This is crazy. They should have gotten the building down already to prevent this. You know how much money is being wasted here--taxpayer money . . .

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Suit contests razing historic Briones home: Group alleges state, local codes broken
Jason Green
Palo Alto Daily News, Calif.

Apr. 12--A newly formed group that hopes to preserve the Juana Briones house in Palo Alto filed a lawsuit Wednesday alleging the city violated state laws and its own municipal code when it handed out a demolition permit to the homeowners earlier this week.

The suit filed by the Friends of the Juana Briones House claims the city should have performed an environmental impact review before issuing a demolition permit. The destruction of the home built in 1844 for first-generation Californian Juana Briones y Tapia de Miranda would have a "significant environmental impact," the suit claims.

If the group's effort succeeds, there's a chance the home could yet be saved from a date with the wrecking ball.

The city issued the demolition permit Tuesday following a drawn-out legal battle with the homeowners, Jaim Nulman and Avelyn Welczer, that ended when a judge ruled in November the homeowners could legally bulldoze the structure.

Palo Alto's director of Planning and Community Environment, Steve Emslie, said the city was prevented from requiring an environmental impact report by a subsequent lega agreement. Emslie acknowledged Wednesday that the California Environmental Quality Act would typically require the city to prepare a report to consider, among other things, alternatives to demolition.

But Susan Brandt-Hawley, the attorney for the friends group, said the city cannot hide behind that argument. She said it was unlawful for the city and the homeowners to agree to such a stipulation even though a judge signed off on it.

"You just can't have a developer and an agency agreeing that an important law does not apply to them," said Brandt-Hawley, who has helped save several historic structures around the Bay Area. "There's no case that I know of that says an agency and a developer can say CEQA does not apply to them."

It was not immediately clear Wednesday why the judge in the case would have approved an agreement that violated a state law.

Palo Alto City Attorney Gary Baum and Senior Assistant City Attorney Cara Silver, who is handling the case, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Brandt-Hawley said it was possible the judge wasn't aware of the legal issues involved in such an agreement between the two parties.

The group's suit also alleges the city violated its own rules when it did not forward the request for a demolition permit to its historic resources board for its recommendations.

In addition to getting a judge to order that the city perform an environmental impact report, the suit seeks to block the "salvage, dismantling or demolition" of the home. A 60-day order attached to the agreement between the city and the homeowners prevents any kind of demolition work on the house, starting on the day the permit was issued.