Category Archives: Housing

Protect our historic districts and places on the National Register – the highest level recognition of historic significance

By Elizabeth Patterson and Steve Goetz, January 19, 2023

Please attend the City Council public hearing on the Housing Element scheduled for 6:00 pm on January 24, in-person or via Zoom.  You don’t have to say anything, just show your support for those who do say something

  • Adopt the Environmentally Superior alternative project
  • By adopting the Environmentally Superior Alternative (ESA), the historic districts and places are removed thus no significant impact to cultural resources
  • Housing Element with this ESA still has more than 15% buffer as “insurance” for parcels that may not be developed at designated densities and affordability
  • Remove Park Rd and Jefferson Ridge as “opportunity sites” because city has already approved development
  • Reduce impacts to aesthetic resources, energy, geology and soils, greenhouse gas emissions, hazards and hazardous material, hydrology and quarter quality, public services, population and housing, and transportation by adopting the ESA.
  • Avoid potential threats to the viability of our heavy industry while also avoiding threatening public health and safety.
  • After adoption of Environmentally Superior alternative initiate planning for community goals for East side where most of the high density and affordability parcels are identified.
  • After adoption consider planning tools to achieve density and affordability, e.g. minimum affordability requirement range between 20 and 25%; required density for designated parcels.
  • Avoid losing additional land use control in the next update of the housing element (2031) through “by right development” if city does not adopt planning measures to meet state housing requirements

The following letter is from Steve Goetz

(Click image to see the 1999 General Plan)

Next Tuesday (January 24) the City Council will consider changing the Benicia General Plan to accommodate over 250% of Benicia’s share of the region’s housing need. Specifically, the Council will consider adopting a Housing Element to the General Plan that will accommodate 1,174 units above the 750 units mandated by the state for Benicia by 2031.

Click image for DRAFT 2023-2021 Housing Element

We need housing so why would providing more housing than what the state requires be a problem?  A review of the information developed for the Housing Element shows this level of rezoning will significantly damage the character of Benicia’s two historic districts and historic cemetery disproportionately burden the East Side compared to other areas of the city, and concentrate new lower-income housing next to heavy industry.  In other words, the City is proposing an effort in gross excess of what is required or suitable for the intended purpose, meeting the definition of the word “overkill”.

(Click image to see the Housing Element Draft EIR)

The City’s own Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Housing Element says that the close proximity of the proposed housing sites to historic buildings will substantially damage the significance of these historic districts.   The EIR says we can protect these historic districts and meet Benicia’s share of the regional housing need by removing the 17 housing sites proposed in these historic districts.

The EIR concluded that the project alternative to remove proposed housing from the historic districts is “environmentally superior”, meaning it not only eliminates damage to Benicia’s historic districts, it also reduces impacts to aesthetic resources, energy, geology and soils, greenhouse gas emissions, hazards and hazardous material, hydrology and quarter quality, public services, population and housing, and transportation when compared to the proposed project (i.e. Housing Element).  Most importantly, the EIR finds that this environmentally superior alternative would accommodate Benicia’s share of the regional housing need.

The second problem with proposing an excessive amount of housing is that over 70% of the total amount of housing proposed in the lower income categories is located in the East Side.  This proposal is clearly against the General Plan policy that requires dispersal of this housing across the city.

Finally, this Housing Element shows that this concentration of lower income housing is in the most environmentally challenged area of Benicia. There is a reason why there are some undeveloped sites in the East Side.  These sites happen to be near heavy industry. We have located heavy industry away from housing so it can contribute to our economy without being a nuisance and without endangering public health.  This Housing Element threatens the viability of our heavy industry while also threatening public health and safety.

Last week’s staff report to the Planning Commission on the Housing Element explained that these disproportionate impacts to the East Side are a result of the City Council’s direction.  In other words, the City Council is choosing to propose 2.5 times the amount of housing needed for the region to the detriment of our historic districts, the East Side, our heavy industry, and public health and safety.

One commenter at last week’s Planning Commission hearing on the Housing Element said most public comments were only looking at how the Housing Element was affecting them and not how it could benefit those who need housing and want to live in Benicia.  The comments in support of our historic districts, heavy industry, and public health were not generated by concern about how the Housing Element would affect them, but how it would affect Benicia’s future and the type of community we hand down to future generations.

