Month: June 2010

From the beginning of our coverage it did not make any sense for the city of Davis to give money back to the developers either by waiving, reducing, or otherwise altering the supplemental fees.  The good news in this case was that the council agreed with that view, and determined that there was not logical or rational basis for allowing the supplemental fee to remain at 6000 dollars for the formerly middle income affordable units.

As a result, the developer now has a decision to make.  As City Manager Bill Emlen and City Attorney Harriet Steiner pointed out, the council cannot impose anything on the developer.  However, at the same time, the developer really has two choices, they can accept the changes and we will get into the most objectionable in a moment, or they can allow the development agreement to stand as is.  As Sue Greenwald pointed out, she believes it would be of greater value to leave the property as it was zoned prior to the council approval as commercial, so the developer can take it or leave.

Late last fall the Davis City Council had approved an MOU that both the neighbors and the Davis Community Church had agreed to for the provision of winter shelter services.  The council had formed a subcommittee made up of Mayor Ruth Asmundson and Councilmember Sue Greenwald who evaluated the situation, gained an idea of the types of services provided, and the concerns of neighbors.  Their ultimate recommendation that was passed by council December 1 by a 4-1 vote would cap services at the Davis Community Church to 25 people.

However, mother nature and a large organized contingent of community residents and church members would intervene.  A severe cold snap in early December showed the 25 person cap to be problematic and when people were turned away a large section of the community became outraged and mobilized.

In 2008, the City Council approved the development agreement for the Verona Subdivision.  The vote was not unusual, but was 3-2 with Councilmembers Sue Greenwald and Lamar Heystek dissenting.  The reason for the dissent was that these councilmembers believed that the density was too high for that location.

The neighbors were in opposition to the project as well, particularly on the density issue.  And now just two years later, the council is considering the possibility of increasing that density even more.  13 units does not sound like a lot, but it represents more than a 15% increase in the density of the project.

Last week the Vanguard reported that the city had backtracked and had restored the supplemental fees at 12,000 dollars for the Verona Subdivision, we however missed the fine print.

It turns out that while the city is removing the middle income affordable requirement, they are keeping those units at the lower rate, 6000 dollars per unit rather than the 12,000 dollars the rest of the units are subject to.

Sometimes persistence pays off.  City staff after criticism following the Finance and Budget Commission has reversed itself on the reduction of residential supplemental contributions for the Verona Subdivision and has decided to retain the 12,000 residential contribution that was originally approved in 2008.

The commission was concerned about the precedent for renegotiating the Development Agreement two years after the fact to more favorable terms for the developer.  The original proposal would have seen the elimination of the middle income affordable requirement of 17 units per the city’s amendment policy that suspends that ordinance, the reduction of Supplemental Fees from $12,000 to $5,000 per unit, the elimination of the Parkland Dedication, the imposition of a park in-lieu fee and change in the timing of the water/ sewer connection fee.

When AT&T began what they said was laying underground cable for their U-Verse network a few months ago, neighbors thought little of it.  They had bought their home in the Stonegate community two years ago knowing full well that AT&T had a utility box discreetly tucked away in the bushes next to their home.

“We peacefully coexisted with AT&T until recently when they started work to bring U-Verse programming into West Davis,” they wrote in a letter to the city.