Benicia Residents Take Stand Against Arsenal District Development

BENICIA, CA — Some Benicia residents are working to preserve an area in the city's historic Arsenal District from being developed into a 124-unit housing project.

Advocates on the Benicia Arsenal Park Task Force say that the proposed development of townhouses called Jefferson Ridge — which also includes a 2,000-square-foot commercial building and 289 parking spaces on 7.9 acres — is inappropriate for the area at Jefferson Street and Park Road, which, with its Civil War-era officers' buildings, is listed as District C on the National Register of Historic Places.

"This landscape setting, since time immemorial, has remained undeveloped," said Marilyn Bardet, a task force member, environmental activist and 34-year Benicia resident, who added that it would be a "huge, big deal" to lose the district.

"We believe a park is the best way to honor and protect this nationally recognized historic gem -- a spectacular collection of mid-19th-century military buildings and open spaces, almost unchanged over 150 years and tied not only to the origins of Benicia, but to the establishment of California as a state and to the nation's western expansion," the task force's website says.

The preservationists are concerned that the developer's application will be accepted with inadequate public scrutiny under provisions of Senate Bill 35, which, in its efforts to increase affordable housing stock in California, calls for a fast-tracked approval process.

"We agree that we need housing in California, especially affordable housing. But, this is not the place for it. When you're planning for 125 condo units that are going to be sold at market rate [except for the 10 percent that must be dedicated to affordable housing under SB 35], this is egregious," Bardet said, adding, "The clock is ticking."

Under SB 35, public review of the project's environmental impact is not required. Officials must determine within 60 days of its submission on Nov. 22 whether the application meets "objective planning standards," according to Benicia Community Development Director Suzanne Thorsen.

Thorsen said a public oversight meeting conducted by the planning commission, "for purposes of assessing compliance with the criteria for streamlined projects," will be held in January at a date not yet determined.

If Benicia deems the project eligible for streamlined review, it would proceed to the permitting stage. Once building permits are issued, construction could begin in 2022.
Keith Rogal, managing partner of the development team who submitted the SB 35 application on behalf of property owners Richard Bortolazzo and Robert Whitehead, said the city of Benicia "has repeatedly identified" this Jefferson Ridge property area "as a suitable site for housing development."

He added, "It is also worth noting that proposed new development would border an existing neighborhood with large numbers of homes previously developed within the Arsenal district, of a very similar scale and density."

Bardet, saying that SB 35 is "not well thought through," added that the Arsenal area, which is near the Port of Benicia, isn't suitable for housing for health and safety reasons.

"You have the incompatibility of the industrial uses, and the dangers and hazards of air pollution that are within 1,000 feet of where these residents would be living," she said.
"Hazards that exist at the port area are permanent," she said, mentioning Amports auto import-export operations and the Valero oil refinery's pipelines and tanker docks.
In the best possible scenario, Bardet said, funds would be raised to challenge SB 35 and facilitate a deal for the city of Benicia to purchase the Arsenal land to create a park.

"We can develop heritage tourism here, around this very unique site," Bardet said. "It's a marvelous unexpected pleasure being on Jefferson Street; looking out, you can almost imagine what it would have been like in the 19th century. It's a very rare occurrence, that we have that experience in California in an urban environment."

For more information about the project, visit https://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/jeffersonridge.

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