A petition has been created by Lafayette residents Frank Archuleta, Doug Conarroe, Rachel Hanson and Karen Norback, calling to change the name of a new development in town.
More than 700 people have signed a petition to rename The Miller, formerly called City Center, because of the history with the Millers in Lafayette.
“The name The Miller is too closely associated with Lafayette’s darkest period, from 1923-1935, when the Ku Klux Klan spread hatred by intimidating and terrorizing Latinos and Catholics in our community,” according to the petition. “The KKK controlled town politics, service organizations, churches, the school board and even the town newspaper.”
Archuleta, who said he researched many historical topics within the city, including the KKK and Latino families, said the city and the developers need to be held accountable for this.
“We must hold the city of Lafayette accountable on their proclamation resolution number 20-1696,” Archuleta said. “Lafayette is committed to building a diverse, inclusive and just community and ensuring equal protection and services for all residents. We must also hold (the developers) accountable on their code of conduct.”
Lafayette Communications Director Debbie Wilmot said the naming of private buildings isn’t something that falls under the city’s jurisdiction.
On Aug. 4, after receiving public comment on the matter, City Council discussed sending the topic to the city’s Human Rights Commission.
“I think we should engage the public and have a broader conversation about what they think of the name,” said Mayor Jamie Harkins. “And what we should do with it.”
Councilmember Brian Wong said he felt like it would be an appropriate topic for the Commission to discuss.
Interim City Attorney Mary Lynn Macsalka said the city can not legally force the developers to change the name.
“There really is no legal method to require a name change for that development at this point,” Macsalka said.
She said another issue that could be brought up is the regulation of speech.
“This is not a city owned property, it’s an investment of a private developer on private property that’s considered a matter of commercial speech,” Macsalka said. “Commercial speech is protected under the First Amendment. Governments do not generally have the ability to regulate the content of commercial speech, which will be the name itself.”
Robert Haas, who represents the development group on the project, said the name was changed to The Miller in 2018.
“At some point in 2018, as we were gearing up to start development of this project, we felt like a name change of our project should be explored in an effort to tie into the rich history of the city of Lafayette,” Haas said in an email. “Our opinion at the time was that ‘Lafayette City Center’ just seemed too sterile and disconnected from the feel and atmosphere of Lafayette.”
He said after brainstorming, the developers decided in December 2018 they wanted to pay homage to Mary E. Miller as a “strong, caring, entrepreneurial woman.”
“Mary Miller was the only person we had in mind when we went about the process of branding our project as The Miller,” Haas said.
Lafayette Historic Preservation Board member Nicholas Bernhard said he couldn’t imagine anyone thinking of another Miller other than Mary Miller first.
“I would really hate to think Mary Miller being the victim of guilt by association,” Bernhard said. “As far as Mary Miller is concerned, she was one of the very earliest homesteaders of this area. She always displayed a tremendous amount of industry. When I think of Mary Miller, I think of someone who displays traits of entrepreneurship and true pioneer spirit.”
The History of the Millers
Mary Miller and her husband, Lafayette, whom the city is named after, purchased 160 acres in the city around 1868.
In 1878, after Lafayette Miller died, Mary Miller moved back to city after living in Boulder for a few years, where coal was found on the farm. Soon after, the first miners sunk into the area.
Mary Miller began to receive royalties from the mining operations, and she platted 150 acres for the original town site of the city.
In April 1889, voters approved incorporation of the city and her son, Thomas Jefferson Miller, became the first mayor.
From there, Mary Miller subdivided more of her land for people to build homes, and became the owner of Lafayette Bank, and was likely the first female bank president. She struck deals with striking miners, which ultimately ended up costing her her home and the bank.
In 2014, the city celebrated 125 years of Mary Miller submitting incorporation papers to Boulder County.
According to a 2014 Boulder Daily Camera story, streets were identified to pay homage to Mary Miller’s life. Geneseo Street is named after her birthplace in New York, Michigan Avenue is named after her childhood home, Emma Street is in reference to her niece, Foote Avenue is her maiden name and, of course, there’s Miller Street.
Across the city, there are also places named after Mary Miller including the Mary Miller Theater, the Mary Miller trail and the Miller House. Miller was inducted into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame in 2002. She established the first school and funded construction of numerous churches.
During her time, she was famous for her dislike of liquor and made sure to include a clause outlawing the sale and consumption of alcohol in the deed of every property she owned.
The Project
In 2016, Lafayette City Council approved a new development project. The project was to bring more than 200 apartments and townhomes in 12 buildings, along with roughly 17,000-square-feet of leasable commercial and retail space to the corner of South Public Road and South Boulder Road.
In December 2016, the developers requested economic incentives for the project.
The package, which council approved despite some resident concerns, waived or gave a rebate for up to $1 million for the building permit fee, city use tax and plan check fees. According to the staff report at the time, the total building permit cost is approximately $4.7 million.
The package also included a deferment of $3.5 million in building costs to be paid over 20 years at 5% interest.
In February 2019, City Council agreed to an amendment to the economic development agreement for the project, which officials said corrected language in the original deal which freed up funds for developers to capture the full incentive package and as much of a $3.5 million loan as possible.
The concerns
In early July, residents began reaching out to the developers with concerns over the name.
“I was given literature that seemed to provide a link between Mary Miller’s grandsons and the Klu Klux Klan,” Haas said. “Prior to that point, I had absolutely no idea that this information existed. To be clear, the actions and behavior of the residents of Lafayette who were involved in the KKK during the 1920s and 30s were reprehensible.”
He said he has not seen literature that ties Mary Miller to the activity, except through her descendants.
The petition states records show Mary Miller’s grandson Fay Miller was a known KKK member.
Frank Miller, another grandson, was on the fire department that denied access to the swimming pool to anyone who wasn’t white, even to families such as Rose Lueras, who helped build the swimming pool by donating bags of cement.
The petition states using the Miller name for the development will continue to remind Lafayette residents of the injustices and racial discriminations caused by members of the Miller family.
The name
Conarroe said he was surprised when he saw the sign for the development name.
“I wasn’t really taken aback by it, but I was surprised,” Conarroe said. “There was no discussion in terms of the name in general. Which, I think because it’s a city and the city is helping, it opens up a whole avenue of whether the city should be involved.”
To find information about the project, The Colorado Hometown Weekly filed a Colorado Open Records Request regarding information on the project. However, the city’s emails and phone system have been down due to a ransomware attack and information was not received by press time.
Conarroe added that an average person driving by, or living there, doesn’t know the development would be named specifically for Mary Miller.
Haas said a banner, which outlines Mary Miller’s history, has been placed around the project. It outlines when the city was founded, information about what she did during her lifetime including the bank, and how she ran for U.S. Senate.
During the Aug. 4 City Council meeting, residents spoke against the banner.
“I find this tone deaf and insensitive,” said Julie Piller during the meeting.
Conarroe said the developers should consider working with the residents of the city to come up with a name that has a majority consensus.
Haas said the Miller name is used throughout the city in a variety of ways already.
“We are diligently trying to understand the impact of this to the Lafayette community,” Haas said. “If, as part of a broader conversation, it is determined that the use of the Miller name should no longer continue in Lafayette, then we will be prepared to change the name of our project as well.”
Harkins said this is a fair request.
“I think it is a problematic name,” Harkins said. “I don’t think it’s less problematic on other buildings in our city than it would be on this one.”
