1DCA Division 3 Oral Argument - 2026/01/14 - Jan 14, 2026
argument1DCA Division 3 Oral Argument - 2026/01/14
California First District Court of Appeal
12 min
8 chapters
transcribed 7 days ago
official recording ↗
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
What is the case and who are the parties involved in this oral argument?
Thank you. All right. Or bills getting out on the first color.
All right. Please be seated. Good morning and thank you all for being here. Uh let's go to our first and only case. Uh case number A one seven two zero zero five. One thousand friends protecting historic Benicia versus the city of Venetia. Uh for the record, our panel this morning includes Justices Petru and uh Rodriguez. Counsel, would you kindly uh step up to the microphone and announce your appearances, beginning with the appellate?
Suzanne Bradford, representing Appellant, one thousand friends protecting historic Benicia.
Morning.
Nicholas Eckenweiler on behalf of respondents Keith Rogel and Rogel and Associates.
Good morning.
Brian Bunger with Holland and Knight on behalf of Appelles uh Gina Cooper and Orchard Crossing Incorporated.
So before we start, um please keep in mind that we've issued a tentative opinion and would appreciate your keeping your arguments uh to the highlights. And uh Miss Bradford will be keeping time for your argument.
How does counsel frame the historic significance of the Benicia Officers Row District?
You have ten minutes. Do you wish to reserve some time for rebuttal? Two minutes, very good. Why don't you step up and proceed?
May it please the court. We are here today because your decision in this matter will decide the fate of a unique historic structure that is both a state historic landmark and a national register historic district. The Benisha Arsenal's Officers Row District is the nation's last intact civil war officers row districts in the So
ma'am, you may have heard that we've read your briefing and we've given you a tentative. So we're we're all aware of the historical significance of the area, but maybe you can get to some of the legal arguments.
Yes, I understand that. I was just framing the significance of this and why we why we are here today. A decision affirming this, of course, will eliminate this structure. A decision Reversing the lower court decision will not eliminate the possibility that the housing will go forward, it will merely allow that a closer scrutiny under CEQA is applied in this situation. Again, excuse me. I'm speaking to the Benicia Officers Row Historic District that is in the national registry and identified in the landmark and the local registry.
So so you're still referring to the entire district as opposed to any individual structure within that?
The district was designed as an interconnected whole, yes. Yes, Your Honor.
What legal arguments are presented about the definition of a historic structure versus a historic district?
Uh the the points we will address is the structure argument as well as the objective standards in the Benicia Municipal Code and the wetlands and sensitive species issues briefly. Um, with regard to a historic structure, SB thirty-five lists an exception, four structures that are listed in national, state, and local registries. Um, because of this Uh The operative term is not just structure, а historiк структур. Because the listing involves criteria that are typically set forth in statute, regulation, or ordinance that is distinct from just a random structure. The tentatives treatment on a definition of a dictionary structure alone also diverges from the Rogan Ellsworth decision, which considered
dictionary definitions as well as statutory definitions. In that case, of course, the facts were very different. Because the structure, the shell mound, had already been destroyed decades earlier. No one even knew where it was located.
But to the extent that the structure the extent that the shell mound is distinguishable from here, say the officers' row and everything else, one of the points made in that case was reliance on statutory um definitions or uses in preservation statutes is an opposite to what we have in the statutes here. We're here the statute, the whole point of it is to promote kind of development of housing stock and things like that. But those didn't have quite so much relevance. I'm interested in kind of your reaction to that argument.
Well I think narrowing it to to just dictionary definition is is uh inappropriate here for two reasons. What I just said because a registered structure is indicated, um
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the case and who are the parties involved in this oral argument?
0:04–1:36
2
How does counsel frame the historic significance of the Benicia Officers Row District?
1:36–3:28
3
What legal arguments are presented about the definition of a historic structure versus a historic district?
3:28–5:11
4
How do the justices question the legislature’s use of “historic structure” and “historic district”?
5:11–6:50
5
What issues are raised regarding the wetlands and species habitat evidence in the record?
6:50–8:18
6
How does counsel address the adequacy of the draft EIR and its citation in the briefing?
8:18–9:49
7
What conclusions does the appellant draw about the SB 35 guidelines and preservation goals?
9:49–11:27
8
How does the court conclude the oral argument and what are the next steps?
11:27–12:50
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