Commission recommends rezoning and minor general-plan amendment to allow commercial use at former West Yavapai Guidance Clinic site

The Prescott Planning Commission on Sept. 25 voted 7-0 to recommend approval of REZ25-001 and GPA25-001, a rezoning and a minor general-plan amendment that would convert about 3.282 acres made up of 11 parcels from multifamily/residential designations to Business Regional (BR). Tammy DeWitt, community planner, said the change is intended to bring longstanding, legal nonconforming commercial uses into compliance with current zoning and the general-plan map.
The parcels include buildings long used by West Yavapai Guidance Clinic (doing business as Polara Health) and adjacent residential lots. Polara Health representatives said they have operated at the Damron Street facility since 1989 and that the nonprofit is relocating services to newer properties; Tamara Player, Polara Health president and CEO, and board chair Steven Polk said the organization has listed the Damron property for sale as part of a plan to reinvest in upgraded facilities elsewhere. Polk said potential buyers interested in similar medical or behavioral-health uses expect the zoning to match the intended commercial use as a precondition to purchase.
DeWitt said city staff reviewed the existing uses and infrastructure and found no proposed immediate changes to uses or buildings; residential uses would remain allowed in the BR zone, and the applicant intends to replat and combine parcels as part of the process. She said the rezoning is largely a cleanup step to align zoning with long-established uses. Commissioners asked whether the proposed change is consistent with the 2015 general plan; DeWitt confirmed this application includes a minor general-plan amendment to change the land-use designation from medium-high density residential to commercial and that the action is intended to conform the land-use map to existing conditions.
Members of the public spoke on the item. A resident, Sandy Hanson, said she is concerned that changing the zoning to BR now would allow future uses beyond medical treatment and raised worries about noise, parking, and lighting; she asked whether future buyers could be required to obtain conditional-use approvals instead of rezoning now. Polara Health board members and a retired VA mental-health chief on the board said the organization serves primarily low-income county residents and that they will seek buyers who continue community-serving uses. Planning commission members said the BR zone is compatible with surrounding commercial and industrial zoning and acknowledged the applicant's request that the zoning be fixed to facilitate sale; commissioners voted to recommend both the minor general-plan amendment and the rezoning.