Lafayette’s City Council voted resoundingly to table a proposal designating the property home to the polarizing Circle Motel at 200 W. Baseline Road as a local historic landmark on Tuesday night, holding the Old Town locale’s fate in limbo until early February.

Unable to find whether or not the structures on the property were of “overwhelming historical significance to the community,” as required under the city’s Historical Preservation Board, council members on Tuesday tabled the discussion to design new approaches over how redevelopment and preservation could be compromised.

Residents spoke for several hours during the meeting’s public hearing portion, arguing back and forth over the property’s historical merit, its reputation as of late and what, exactly, could possibly be preserved.

“I know it raises questions and concerns,” resident Vicky Uhland, who submitted the third-party landmark application in September, said Tuesday. “It’s not pretty, it’s not going to win any architectural awards and it’s not what most people imagine when they think of landmarked properties. But this was a significant period for our town.

“Isn’t this what the spirit of Lafayette is about,” she added, “honoring our past while also moving forward?”

The decision to table the proposal puts on hold a debate over the site’s historical merit that has raged on for years, though one that reached a fever pitch in recent weeks as opposing sides accused the other of subverting the process.

Perhaps the most vocal critic of the landmark proposal was found in the motel’s owner, Mike Macinko, who in recent weeks has produced the rare spectacle of an owner actively campaigning for his property’s demolition — taking to social media and distributing fliers urging against such a designation.

“You can only put band aids on top of band aids,” Macinko, who has proposed installing 18 units of townhomes, mixed-use commercial to a renewed motel service atop the property, told City Council on Tuesday. “You can’t discount hundreds of signatures from residents and businesses that are affected by this property. People want this gone.”

However, such dense redevelopment plans proposed from the owner, albeit unofficially as the landmark application was processed, have given city officials pause.

“If you just look at the front,” Lafayette City Administrater Gary Klaphake, holding a graphic of proposed townhomes behind the refurbished motel, said Tuesday, “it’s a gorgeous building that we could make out of it by spending about $350,000 — we could make a hell of a building.

“But we looked at what’s going to be built around it and we said, oh my God, it’s just too much on one spot.”

The property represented a prominent economic role of the Denver Loop of the Lincoln Highway, according to a study conducted during the landmark application. Before Interstate 25 was built, Colorado’s major route north was through Lafayette.

More recently, however, as one of the few options in Lafayette for those who don’t have the money for a down payment and don’t want a long-term lease, it has held a reputation for attracting drug dealers, sex offenders and others living on the fringe of society.

“In 15 years since I’ve lived there I have witnessed the worst child abuse case in Colorado’s history,” resident Jack Varga, whose Old Town home backs up to the property, said Tuesday. “I’ve seen Lafayette law enforcement remove several corpses — sirens and lights constantly wake us up in the middle of the night. As of right now, there are four felon sex offenders living in the motel.”

Infant Tanner Dowler, who lived with his parents in a rental trailer at the property, suffered multiple injuries after being shaken and abused by his father, Joseph Dowler. Tanner died about two months after his birth.

Issues including fires, domestic violence, sexual assaults, child abuse, theft and other crimes that present safety concerns for the residents and business owners in Lafayette, Macinko said.

“I’m trying to find balance between the criteria around historic designation with the other language around whether the requested action would promote welfare,” Councilor Alexandra Lynch said in conclusion. “I think we’ve heard ample testimony that the current state of the property does not support the public health, safety and welfare of their property values, but for me I need to find some balance.”

Anthony Hahn: 303-473-1422, hahna@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/_anthonyhahn