Carlton Plaza Davis Assisted Living Facility Approved! Proper Process Worked!

1. “the few existing facilities …[that] offer… similar services… [have] waiting lists”;
2. “there are limited undeveloped parcels of the size desired” but they are not suitable

But there is a more fundamental positive that happened here, and that is one of process. Proper political procedures were forced, and in consequence, the system worked quite successfully. At first there was resistance of some sort to move the project’s application forward. The project was pigeonholed somewhere, because of complaints by Davis Waste Removal and the Davis Police Department, in the hopes the proposal would just go away. But with a lot of prodding and behind the scenes maneuvering, City Staff finally did take action. Their initial recommendation was against approval.

It was at this point that proper process did begin to occur, and the project moved along so City Staff could obtain appropriate public input. To its credit, City Staff paid very close attention to what the Davis Senior Citizens Commission, the Davis Planning Commission and indirectly the Yolo County Commission on Aging & Adult Services had to say on the subject. Davis Waste Removal was given the opportunity to justify its position. In consequence of hearing compelling arguments in favor of this project, City Staff correctly changed its position, and recommended approval.

The final arbiters, the Davis City Council, heard from all parties concerned via City Staff reports and public comment, including Davis Police Chief Landy Black. The City Council recognized and acknowledged all sides, weighing competing interests. It came down in favor of permitting a zoning change to accommodate this new assisted living facility in what had been a light industrial neighborhood.

During consideration of this project, the Planning Commission raised some very valid points about development planning. The city has instituted a new policy of “infill instead of sprawl”. However, in doing so, it has caused some unforeseen problems. Davis Waste Removal and the Davis Police Department located in an industrial area so that it could carry on its activities unfettered by the normal restrictions of proximity to residential use.

Unfortunately for these two entities, the city has begun to fill in whatever pockets of land are available, so that residential use has spread out to meet industrial use. In consequence, a natural tension is created between the two. This tends to restrict industrial use to accommodate residential use, but not the other way around. So where is industry to locate in this town, that allows it to operate as it needs to? Or is it reasonable to expect industry to somehow work with its neighbors to accommodate invading residential use. Or do we need to rethink our policy of infill?

Growth is a difficult and contentious issue to grapple with, but there is no substitute for good planning. It feels as if Davis does its development planning one project at a time, which can generate a lot of passion on either side of a proposal. In this case, things went pretty smoothly once the project was “unpidgeonholed” from wherever City Staff had placed it, and all entities worked together to find a good solution. But as the planning commission noted, it would be good if the city would start grappling with the implications of its growth policies in a more consistent way. The result would be a lot less angst and better planning.