Baker Historic Neighborhood Association

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BAKER PAST & PRESENT

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By Kathryn Smith

The area now known as the Baker neighborhood began as a rural suburb in the 1870s. People lived in widely scattered frame houses and rough cabins surrounded by large tracts of land.

The early settlers cultivated vegetables and raised poultry for the local market. An Englishman named Frederick Greenway grew 20 varieties of strawberries on the land between Broadway, Bannock, Byers Place and Alameda. Until the early 2900s, vegetable farms lined the South Platte River.

People were first attracted to the Baker area because of its location on a "broad and beautiful plateau with a magnificent view of the mountains" and to get away from the "noise and saloons of Denver."

The Baker area experienced a rapid residential development in the 1880s from the impetus of public transportation in the form of horse-drawn streetcars. Home to railroad and trolley workers, as well as prominent citizens such as Rocky Mountain News fonder Williams Byers, the area was annexed to the city in 1883.

Baker is designated National Historic District for its distinctive architecture. Many houses in the area are characterized by elaborate details such as front gabled roofs with decorative shingles and front porches with turned posts.

The neighborhood takes its name from a local landmark, Baker Middle School, which was named for James A. Baker, principal of Denver’s first high school and president of Colorado University from 1892 to 1915.

After the mid-point of the 20th century, the Baker area experienced a loss of housing to business, industry and parking. Several of its streets were converted to allow parking only on one side to speed the movement of motor vehicles through the area.

Today, nearly half of the land in Baker (44%) is devoted to streets, alleys and sidewalks, with 24% to commercial, industrial and public uses, 22% to residential uses and 5% to open space and recreation.

In 1978, Organized Baker Residents [now Baker Historic Neighborhood Association (BHNA)] was formed to represent the neighborhood to the city. OBR was instrumental in preparing the Westside Neighborhood Plan published in 1981. OBR worked from its inception to rezone the residential areas from high-density residential to medium-density, a goal that was achieved in 1991.

In looking to the future, Baker residents share a vision of the neighborhood as being: friendly, caring and divers; a safe and beautiful place; youth and family oriented; and with more people on foot and less traffic. The need for communication among residents is a priority to help individuals come together to realize such a future.

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About our association

BY-LAWS OF THE BAKER HISTORIC NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION

ARTICLE 1 NAME
The name of this nonprofit corporation shall be BAKER HISTORIC NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION, and it shall be abbreviated as BHNA.

ARTICLE 2 OBJECTIVES

Section 1 BHNA shall provide an educational vehicle for the Baker neighborhood to highlight opportunities for cooperation and harmony, assist with understanding of the history of the Baker neighborhood, and instill values of maintaining and improving the residential character of the neighborhood.
These objectives will be achieved by:

A. Promoting cooperation and harmony among residents in the Baker neighborhood by:
•regularly producing and distributing to Baker residents timely information about Baker and its place in the life of the City and County of Denver, using a variety of media, including printed, electronic and digital.
• establishing and staffing a central focal point through which news and information about issues important to Baker residents can be transferred.
• supplementing resources already available through a mix of governmental and other nonprofit sources to ensure continuity of activities that will bring Baker residents together to improve the neighborhood's welfare.

B. Working to maintain the residential character of the neighborhood by:
• providing the concrete resources (legal and/or other technical support,etc.) required to educate residents about methods to upgrade the physical and social conditions of Baker through collaboration with City and County agencies in enforcement of Building, Health and Zoning codes and ordinances and all other applicable laws and regulations.
• providing concrete resources (Tools, materials, technical expertise, etc.) required to restore, rehabilitate or construct spaces and places that will contribute to the quality of residential life in Baker.

C. Assisting Baker residents in solving neighborhood problems by:
• providing training programs in methods for making Baker residents more self-reliant.
• regularly gathering the Baker neighborhood together in facilitated Town Meetings and other educational or informational forums to discover community needs and resources already present within Baker to meet these needs.
• providing opportunities for Baker residents to regularly meet with their counterparts in other neighborhoods to share ways and means for solving common neighborhood problems.

D. Providing information about the Baker neighborhood and its residents to the City and County of Denver and its agencies and to other applicable local, state and federal agencies so that they may make more informed decisions on issues related to Baker.

E. Developing and maintaining links to other neighborhood, nonprofit and governmental organizations in an effort remain aware of and involved in issues that affect Baker
• appointing representatives from BHNA to the Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation (INC), Metropolitan Denver Local Development Corporation (MDLDC), Sumner Neighborhood Association, Neighbors United Con Poder and others.


ARTICLE 3 MEMBERSHIP

Section 1 Membership is limited to the residents and owners of real property in the Baker Neighborhood as defined in these ByLaws.
Section 2 Any Baker resident or real property owner expressing interest in working on the objectives of BHNA may become a member.

ARTICLE 4 BOUNDARIES

Section 1 The Baker Historic Neighborhood Association will pursue its objectives within the following boundaries:
Northern Boundary - West 6th Avenue
Eastern Boundary - Lincoln Avenue
Southern Boundary - Mississippi Avenue
Western Boundary - Platte River
Section 2 The boundaries shall be consistent with those boundaries given to the Baker Neighborhood by the Denver Office of Planning and Community Development.