We look to our City Council to address city needs in a way that balances benefits of a proposed action against the disadvantages and how it supports the city’s overall goals.  The Housing Element is not balanced, but is overkill, representing new housing any cost.  A balanced approach to meeting our state obligation for new housing is the EIR’s environmentally superior alternative, which satisfies our housing priorities while also serving other city priorities.

>> Please attend the City Council public hearing on the Housing Element scheduled for 6:00 pm on January 24, in-person or via Zoom.  You don’t have to say anything, just show your support for those who do say something.  You can also call your City Council at 707-746-4213 now and leave a message. Write to our Council members:

Housing in Benicia – Former Mayor Elizabeth Patterson

[Editor: Benicia’s housing needs, California regulatory requirements and regulations, and potential locations for new housing in Benicia are now being debated among residents and at our Planning Commission and City Council.  The issues are complex and opinion is divided among friends and colleagues. See also perspective by current Benicia Mayor Steve Young. – R.S.]

The Mayor and Council can do better than this

EL PAT’S FORUM

by ELIZABETH PATTERSON
Benicia, California

July 25, 2022

The Mayor and Council can do better than this. “This” is the draft Housing Element.

Their sworn duty is to make decisions based on public health safety and welfare. They are to uphold the laws of the city including the general plan.

The draft housing element is part of the state mandated seven elements plus optional elements of the general plan. One optional element of the general plan is economic development. The highest and best use of the historic districts is to foster and support economic activities such as historic museums, parks and commercial uses. The draft housing element proposes to have multifamily housing in historic districts on the National Register – that is a big deal. The reason Jefferson Ridge (Park Road and Jefferson Street) is on this prestigious list is because it is the only presidio commissioned by President Lincoln to establish a union Army presence in California to prevent the pro slavery counties and confederates from pushing California into a slave holding state. That too is a big deal. The only one in California. The only one by President Lincoln. The only one in the West that is intact and complete. The only one.

On its own this treasure should be protected, championed, and developed for visitors to marvel at this one-of-a-kind Civil War Era enclave protecting California from becoming a slave state.

But there is more. Not only is this site of such rare qualities it is also smack dab in the vicinity (less than a thousand feet) of oil pipelines and a full port of shipping fossil fuel oil and products. These things can blow up. They also catch on fire. We just had one. A prudent Mayor and council would NOT put people – mothers, fathers, children – to live so close to such places. How will they shelter in place? How will they evacuate? How will they have less polluted air than is currently in that area? How will children not venture into these wonderfully complex and dangerous places for the excitement of risk?

And then there is the doctrine “when in a hole, stop digging”. The city can’t maintain the roads, sidewalks, trees, water lines, parks without more revenue. This council wants us to vote on another general sales tax to help pay for these things. The use of the historic districts that are far from walkable distance and little to zero services will require all that new and improved infrastructure to be maintained. But property taxes only go up 2% a year versus the cost of everything else which is at least 3% and right now at 9%. Don’t keep digging.

And we all agree that we need affordable housing – although the proposed Arsenal projects are only providing 10% of all the units– a shamefully low percentage. And the reason that housing is not affordable in most communities is the cost of land. And the cost of land is driven by investors who want the low capital gains tax at 14% to make their profits. The cost of land is disconnected from the marketplace. The only market for land is with the investors and developers. Wages have not kept pace with the inflationary value of investor-owned land. You can’t solve problems if you don’t focus on the root of the problem.

Nonetheless the state in service to the land investors and the good intention of others is mandating that California cities and counties provide for more new development. It seems regardless of the other state mandates to reduce greenhouse gases, reduce vehicle miles traveled and achieve clean air and save 20% on water use – just “build baby build”.

Can we meet the state mandate to provide opportunities for housing based on the state’s standards – Regional Housing Needs Assessment? Yes. The city staff and consultants have identified more than enough without residential in the Arsenal historic district. The Mayor and council can have their good intentions for housing AND protect the Arsenal. Will they? Tune in or show up this Tuesday the 26th at 6:00 PM at city hall. Share your thoughts and recommendations.

