Marianne Jamison and Janette Perasso will be able to replace aluminum-clad, single-pane windows with vinyl-clad, dual-pane ones in their apartment building at 155 West I St., the Historic Preservation Review Commission decided Wednesday.

It was the panel’s second try on the matter. During its Dec. 18 meeting, Vice Chairperson Jon Van Landschoot would have had to recuse himself, since he lives too close to the building, and that would have left the commission without a quorum, since members Toni Haughey and Gilbert von Studnitz were absent.

Instead, the panel convened with enough members Wednesday in a special meeting, and swiftly approved the applicants’ request. Only Van Landschoot, who would have been ineligible to vote, was absent.

The applicants needed the HPRC’s design review approval to replace 10 existing aluminum, multipane casement windows with vinyl, dual-pane sliding windows in apartments 1 and 4.

The two also sought retroactive approval for the replacement of eight aluminum, multipane windows with dual-pane, vinyl-clad windows in apartments 2 and 3, in a separate building at 165 West I St. That work was done in 2004.

Neither of the buildings in the apartment complex is considered a contributor to the Downtown Historical Conservation District, and Principal Planner Amy Million had recommended approval, saying the change would be appropriate for a nonhistoric building.

After the vote, Commissioner Haughey expressed concern that too often, work is being done before permits are obtained, and in some cases no permits are sought after the fact.

In addition to this specific case, she said, she’s concerned because foreign investors are buying properties in the downtown shopping and historic area.

“It bothers me they did the windows without a permit,” she said. “They could have been advised do to something better.”

She said the new window replacements would be patterned after work done years ago without obtaining a permit.

“That bothers me,” she said again, noting that the apartment buildings are 70 years old. “Maybe I’m expecting too much.” Chairperson Luis Delgado advised, “You should have pulled it off the agenda to be discussed.”

The item was on the commission’s consent calendar, which is reserved for items considered so routine that they can be decided by a single vote without discussion, unless someone requests a matter to be removed.

Million reminded the commission that the two apartment buildings are separate, and on different parcels.

The initial window replacements were done shortly after the owners bought the building, she said; they sought permission to replace windows in the second building.

“It’s a constant frustration,” said Commissioner Trevor Macenski, who said it was a code enforcement matter. In Benicia, code enforcement violations are investigated when someone complains to city employees.

However, California has strict laws about how past infractions are handled, Macenski said, suggesting that if one went far enough into many buildings’ pasts, unpermitted construction could be found.

“People don’t realize we’re design review and historic preservation,” Commissioner Maggie Trumbly said.

About unpermitted work, she said, “It’s everywhere and happens all the time.”