Month: August 2013

It has been an interesting week as the Vanguard‘s response to an article in the Enterprise, that laid out the basics in the Cannery plan, has triggered literally hundreds of comments in four articles this week.

There is a message here, but it is a mixed message.  There are multiple thoughts about how to proceed.  There are some who believe we have all of the housing we need, there are some who believe that we need more housing for families, there are some who believe we need more rental housing, and there are some who are more focused on finding land for economic development.

One of the critical questions posed by those who question a housing or mixed-used development is whether a business park can work at the Cannery site.  Some have questioned the commitment of the site owners, whether it be Lewis Planned Communities or ConAgra, to seek viable developers for a business park concept.

That remains an open question to this day.  However, the Vanguard has received a copy of a listing from LoopNet, a realtors’ database, that clearly shows that the Cannery was at least offered as a business park back in 2008 by Colliers International, a huge real estate firm, globally headquartered in Seattle, but with offices in Fairfield and Sacramento.

In a letter dated July 26, 2013, to Mayor Joe Krovoza and city councilmembers, the Yolo County Board of Realtors has recommended approval of the development application for the Cannery site.  Their letter asks that the letter of endorsement and support be submitted for the upcoming meetings of the Planning Commission and Davis City Council.

In the letter, the Board of Realtors writes that they “support The Cannery Project because we believe it will have a positive impact on the housing inventory in Davis. Currently, Davis only has about 80 homes on the market for sale.”

For weeks the Vanguard had heard rumblings that, if the Davis City Council approves Cannery Park to go forward as development by ConAgra, the matter would be put to a vote of the people one way or another.

The Vanguard was told directly by an individual in town that if the Davis City Council approves the Cannery Park project, the matter will be put on the ballot by the individual if no one else steps forward to do it first.  The question is what form it would take.

The Davis Enterprise on Sunday ran the first of what will be a six-part series on Cannery, and it was a very thorough and well-done piece.  And while it is perhaps unfair to judge before it is complete, particularly when part six is scheduled to be “Business Park versus Residential,” today I will use this piece as a starting point for what I consider to be the most critical discussion.

The article notes in the preclude, “As the site falls within city limits, the development is not subject to a Measure J/R vote.”  The article begins, “After almost a decade of visioning, public outreach, delay, withdrawal, revival, planning and fine-tuning, The Cannery project and the ConAgra team behind the proposal appear only months away from leaping over their final hurdle in developing the housing project.”

Davis has attempted to put its best face forward on the loss of Bayer/AgraQuest.  Last week, Kemble Pope, the Executive Director of the Davis Chamber of Commerce, joined with his counterparts in Sacramento and West Sacramento to talk about economic development on a regional scale.

“The recent news that Bayer CropScience will be expanding its presence in the Sacramento region is further proof that we have the right ingredients to start, grow, retain and attract innovative companies with high-paying jobs,” Mr. Pope and his colleagues write. “The cities of Davis and West Sacramento have much to crow about regarding the news, as does the region as a whole.”

Contrary to the opinion expressed earlier this week, there is actually a good deal of consensus on the issue of paid parking in the downtown among those on the parking task force.  More divided is the group on where the specific site should be in the downtown for a parking garage.

Those we spoke to this week question whether there will be a new parking garage any time in the near future, given the loss of RDA money and the uncertainty of new funding mechanisms.

Davis Chamber Director Kemble Pope and City’s CIO Talk About the Future – The city of Davis’ economic development community is still reeling from the news that came down two weeks ago, in which Bayer CropScience announced it would be expanding its facility, which required it to move from Davis, where the company AgraQuest was founded, to West Sacramento which had space available to accommodate the company.

On Thursday, business leaders Kemble Pope, the executive Director of the Davis Chamber, along with his counterparts Denice Seals from West Sacramento and Roger Niello from Sac Metro Chamber, put their best face forward in a joint op-ed in the Sacramento Bee.