CITY of ALBUQUERQUE
EIGHTEENTH COUNCIL
COUNCIL BILL NO. O-07-1 ENACTMENT NO. ______________________
SPONSORED BY: Isaac Benton, by request
ORDINANCE
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Designating El Vado Motel a City of Albuquerque Landmark (Benton, by request)
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DESIGNATING EL VADO MOTEL A CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE LANDMARK.
WHEREAS, the adoption of Council Bill Enactment No. O-2006-003 was reversed by the district court decision of March 21, 2007 in CV-2007-10189, Second Judicial District Court, County of Bernalillo, State of New Mexico, rendering Council Bill Enactment No. O-2006-003 of no force and effect; and
WHEREAS, the district court remanded the El Vado Motel landmark proceedings to the Landmarks and Urban Conversation Commission for new proceedings on the October 5, 2005 application to designate the El Vado Motel as a city landmark.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL, THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE:
Section 1. INTENT.
(A) El Vado Motel, located at 2500 Central Avenue SW, Lots 24-39, Block 3 except the southerly 7.5 feet, Westpark Addition to the City of Albuquerque, has been recommended as a City Landmark by the Landmarks and Urban Conservation Commission; and
(B) El Vado Motel meets criteria for City Landmark designation, as specified in Section 14-12-7(A) ROA 1994, establishing the Landmarks and Urban Conservation Commission and providing for designation of City Landmarks, as follows:
(1) Has historic significance rooted in its architecture and associations with automobile tourism on U.S. Highway 66;
(2) Portrays the environment of a group of people (lodging operators and automobile tourists) in an era of history (Late Depression/World War II/Post-War Period) characterized by a distinctive architectural style (Spanish-Pueblo Revival);
(3) Embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type and method of construction; that being an automobile tourist court consisting of stuccoed adobe bearing walls with timber roof beams and wood decking/ceiling and including a multicolor, luminous tube (neon) image on a painted metal sign;
(4) Was listed in the State Register of Cultural Properties and National Register of Historic Places in 1993; and
(5) Its preservation is critical because of its relationship to already designated landmarks.
(C) Significant features of El Vado Motel identified by the Landmarks and Urban Conservation Commission as being worthy of preservation:
(1) All three buildings in the complex;
(2) Spanish-Pueblo Revival styling in the form of buttressed walls with curvilinear parapets, projecting vigas, wood posts and beams, and doors and windows recessed in the adobe bearing walls;
(3) The court space between the buildings and its openness to Central Avenue;
(4) The El Vado Motel pole sign at the Central Avenue frontage;
(5) The pattern and proportion of (window and door) openings in exterior walls facing public streets;
(6) Wood windows and doors that remain or whose design is documented in photographs or drawings of the building;
(7) Characteristic interior features including the reception area space with fireplace, exposed viga ceilings, original interior wood doors with hardware and the plastered walls; and
(8) Open carports between room units.
(D) In addition to the preservation of distinctive features set forth in subsection (C), the following guidelines should be adopted:
(1) New construction may be approved on the premises if it is compatible in scale, style, and exterior finish materials with the historic buildings and aligned with the existing facades. Carports may be enclosed to increase heated space, provided that their original openings remain evident and at least one carport remains open for historic interpretation purposes.
(2) The court between existing buildings should remain open to public view from Central Ave. and new construction should further define the court and not destroy historic material, features or spatial relations that define the property.
(3) The federal Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation shall be incorporated into the specific development guidelines for El Vado Motel by reference.
Section 2. DESIGNATION. That El Vado Motel be designated a City Landmark.
Section 3. SEVERABILITY CLAUSE. If any section, paragraph, sentence, clause, word or phrase of this ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unenforceable by any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of this ordinance. The Council hereby declares that it would have passed this ordinance and each section, paragraph, sentence, clause, word or phrase thereof irrespective of any provision being declared unconstitutional or otherwise invalid.
Section 4. COMPILATION. This ordinance shall not be incorporated in and made part of the Revised Ordinances of Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1994.
Section 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. This ordinance shall take effect five days after publication by title and general summary.
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