Attached is a comment letter for the July 26, 2022 City Council/Planning Commission joint study session on the Public Review Draft Housing Element. Please forward it to City Council members and Planning Commissioners. Continue reading Housing in Benicia – Former Mayor Elizabeth Patterson

Housing in Benicia – Mayor Steve Young

[Editor: Benicia’s housing needs, California regulatory requirements and regulations, and potential locations for new housing in Benicia are now being debated among residents and at our Planning Commission and City Council.  The issues are complex and opinion is divided among friends and colleagues.  See also perspective by former Benicia Mayor Elizabeth Patterson.  – R.S.]

Mayor Young addresses housing issues

July 24, 2022

Steve Young, Benicia Mayor

I am writing this in response to the article printed in the Herald on July 20, [and here on the BenIndy, “Let’s Have an East-Side City park in the Historic Benicia Arsenal !“] as well as the many letters the Council has received relative to the possibility of rezoning a portion of two open space sites in Southampton for housing.

I first want to acknowledge the passion and intensity of the concerns expressed by a number of people about the City’s effort to complete the Housing Element in compliance with State law.  An engaged citizenry is crucial to the Council’s ability to make the best decisions while fulfilling our legal obligations.

On the Jefferson Ridge and Park Rd. projects, I think it is misleading at best to say that the City staff will “allow” the development of Jefferson Ridge or the apartments on Park Rd. under “ministerial discretion”. The City is not “planning to develop” these housing projects. The headline is also misleading (“Benicia moving to build apartment complexes”). Some fact checking is in order.

SB 35 specifically says that the City cannot exercise ANY discretion in this matter, as long as the project meets minimum affordability requirements (10%) and the city’s adopted Objective Design Standards. The project was initially rejected staff for not meeting those requirements, but  adjustments have been made and a decision on compliance with the design standards is  expected shortly.

This is not a project I would support in this location if I had the option to do so.  But the fact we cannot make any discretionary decisions means that there will be no hearings at the Planning Commission or City Council and no EIR. That is what the law requires, and we intend to follow the law – even in this case where we disagree openly with it.

SB35 is not a good law, and was opposed by me and the League of California Cities. The Legislature, however, believed that cities were one of the chief reasons that housing was not getting built in California. And there is some validity to that belief.

In suburban communities all over California, there have been only a relative handful of multi-family projects approved for a variety of reasons.  This has led directly to a variety of ill effects: increasing homelessness, longer commutes, increasing greenhouse gases, the inability of children to continue living in towns they grew up in, and few housing options for lower paid workers and seniors on fixed incomes.

I made a special trip to SF several months ago to meet with the author of SB 35, Sen. Scott Wiener, to argue that the Legislature ought to amend the law to exempt historic districts, like the Arsenal, from the blanket allowance of housing without local discretion. He waved off my objections dismissively and, despite my career in the field of affordable housing development, classified me as just another small town Mayor who has led the opposition to housing. Continue reading Housing in Benicia – Mayor Steve Young

Let’s Have an East-Side City park in the Historic Benicia Arsenal !

Benicia moving to build apartment complexes on historic land in the Benicia Arsenal

Letter by Kathryn Reiss and Tom Strychacz of Benicia, July 20, 2022
[Editor: see additional supporting documentation below.  – R.S.]

We are 25-year residents of Jefferson Street, and we are extremely concerned about two large apartment complexes threatening Officer’s Row in the Historic Benicia Arsenal. The city intends to develop two sites on our street—yet both sites of these planned developments are on the National Historic Register of Places, and as such are not projects that should be part of SB35. The city has a charge to protect the Historic Arsenal and Officer’s Row, and NOT throw it under the bus in its quest to provide much-needed affordable housing. We request that the Historic Benicia Arsenal in its entirety be removed from Housing Element Opportunity listings, and we hope that other residents of Benicia will write to the city to make their views known. These protected lands of national historical significance should not be part of SB35 development, and the city has a duty to protect the area.

Please consider:

  • “1451 Park” is a project on the corner of Jefferson and Park that intends to build several large three-story apartment buildings on a lot where the army’s Officer’s Club once stood. The current plan is not in keeping with the scale and appearance of the existing homes on Jefferson Street. There is room for 4 or 5 cottages on the 1451 Park plot, if designed to be in scale and appearance with the existing homes. It would be excellent if homes on this lot truly were all affordable housing. Additionally, there must be a safety setback from Park, which is a busy road with truck traffic whizzing through the industrial park.

