To our nearly 1,500 supporters -Thank You!!
A new coalition has formed to re-energize the campaign - 1,000 Friends Protecting Historic Benicia”. The fight to protect the historic district from being erased by high-density residential condominium development has forced our lawsuit that was filed on November 23, 2022. This is our only remedy. The city has ignored two years of protest and denied a formal appeal.
Ignoring zoning ordinances, discounting decades of historical preservation standards, and creating hazardous conditions for residents are among the factors in the lawsuit.
The “objective standards” selected by the City in Fall 2020 are arbitrary and subjective. They became a neat checklist for compliance with SB35. Avoiding developer litigation and pressure from the California Housing and Community Development Department was clearly the primary focus of the City. “SB35 ties our hands, we are forced to approve,” was the response we heard throughout two years of protest.
Tortured, conflicting interpretations of zoning ordinances allowed the city-created “objective standards” to prevail. Thirty years of Arsenal planning initiatives, professional studies, a mixed-use development plan, and (ACH) historic commission oversight mainly were discounted or ignored.
Our protest is not NIMBY or anti-affordable housing. Permitting a National Historic District to be essentially erased, with environmental risks created for new residents cannot be allowed. If housing is to be built, let the general plan and established zoning and ordinances be applied.
1000 Friends PBH website (under development) - https://1000friendsphb.org/