Appellant Appendix_F_COA_ADM23-00081_250_N_Center_April_5_2023_Redacted

APPENDIX F
Certificate of Appropriateness, 250 N. Center Street, Case ADM23-00081, issued April 5, 2023
Property
260 N. Center Street, Mesa, Arizona 85201 (APN 138-59-045)
Appellant
Alicia Rodriguez, owner
Appeal of
Denial of Certificate of Appropriateness, Case ADM26-00657, dated August 10,
2026
Related permit
PMT26-01976
Prior approval
Certificate of Appropriateness, Case ADM25-00154, issued June 11, 2025
Hearing
Historic Preservation Board, Tuesday, September 1, 2026, 5:00 p.m., Mesa City
Hall, 20 E. Main Street
Document reproduced
The City of Mesa Certificate of Appropriateness for 250 N. Center Street, Case ADM23-00081, APN
138-59-046, signed by Maura Jackson, Historic Preservation Advisor and Planner, and issued April 5, 2023,
with Attachment 1. The applicants of record are Sean Derek Rodriguez and Alicia Romero, the same owners
as 260 N. Center Street. The letter is copied to Mary Kopaskie-Brown, Planning Director and Historic
Preservation Officer, and to Michelle Dahlke, Principal Planner.
What this document covers, stated plainly
The appellant submits this document with an accurate description of its scope rather than leaving that to
inference. Case ADM23-00081 approved a rear addition at 250 N. Center Street. Its project description
states that the north, east, and south facades of the existing house will remain unchanged and that the
existing windows on the original house will remain intact. The appellant makes no claim that this case
approved new work on the front facade, because none was proposed.
The arched porch openings at 250 N. Center Street are original to the 1945 construction and have
never been altered. The appellant and her husband own and live at 250 N. Center Street and did not build
those openings. That is precisely why the 2023 project description states that the east facade would remain
unchanged: no work was proposed there, and the original arches remained in place. The City reviewed this
property in 2023 with those arched openings on its front elevation, described the property's
character-defining features, found the project consistent with every applicable Standard, and recorded that
the front facade would remain as it was.
Why this document is offered
1. It establishes the shared district context for the two adjacent properties. Both 250 and 260 N. Center
Street sit in the West Second Street Historic District, with a period of significance from 1883 to 1959, both
zoned Downtown Core with a Historic District overlay, and both classified as contributing. Attachment 1
records that 250 N. Center Street was constructed in 1945 as the home of Charles J. Helber.
2. The City has again identified character-defining features property by property, and again by
reference to form rather than applied ornament. For 250 N. Center Street the City describes a low-pitch
intersecting pyramidal roof, original wood double-hung and wood casement windows, and a stucco exterior.

For 260 N. Center Street the City describes the shallow front porch and the broad front facade. In neither
case does the City identify decorative gable trim as a character-defining feature.
3. The City has treated architectural simplicity at 250 as a virtue. Attachment 1 states that this home:
"lacks high-style detailing and the simplicity of the design is unique when compared to other homes
within the district."
The appellant notes the difference in treatment. At 250 N. Center Street the City described a simple 1945
house without high-style detailing and approved the work before it. At 260 N. Center Street, a house the City
classifies as a modest example of the Ranch style, the presence or absence of applied decorative trim has
become the basis for denial under five Standards.
4. It shows how the same office applied the same Standards to the adjacent property. The Attachment 1
checklist for 250 N. Center Street marks Standards 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, and 10 Consistent, with Standards 4, 7,
and 8 marked not applicable. The checklist for 260 N. Center Street in Case ADM25-00154 marks Standards
1 through 7, 9, and 10 Consistent, with Standard 8 not applicable. Two adjacent contributing houses of the
same era, in the same district, owned by the same family, were each found fully consistent with these
Standards. The decision of August 10, 2026 departs from both records.
5. Arched porch openings are original 1945 fabric on the adjacent contributing property, and the
City has treated them as fabric to be preserved.
The August 5, 2026 letter states that rounded or arched porch features "would be atypical of the house's
architectural style and could create a false sense of history," and that applying design elements taken from
houses of different architectural styles would also be inconsistent with Standard 3. The house immediately
next door, built the same year, on the same block, in the same district, and classified by the City as
contributing, has arched porch openings that are original to its 1945 construction. In 2023 the City reviewed
that property and recorded that its front facade would remain unchanged.
Standard 3 exists to prevent a viewer from being misled into believing an invented feature is original historic
fabric. A rounded opening on a 1945 house on this block is not invented and is not borrowed from a
different place or period. It is documented original fabric fifty feet away, on a property the City has
reviewed and protected. The appellant recognizes that the City classifies 250 N. Center Street as National
Folk and 260 N. Center Street as Ranch, and does not argue that the two houses share a single design
vocabulary. The point is narrower and, the appellant submits, decisive on this Standard: a form that existed
here in 1945, and that the City preserves as original next door, cannot create a false sense of historical
development when it is echoed at a few inches of radius on plainly new porch framing. The rounded edges at
260 N. Center Street also repeat an arched form documented inside this very house before any of the
appellant's work began (Appendix E).
Note: this document is already in the City's records. It is reproduced here so that the Board has the full scope of the 2023
approval before it, described accurately, rather than characterized.

April 5, 2023 
 
City of Mesa Historic Preservation Office 
480-644-2021 | historicpreservation@mesaaz.gov 
 
APPLICANT: Sean Derek Rodriguez and Alicia Romero 
EMAIL:
 
(
 
 
Subject: Certificate of Appropriateness (Historic Clearance) for 250 N. Center (the “Subject 
Property”) (Case Number ADM23-00081 APN/Parcel # 138-59-046, West 2nd Street Historic 
District) 
 
Dear Sean and Alicia,  
 
The City of Mesa Historic Preservation Office has reviewed your request for a Certificate of 
Appropriateness for the proposed exterior alterations to the Subject Property.  
 
The City Historic Preservation Officer has reviewed your request and determined it  complies 
with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.  In addition, 
the modifications are consistent with City’s historic standards and guidelines. The Historic 
Preservation Officer has therefore approved the Certificate of Appropriateness request based on 
the analysis completed on Attachment 1 of this decision letter. 
 
If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact me. 
 
Sincerely 
 
 
 
Maura Jackson, Historic Preservation Advisor/Planner 
City of Mesa 
 
cc:  Mary Kopaskie-Brown, Planning Director/Historic Preservation Officer 
       Michelle Dahlke, Principal Planner 
 
Enclosures: 
 
1) Attachment 1