The Benicia City Council voted 3-2 to uphold an appeal that would prevent two historic buildings from being demolished at its Tuesday meeting.

The historic Foundry and Office building structures located at the end of East H Street were constructed in the 1850s as the shipping and office buildings for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, which helped build ships used by the Arsenal and helped establish in Benicia what many consider the first industrial complex west of the Mississippi River. The property is currently owned by automobile import company Amports.

Once owned by Yuba Industries, the buildings are viewed by many residents as proud symbols of Benicia’s heyday as an industrial port. However, the local landmarks have fallen on hard times in recent decades. Having not had any occupants in quite some time, the buildings have seen numerous structural damage and vandalism. After damage from a fire in 2015, Chief Building Official Rachel O’Shea determined that an inspection should be done. On Dec. 17 of that year, Chris Gale of 4 LEAF Inc., did an inspection and uncovered numerous structural issues, resulting in the property being red-tagged to prevent entry. An update was provided a year later by Fred Cullum, 4 LEAF’s chief business official.

In October, Amports filed an emergency demolition permit. In December, O’Shea looked over city code and the Safety Assessment Program evaluations provided by the inspectors and determined the permit should be issued. Four members of the Historic Preservation Review Commission (HPRC) appealed the decision to the Building Code Board of Appeals in February. The two-member board came to a split decision, meaning O’Shea’s decision still stood. Shortly after, Councilmember Tom Campbell requested that the decision be brought to the council for review.

HPRC Chair Tim Reynolds said that Amports had brought a demolition permit for the buildings after a fire in 2006 before the HPRC, and it was unanimously rejected. The commission had asked that an Environmental Impact Report be provided, and it never was.

“That’s how we get to where we are now with two safety assessment reports being used as justification to give up the struggle against a negligent property owner and to allow the demolition to proceed,” he said.

“Because this is a significant historic structure, additional consideration is warranted,” he added.

Reynolds also suggested that approving the permit would “set a dangerous precedent.”

“If reasonable alternative stabilization measures exist, then using SAP reports in this way to justify a full-scale, thumbs-down demolition of an entire historic site is radical and unnecessary,” he said. “If this is the extent of the yard stick that you have to measure the viability of the historic structure, then you would have to bulldoze the Parthenon. You’d have to red tag the Coliseum.”

Reynolds noted that alternatives exist to demolishing the buildings, including mothballing, partial stabilization and full-scale rehabilitation.

“The appeal here is not an appeal against public safety,” he said. “We’re simply asking for a more careful, deliberate process to address this significant problem, which is the loss of a historic monument.”

Amports attorney Dana Dean noted that four different experts— including Oakland structural engineer company Owen O’Neil Associates, which provided a report shortly after the Board of Appeals meeting— had said the buildings provided an imminent threat to the health and safety of Benicia residents.

“You have your own chief building officer telling you from the get-go that this is an extreme emergency, and I think there’s a need to respect her opinion,” Dean said.

“There is absolutely no evidence in the record to support a different conclusion,” she added. “Nobody throughout this process has brought forth actual evidence to support that there isn’t a safety issue.”

Dean said that in 2006, Amports had made a few offers, including moving the buildings to the end of First Street and saving some of the bricks, which Dean said was still an option. She also noted that Amports opted not to provide an EIR because the economy was stable at the time and it was assumed a developer would come along.

“10 years later, that hasn’t happened and there’s nothing on the horizon that suggests there’s going to,” she said.

Dean said the property owners did tighten up security by placing higher dual fences around the building, but people have still managed to break through the fences.

Dean believed that O’Shea followed the correct city code.

“There’s no evidence before you to suggest she did anything wrong,” she said.

Dean also did not feel that the property was not an imminent threat because despite all of the fences, warning signs and even a guard to patrol the premises, people have still managed to break in.

“What would we do if we found out that teenagers had gotten in there, and a collapse occurred?” she asked. “No one’s saying that a collapse won’t occur. Everyone is telling you ‘A collapse is going to occur.’”

Dean said she respected that residents cared about the town’s history and offered to have a third-party mediation discussion about what could be salvaged from the property if the permit were issued.

When the opportunity came for public comment, all speakers spoke in favor of the appeal. Benicia Historical Society director and former Mayor Jerry Hayes recommended that the council refer the issue back to the HPRC. Leann Taagepera, a local business proprietor, said that HPRC should have been the entity to review the request. Jane Curl, who lives near the property, said she has frequently seen teens going into the property.

“Amports shouldn’t be rewarded for this kind of neglect,” Curl said. “If there’s anything that this council can do to protect these buildings, I would sure appreciate it.”

Despite requests from the public to have the HPRC review the request, Campbell noted that the appellants made up the majority of the commission and asked City Attorney Heather McLaughlin if this was an issue of bias. McLaughlin said staff would have to draw straws.

The council voted 3-2 to uphold the appeal, have staff go through the process of enforcing the existing ordinance, have Amports secure the property and begin the process of identifying stabilization approaches and establishing affirmative maintenance. Councilmembers Mark Hughes and Alan Schwartzman voted no because of the public safety hazard that was presented.

In other business, the council unanimously supported a request by Arts Benicia to have the Arsenal designated as a cultural district by the state, and Mayor Elizabeth Patterson and Poet Laureate Johanna Ely read a proclamation declaring April as National Poetry Month, with Ely reading a poem she had scribed titled “When a Poem Wants to Be Written.” During the public comment portion, citizens took to the lectern to address concerns about a private ferry service agreement for the Ninth Street Park that was approved at the Nov. 15 meeting without public outreach.

The meeting adjourned in honor of Virginia Souza, a former Benicia treasurer and Planning Commissioner who died on March 22 at the age of 91.

The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 4.