort Collins Landmark designation for the property. The property has significance to Fort Collins under Landmark Preservation Standards (2) and (3). The Ricketts Farm was the home of the Philander Ricketts family,prominent early citizens of Fort Collins. The residence, designed and constructed by Philander Ricketts, embodies many unusual construction techniques of the period, as well as many distinctive characteristics of early 20th century Vernacular Architecture. BACKGROUND Philander Ricketts,his wife,Julia Thomas,and their six children built the home beginning in 1894, and occupied the Ricketts Farm by 1898. An Indiana native, Philander was born in 1848. After receiving a diagnosis of consumptio erc is) ' 78 1 r and Julia moved to Fort Collins the following year. The yo g f '1 niti P b)bsri s now Overland Trail Road, but a fire destroyed their homeste in 189 and sutly obtained a waver to the Homestead Act that allowed him t o e th' lboperty and begin anew. The Ricketts quickly established themselves as prominent members of Fort Collins. Philander was an active member of the local Masonic Lodge, a leader and charter member of the Empire Grange, a local school teacher, and an independent farmer. These roles placed him at the center of political and social forces in Fort Collins where his respectability and fine leadership qualities became local axioms. His progeny continued his legacy of leadership in Fort Collins, as his daughter, Joy, received her medical degree in the first decade of the twentieth century,and one of his sons,Stanley, October 21, 2008 -2- Item No. 21 played varsity athletics for what is now Colorado State University. Stanley continued to live in Fort Collins until 1987, when, at the age of 91, he was the oldest surviving CSU varsity athlete and one of the last surviving aviators who prepped to fight in World War I. Stanley's grandson, Richard Ricketts,and his wife Teresa seek L k D ti e aInheleesds intns to restore the Ricketts Farm House for their family's fut use. Although it possesses nearly all of it al s, Ouse evinces some changes. Family testimony indicates that the addition on the back of the house was built soon after the home's construction, while photographic evidence shows that the front fagade's left window was altered after 1949, from a three light window to its current single light form. A small screen porch also covered the front door in 1949, but no longer exists. These changes are the only apparent modifications to the house that Philander Ricketts built in the mid 1890s. ATTACHMENTS 1. Historic Landmark Designation Nomination Form. 2. Staff report, September 24, 2008. 3. Resolution 10, 2008, Landmark Preservation Commission, Recommending Landmark Designation of the Ricketts F 300 est Py 4. Agreement. 5. Photos. ORDINANCE NO. 137, 2008 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS DESIGNATING THE RICKETTS FARM, 2300 WEST MULBERRY STREET, FORT COLLINS, COLORADO, AS A FORT COLLINS LANDMARK PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 14 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS WHEREAS,pursuant to Section 14-2 of the City Code, the City Council has established a public policy encouraging the protection, enhancement and perpetuation of landmarks within the City; and WHEREAS, by Resolution dated September 24, 2008, the Landmark Preservation Commission(the "Commission") has determined that the Ricketts Farm property has significance to Fort Collins under Landmark Designation Standards (2) and (3), as the home of the Philander Ricketts family, prominent early citizens of Fort Collins; and as the residence, designed and constructed by Philander Ricketts, embodies many unusual construction techniques of the period, as well as many distinctive characteristics of early 20th century Vernacular Architecture; and WHEREAS,the Commission has further determined that said property meets the criteria of a landmark as set forth in Section 14-5 of the Code and is eligible for designation as a landmark,and has recommended to the City Council that said property be designated by the City Council as a landmark; and WHEREAS,the owners of the property have consented to such landmark designation; and WHEREAS, such landmark designation will preserve the property's significance to the community; and WHEREAS, the City Council has reviewed the recommendation of the Commission and desires to approve such recommendation and designate said property as a landmark. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS as follows: Section 1. That the property known as the Ricketts Farm, including the historical farmhouse and the adjacent lands upon which the historical resource is located, in the City of Fort Collins, Larimer County, Colorado, described as follows, to wit: A TRACT OF LAND SITUATE IN THE SE 1/4 OF THE SE 1/4 OF SECTION 9, TOWNSHIP 7 NORTH, RANGE 69 WEST OF THE GTH P.M., CITY OF FORT COLLINS, COUNTY OF LARIMER, STATE OF COLORADO. WHICH CONSIDERING THE SOUTH LINE OF THE SAID SE 1/4 AS BEARING S89035130" E AND WITH ALL BEARINGS CONTAINED HEREIN RELATIVE THERETO IS CONTAINED WITHIN THE BOUNDARY LINES WHICH BEGIN AT A POINT ON THE SAID SOUTH LINE WHICH BEARS S89°35'30"E, 13 89.88 FEET FROM THE S 1/4 CORNER OF SAID SECTION 9 AND RUN THENCE N 00024'30" E, 147.50 FEET; THENCE S 89035'30" E,75.00 FEET;THENCE S 00024'30"W, 147.50 FEET TO A POINT ON THE SAID SOUTH LINE; THENCE N 89035'30" W, 75.00 FEET TO THE POINT OF BEGINNING. EXCEPT RIGHT OF WAY FOR MULBERRY STREET, OVER THE SOUTH 30 FEET; ALSO EXCEPT THAT PORTION CONVEYED IN MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT RECORDED AUGUST 25, 1980 IN BOOK 2064 AT PAGE 501 AND OCTOBER 31, 1980 IN BOOK 2082 AT PAGE 282;ALSO EXCEPT THAT PORTION CONVEYED IN DEED RECORDED OCTOBER 29, 1980 IN BOOK 2081 AT PAGE 707 be designated as a Fort Collins Landmark in accordance with Chapter 14 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins. Section 2. That the criteria in Section 14-48 of the Municipal Code will serve as the standards by which alterations, additions and other changes to the buildings and structures located upon the above described property will be reviewed for compliance with Chapter 14,Article III,of the Code of the City of Fort Collins Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 21st day of October,A.D. 2008, and to be presented for final passage on the 2nd day of December,A.D. 2008. Mayor ATTEST: City Clerk Passed and adopted on final reading on the 2nd day of December, A.D. 2008. Mayor ATTEST: City Clerk