ARTICLE 5 OFFICERS AND THEIR ELECTION

Section 1 The elected officers of the corporation shall be: President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer.
Section 2 Officers shall be elected annually at a general membership meeting to be held in May. Newly elected officers shall assume office at the conclusion of the May meeting.
Section 3 Officers shall serve for a term of one year. No officer shall be eligible for election to the same office for more than three consecutive years.
Section 4 No person may hold more than one office at the same time.

ARTICLE 6 OFFICERS' DUTIES

Section 1 The officers shall perform those duties assigned to them by the Colorado state law, the Articles of Incorporation, the board of directors, these Bylaws and by the parliamentary authority adopted by the corporation.

The President shall preside at all meetings of the
corporation and is an ex-officio member of all committees.

The Vice President shall act as an aide to the President
and shall perform the duties of the President in his or her absence or inability to serve.

The Secretary shall keep an accurate record of all meetings
of the corporation.

The Treasurer shall keep an accurate record of all of the
receipts and expenditures.

ARTICLE 7 THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Section 1 The Board of Directors shall be composed of the Officers of the corporation plus three members elected at large by the general membership.
Section 2 The Board of Directors shall be responsible for the supervision of the affairs of the corporation between its business meetings, fixing the time and place of meetings, making recommendations to the corporation, and performing other duties as specified in these Bylaws or the parliamentary authority. None of the Board's actions shall conflict with decisions made by the general membership.
Section 3 The Board of Directors shall have sole power, on behalf of the corporation, or any of its committees or sub-units, to incur indebtedness, solicit funding, make public statements, issue public writings and establish and maintain relations with other organizations or
take any other actions deemed necessary to promote the objectives of BHNA.
Section 4 Meetings of the Board of Directors shall be called at the discretion of the President. There shall be at least six meetings of the Board of Directors called and convened between the annual general membership meetings.
Section 5 Any member of the Board of Directors missing three consecutive meetings without a valid excuse will be automatically removed from office.

ARTICLE 8 COMMITTEES

Section 1 There shall be such committees as the Board of Directors shall create or shall be created by a simple majority vote of those members present and voting at any general membership meeting.
Section 2 Committees shall be of two classes, Standing Committees and Special Committees.
Section 3 Committees shall be constituted and operate as follows:
Chairs and members of Standing committees (including representatives to other organizations) shall be appointed by the Board of Directors for a term of one year following the annual election meeting in May and shall be subject to confirmation by the general membership, except as otherwise provided in these Bylaws.

Special Committees shall be appointed by the Board of Directors for a stated period to accomplish a specific purpose. If the Special Committee has not completed its work at the end of the stated period, the Board of Directors may extend its term.

Committees of Standing and Special Committees shall submit to the Board of Directors reports of their activities, which shall include any recommendations to the Board of Directors considered necessary or advisable.

No Committee member (or representative to another organization) shall incur expenses on behalf of the vorporation except as authorized by the Board of Directors, nor shall any committee commit the corporation by any declaration of policy.

Standing Committees and their rules and purposes are as follows:

NEWSLETTER COMMITTEE Create and solicit articles, pictures and other news and features; publish and distribute newsletter.
NOMINATING COMMITTEE Provide a slate of officers and board of directors at the May meeting. Members of this committee may nominate themselves or have their own nomination submitted. Notice of the pending election shall be given to the general membership approximately one month prior to the May meeting. At the May meeting the committee will present the slate of candidates and ask for nominations from the floor.
YARD SALE COMMITTEE Organize and coordinate the "Baker Bargain Bonanza," a sale held each summer to promote neighborhood goodwill and to fundraise for BHNA.
ZONING COMMITTEE The Zoning Committee shall:
1. Receive all applications and correspondence regarding zoning and land use including but not limited to:
a. Alley Vacations*
b. Special Use Permits
c. Requests for Variances
d. Zoning Changes
e. New building & development
f. Liquor Licensing*
2. Investigate, review and evaluate these issues and
a. Make recommendations to the general membership or the board, or
b. Take a public position if there is insufficient time to refer it to the membership or the board, or
c. Take no position if threat is perceived as minimal or nonexistent.
d. **Report all actions of the zoning committee to the next general membership meeting
3. Post all zoning issues on the web and in the monthly newsletter and hand out notices door to door if necessary.

*Liquor license requests and alley vacations must always be placed before the board or the membership.

Section 4 The President shall be ex officio member of all committees.

ARTICLE 9 PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY

Section 1 The rules contained in the most current edition of Roberts Rules of Order shall govern the corporation when they are applicable and when they are not inconsistent with these Bylaws or special rules the corporation may adopt.

ARTICLE 10 ELECTIONS

Section 1 Officers shall be elected at the annual meeting and shall be elected by ballot.
Section 2 In the event that a vacancy occurs in any office or in the Board of Directors during any given year, it shall be filled for the unexpired term by a person elected by a majority vote of the general membership.

ARTICLE 11 MEETINGS

Section 1 There shall be at least six meetings of the general membership held per year, one of which shall be held in May and which shall be the annual meeting.

ARTICLE 12 AMENDMENTS

Section 1 These Bylaws may be amended at any regular meeting by two-thirds vote of the members present and voting at any general membership meeting, provided notice of the proposed amendments shall have been given at the previous meeting or in the BHNA newsletter one month prior to the next scheduled meeting.

ARTICLE 12 QUORUM

Section 1 A quorum shall be those members present at any general membership meeting.