Benicia First statement on Business Park, 5/6/08

We have reached a crisis point in consideration of the Benicia Business Park. The decision of the City Council in this matter will have a profound impact upon the future of Benicia.

The Council is faced with the following choices: (1) To attempt to reshape the current version submitted by Seeno by the use of either a huge number of conditions of approval or by a development agreement or (2) To deny the project and ask Seeno to return with a new proposal reflective of the cities needs and desires and the new economic realities of the time.

The character and economics of industrial development have radically changed in just the past few years, a change not reflected in either the initial or the revised plan presented by the Seeno Company. Even if limited solely to an economic evaluation and assessing only the future economic prospects for Benicia, the Seeno plans have not made sense. The first plan was an incredibly bad proposal, a dated warehousing and shipping model, involving no concern for scenic values, environmental impacts, economic sustainability, energy efficiency, market realities or the Benicia General Plan.

While the alternative plan now presented has attached some of the buzzwords of the new industrial era, and has reduced impacts, it is clear that at the conceptual level it remains mired in the past. There is neither a deep understanding of nor a deep commitment to anything resembling a coherent, integrated research and development campus, anchored by some major technological core. This is reflected in its phasing plan; it is reflected in its fragmented approach and it is reflected in the complete lack of any overarching vision of the whole project. Its scope is reduced but it is still far from the kind of project envisioned in Benicia’s Economic Development Strategy. It still does not conform to the General Plan, still provides no evidence of serious economic analysis and is still starkly deficient in any awareness of current trends or the rich potential of the Benicia site.

Whether north Benicia development will ever achieve what the city has set forth in its development strategy, is heavily dependent upon (1) the developer sharing with the city the same goals and vision for the overall project; (2) finding the right kind of high tech, research and development venture to anchor the development and to stimulate related technological enterprise, and (3) creating the kind of campus setting that fits this type of industry. It is precisely this kind of venture and this kind of planning that is now attracting major economic focus and venture capital and has the Bay area leading the state, at a time when general business credit is very tight. There is little indication to date that the Seeno Company understands these realities. One crucial planning reality is that any initial development begun without such understanding can immediately close off all the rich potential and possibilities of Benicia’s situation.

What we do not want, what we absolutely must avoid. is to begin with a large commercial development, potentially conducive to urban decay and then “phase” into a string of warehouses and random unrelated activities created over the next twenty-five years.

In our view, the establishment of hundreds of conditions of approval is a woefully inadequate method to deal with the shortcomings of the Seeno plan. It is a fragmented approach; it will neither create nor insure a coherent project and is a virtual guarantor of continuous oversight problems. There is no way that the present proposal can be nudged, negotiated or forced into anything resembling what this city wants, or to fit the demands for sustainable, future oriented, technologically oriented, green industrial development. Nor do we believe that moving to a development agreement, while a step better than detailing conditions of approval, can solve that fundamental problem.

For these reasons, we believe it to be imperative for the city to deny this project and ask Seeno to come back with a new sustainable, campus oriented, cleantech project reflecting current and future economic and environmental realities, demands and opportunities OR, to bring in a partner, capable of such planning. We further believe that the city should assure the Seeno Company that it is prepared to engage actively in expediting such a proposal and cooperating fully in its realization.

Planning Commission recommends denial of Seeno Project!

At the April 10 Planning Commission hearing, the PC voted to deny approval of the new revised version of the Seeno Project because the applicant had given them too little time to review it, and had provided too little documentation to verify their claims, and because it still appears to be seriously out of conformance to many requirements set forth in various General Plan elements, such as geologic and ecological considerations, fiscal and economic impacts, urban decay, traffic, health and safety, to name a few.

Their vote to deny approval did not stop the project in its tracks, however, because it is merely their recommendation that they are now sending on to the City Council. All eyes now turn to the Council and their May 6 City Council meeting (and possibly also May 20 and June 3). If the Council votes to concur with the Planning Commission recommendation and simply denies the current project outright, it would give Seeno and the City plenty of time to work together on developing a new project concept and design that is truly visionary and appropriate for the 21st Century and consistent with the comprehensive sustainability vision and goals of our General Plan.

