The plaintiffs - the 620 Hearst Group, White West Properties and Richard and Charlene DeVecchi - allege that the three-block area proposed for the listing was illegally set aside as a historic landmark. In the complaint, filed December 22 in the Alameda County Superior Court, Walnut Creek attorney Christian Carrigan wrote: "The city's designation of the property as an historic landmark is arbitrary, capricious and a prejudicial abuse of discretion."

The area is bounded by University and Hearst avenues, I-880 and Fourth Street and includes 620 Hearst Ave. The Berkeley Landmark Preservation Commission handed down the status because beneath the area there is supposedly a collection that includes millions of clams and oyster shells, graves and tools from Ohlone Indian habitation dating back 5,700 years.

The plaintiffs claim that most of the original artifacts deposited at the site by American Indians have been stripped away in University of California excavations in the 1950's as well as in commercial endeavors. They say the chance that any artifacts remain is unlikely.