Prescott commission recommends approval of special-use permit for 130 Cortez Street with condition

Prescott Preservation Commission members on Sept. 12 recommended approval of Special-Use Permit SUP25-001 for 130 Cortez Street, forwarding the item to Planning and Zoning and city council with a single condition: the applicant must submit exterior building materials for review and approval by the historic preservation specialist before building approval. The vote was 3-2.

The request, presented by Tammy DeWitt, community planner for the City of Prescott, seeks to convert the building’s second and third floors to residential apartments, add a recessed fourth-floor residence and install an elevator. “Before you today is a request for a special use permit for a remodel, adding 50 or more to the value of the existing structures relative to the pre model values,” DeWitt said during the presentation. The application is in the North Prescott National Register District, so the city sent the proposal to the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) for comment.

Why it matters: The property sits within a national historic district and includes visible historic elements, most notably a preserved “Prescott Hotel” ghost sign on the brick side of the building. SHPO compared the…