Blake Griggs Properties

As members of the Ohlone tribe broke out into traditional song at the start of Tuesday’s City Council meeting, council members prepared for discussions regarding development on the West Berkeley Shellmound, BART’s “100 percent” affordable housing plan and a possible independent police auditor.

More than 50 community members packed the room — with more people than chairs available — for the Landmarks Preservation Commission meeting Thursday to protest development at 1900 Fourth St., also known as the West Berkeley Shellmound.

A 2017 California state law could allow a real estate developer to begin construction of an apartment complex on a site in West Berkeley considered sacred by Ohlone people after years of controversy and debate.

For Corrina Gould, a member of the Ohlone tribe, the site at 1900 Fourth St. is more than a parking lot — to her, the site is a sacred burial land and the first inhabited village of the first people in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Local indigenous leaders held a press conference Friday to provide updates on their continued efforts to prevent development at the West Berkeley Shellmound site at 1900 4th St., which they consider to be a sacred burial site of the Ohlone Indians.

The five-floor project — to be called The Blake — will be located at 2035 Blake Street and will include 67 bike-parking spaces, electronic voltage-ready parking stalls and rooftop solar panels.