Why cottages, front porches and picket fences? Because this “Officers’ Row” is a beautiful street of carefully maintained and preserved historical homes from the mid-19th century and is a treasure for our city. The homes are frequently featured in the city’s Historical Homes tours. The street has been used in television commercials. It is considered a special street, and one that our City Conservation Plan vows to protect and conserve.

Therefore, ANY new construction must fit in appearance with the historic homes already on Jefferson Street—just as the new-builds constructed in the 1980s were designed to fit in seamlessly among the 19th century homes. Residents on Jefferson Street, whether living in a 19th or 20th century home, have been under the restrictions and guidelines of the Historic Preservation/ Historical District plan when making any changes or updates to our properties. The city has been quite strict in enforcing the guidelines—rightfully so—in order to preserve the integrity of this Historic district. So the city needs to be equally stringent in any new development.

Thus, any new development on 1451 Park must respect the integrity of our city’s Conservation Plan, while still providing several affordable homes in the beautiful historic Arsenal neighborhood. The new builds must fit in rather than stand out like the proverbial sore thumbs. The east side of town already has many townhouses, condos and apartment buildings — and other areas of Benicia need to absorb their fair share rather than transgress on historic Jefferson Street.

  • “Jefferson Ridge” is a project slated for the second block of Officer’s Row—Jefferson Street—on the undeveloped land adjoining and across from three 19th Century Mansions. These were the homes of the highest-ranking military officers and–continuing along the street–the impressive Commanding Officer’s Mansion. The Clock Tower at Johansson Square completes this collection of magnificent historic buildings.

This collection of buildings atop rolling hills and affording views over the Carquinez Strait is the only property of its kind in the state of California. It is considered of value to the entire United States—having earned its place on the National Register of Historic Places as a Civil War Era relic of national importance. Benicia has a responsibility to protect it. We urge the city to research and consider other spaces for the necessary affordable housing required by SB35 without ruining forever the historic lands already on the National Register. The protection of the Historic Benicia Arsenal is not only a city issue; it is a state and national issue.

Rather than build on this land with its sweeping views of the hills, the port, and the Carquinez Strait, we request that the city turn it into a much-needed east-side park. Its open spaces were once enjoyed by countless visitors and dignitaries—even President Ulysses S. Grant– and it should continue to be enjoyed that way by future generations. Families living on this under-served side of town deserve a beautiful park—one for all residents of our city to enjoy. What a draw such a park would be for out-of-town day-trippers as well, who would then stay to dine at First Street restaurants and shop at First Street shops.

Even without a proper city park on this side of town, the Benicia Arsenal land has already become a de facto park for the lower east side. Picnickers, dog-walkers, bike riders make daily use of the land. Wedding photographers are often seen staging shots with the imposing Clock Tower and elegant Commanding Officer’s mansion in the background. The Jefferson Street Mansion is a popular wedding venue that would be put out of business entirely if the land around it were to become a high-density apartment complex housing hundreds of residents.

Additionally, the ten-fold increase in traffic and parking will cause mayhem and safety concerns for the narrow streets in the area. And the water needed for such a high-density development draws on resources California simply does not have.

To conclude: There is a time and a place for affordable housing—and though the time is now, the place cannot be the Historic Benicia Arsenal. Other areas of town can and must be found for development, and there are many areas that would serve without ruining forever our city’s Civil War Era gem of national significance. The city of Benicia should stand as stewards for our historical treasures—not allow them to be lost forever.

Losing such an irreplaceable resource causes irreparable harm. There is no going back once historic lands are developed. Therefore, we fervently ask that 1451 Park be developed in keeping with the other houses on Jefferson Street, and we ask that Jefferson Ridge be preserved as an east-side park where our city’s heritage is honored and where all residents can enjoy the special beauty of a bygone era.

Sincerely,

Kathryn Reiss and Tom Strychacz
Benicia


Kathryn Reiss is a Benicia author.  See her online presence at https://www.kathrynreiss.net/

Tom Strychacz is a Benicia artist.  See his online presence at https://www.tomstrychaczart.com/

Documents opposing the development, by Marilyn Bardet
City of Benicia documents