NOW is the time to write to the City Council and let your concerns be heard!
Mayor Patterson, epatterson@ci.benicia.ca.us
Tom Campbell, tcampbell@ci.benicia.ca.us
Mark Hughes, mhughes@ci.benicia.ca.us
Mike Ioakimedes, mioakimedes@ci.benicia.ca.us
Alan Schwartzman, aschwartzman@ci.benicia.ca.us

The Seeno Project - EIR vote

After countless months of City Council meetings, votes, public hearings, public forums and presentations, and voluminous written and oral public comments on the Seeno Project's Environmental Impact Report (EIR), the Final EIR came up for a vote at the City Council on Feb. 19, 2008.

BAD NEWS: The EIR for the proposed Benicia Business Park contains multiple instances of inadequate imact assessments, based on inaccurate data and assumptions. It also proposes alarming "mitigation" measures that would not bring the project into compliance with our city's General Plan and would have serious negative effects on our air quality, traffic, safety, noise, and ecology. Unfortunately, in spite of these facts, the City Council, on Feb. 19, 2008, went ahead and certified the EIR as "adequate" ! (BUT with important caveats, requiring "the applicant" to come back with a revised project containing suggested environmental improvements.)

View Environmental Impact Report, Comments, Presentation

GOOD NEWS: This step does not mean the Proposed Project itself has been approved, but only the EIR. There will be many more stages in this process and more opportunities to affect the final design and function of this project, but it will take constant citizen vigilance and engagement.

To stay informed as new developments evolve on this issue, please sign up for our mailing list by writing to: beniciafirst@earthlink.net

Who is Benicia First and what is the Seeno Project?

Who is Benicia First?

Benicia First is a network of Benicians committed to ensuring that development projects in Benicia must adhere to our General Plan's vision of creating a vibrant local economy, preserving of our environment, and enhancing of our cultural and historic resources.

In order to meet these goals, we believe that projects must employ the newly emerging development and economic models that are designed to meet the environmental and economic challenges of the 21st Century, and not rely on assumptions and models that worked in the past but are no longer economically and environmentally viable.

What is the Seeno Project?

The proposed Benicia Business Park is commonly referred to as the Seeno Project because it is owned by Discovery Builders, an Albert Seeno company. The Business Park is a huge commercial/light industrial development proposed for the rolling hills in the north-east section of Benicia. Starting at Lake Herman Road and E. 2nd Street, it extends in a 527-acre wedge along both roads.

Although commercial and light industrial use is permitted for this property, the project, as currently conceived and designed, would radically change the character and livability of Benicia forever. It fails to conform to many important goals in our General Plan relating to environmental and economic quality and sustainability, and the type of commercial businesses proposed for the development would weaken our Downtown as the City's central commercial zone, contributing to urban decay.

For more information, see our website, http://www.beniciafirst.com/ , where you can read more details about the project, and veiw our slide show presentations.

A POSITIVE ALTERNATIVE VISION:

We have great concern about the proposed Seeno project, its size, conceptual design and obvious impacts, including many not subject to adequate mitigation. What is entailed in this project as designed will irrevocably alter the character and quality of life of Benicia without the promise of a viable, prosperous long term future.

We do not believe that Benicia should settle for a backward oriented, conventional project framed as something of an extension of our present industrial park. The long term economic viability of that static twentieth century model would be in great doubt.

We believe that the site, the landscape, the quality of Benicia and its population make it an ideal setting for the types of creative, research oriented companies and enterprises that will be shaping the future of our country. We believe that a development that uses the beauty of our landscape as an asset is preferable to one that destroys it.

The country is beginning to awaken to concepts of sustainability, of green enterprises, of a future not dependent upon a petroleum economy and it is hungry for ideas. Numerous cities and towns are beginning to respond with projects and ideas for that future. We believe that Benicia has a unique opportunity to be among them.

There has already been talk of searching for a research and development center, that itself becomes a magnet for other creative and future oriented new enterprises. We would like to work with other groups and individuals in developing plans for such a search and in developing the criteria for the type of development in which all Benicians can have confidence and pride.

We believe that Benicians working together can frame such a future for Benicia and we pledge to do everything in our power to assist in achieving that end.