Boulder County HPAB approves Longmont’s proposed 6.4M‑gallon tank at Montgomery Farm amid tribal and neighbor concerns

The Historic Preservation Advisory Board voted 6–3 on May 1 to approve a Certificate of Appropriateness allowing the City of Longmont to construct a partially buried 6,400,000‑gallon finished water tank on the landmarked Montgomery Farm at 5435 Ute Highway.

The tank, which Longmont says is needed to replace an aging storage facility and to increase emergency and routine storage for Longmont, Hygiene and Lyons, would sit in the northwest corner of the Montgomery Farm parcel. Boulder County staff told the board the county’s review today was limited to the landmark certificate criteria; a separate Areas and Activities of State Interest (1041) review by the county and county commissioners will address a broader set of land‑use issues.

Why it matters: the Montgomery Farm is a designated Boulder County landmark that includes seven contributing structures. Neighbors and tribal community members told the board the northwest location places the new tank closer to historic resources, ceremony sites and nearby homes. County staff and the city said the site was selected after a multi‑factor alternatives analysis and that design measures (partial burial, muted concrete color, screening plantings and dark‑sky lighting) will reduce visual impacts.

Longmont project manager Joe Michalski told the board the existing tank is at the end of its serviceable life and the replacement would increase system resiliency and emergency capacity. “This…