Month: December 2009

In June of this year, it was announced that West Davis would finally have a grocery store after three years of the Westlake Shopping Center’s store sitting vacant.  At that time they were shooting for an opening around Thanksgiving, however, that date quickly got pushed back to December 19.  Based on an interview with the group DANG, Davis Advocates for Neighborhood Groceries, that date has been pushed back to the second week of January. 

On November 30, 2009, DeLano Retail Partners President Dennis DeLano sat down with DANG for an interview on a wide range of topic.  For the full interview, please see the DANG site.

A controversy has emerged in the Davis Village Homes community as neighbors suddenly were stunned to discover that a wireless company, known as New Path Networks would begin construction of a 35 foot high cell tower within the next few days.  Now the neighbors claim that neither the city nor the company, informed them about the cell tower.

City Manager Bill Emlen at this week’s city council meeting quickly apologized for dropping the ball–a situation that seems all too familiar to many observers of city government.  In fact as two of the neighbors, Alan Jackson and Elaine Fingerett spoke at council, a strange dynamic unfolded that showed that the city and by extension property owners have far less control of their property than they might wish to believe.

Last night the Davis City Council unanimously voted to direct the City Staff to fulfill its agreement with the neighbors of the Montessori Day Care Center and determine if problems still exist with noise levels two years after the construction of the sound wall and three years after all parties (daycare center, neighbors and the City) had agreed to implement a list of mtigiation measures to reduce noise.  A motion by Mayor Pro Tem Don Saylor to pass an exemption to the Noise Ordinance for Daycare Centers and Preschools did not appear to have three votes and Mr. Saylor pulled this issue and asked that it be brought up after the current issue with noise was resolved.

For fifteen years, the neighbors have had to deal with these high noise levels.  Part of the problem that City Manager Bill Emlen used to explain the City’s apparent lack of action on this issue was that because this was a planned community, the day care center does not come with a conditional use permit.  Mr. Emlen claimed that this prevented the city from having the teeth to enforce laws on the books and work with the neighbors to resolve the noise issue.  However, as Mr. Emlen conceded there are a number of other tools that can be utilized.

City Staff has placed an item on the agenda for tonight’s City Council meeting that recommends the City Council consider an ordinance that would exempt schools and daycare centers from the city’s noise ordinance during normal business hours.  The Vanguard has covered this issue in considerable detail since the idea was first posed back in the Spring.

Katherine Hess, the City’s Community Development Director, argues in the staff report that the ordinance is not covered under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).