DAVIS, Calif. — The Davis City Council is scheduled to hold a public workshop next Tuesday on the proposed Willowgrove development, a 232-acre project in northeast Davis that would bring 1,250 housing units, including 250 deed-restricted affordable apartments, along with parks, open space, transportation improvements and neighborhood-serving retail.
According to a staff report prepared for the April 21 meeting, the workshop is intended to give councilmembers an opportunity to review project materials, hear presentations from city staff and the applicant, take public comment and provide feedback on the proposal and the draft development agreement before formal hearings expected in early May.
City staff wrote that while negotiators have reached tentative agreement with the applicant on most major issues, council direction is still needed on remaining details and final terms. Staff indicated the council is tentatively scheduled to consider the project at a public hearing on May 5.
The Willowgrove proposal, formerly known as the Shriners project, would require multiple city approvals, including a General Plan amendment, prezoning, planned development approvals, subdivision maps, an affordable housing plan and a development agreement. Because the site is outside current city limits, the project would also need annexation and voter approval under Davis’ Measure J/R/D growth-control process before it could move forward.
The project site is located north of East Covell Boulevard and east of the Wildhorse and Palomino neighborhoods. Plans call for a mix of housing types, including detached single-family homes, duplexes, townhomes, condominiums and multifamily affordable rental housing.
Of the 1,250 total units proposed, 197 would be low-density market-rate single-family homes, 515 would be medium-density homes including single-family residences, duplexes and townhomes, and 538 units would be high-density housing, including condominiums and affordable apartments.
In addition to housing, the plan includes a community park, mini park, dog park, neighborhood greenbelts, an urban agricultural transition area, and a 1.5-acre neighborhood retail site intended for local services. The project would also include new streets, landscaping corridors and other infrastructure improvements.
Affordable housing is expected to be a major focus of next week’s workshop.
The draft development agreement outlines 250 affordable rental units — equal to 20% of all homes in the project — to be reserved for extremely low-, very low- and low-income households. The proposal states those units would be built in a single phase on a 10-acre site.
The targeted affordability breakdown calls for approximately 30% of the affordable units to serve extremely low-income households, 20% for very low-income households and 50% for low-income households. At least 30% of the affordable homes would contain three bedrooms. The agreement also includes a minimum of 10 units intended to serve individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
The timing of affordable construction is another key feature. Under the proposed terms, construction must be underway on at least 141 affordable units before occupancy of the 100th market-rate unit. The developer would also be required to deliver a construction-ready affordable housing site before the first market-rate occupancy permit is issued.
The agreement also proposes a $1.8 million contribution to the city’s Housing Trust Fund for moderate-income homeownership opportunities within Willowgrove. According to the report, the city could use those funds either to help acquire homes for long-term deed-restricted affordability or to provide down-payment assistance to eligible buyers.
Transportation and traffic improvements are also central to the proposal.
The development agreement states the project would construct physical improvements needed to address project-related peak-hour traffic effects, install sidewalks along the north side of East Covell Boulevard adjacent to the site and add a new crosswalk at the entrance to Harper Junior High School.
The developer would also contribute toward widening East Covell Boulevard to address cumulative traffic impacts and would construct frontage widening along the project boundary. In addition, the applicant would pay up to $11 million in traffic impact fees.
Transit commitments include construction of a transit station in coordination with Unitrans and Yolobus, along with participation in transportation demand management efforts through Yolo Commute. The project also includes planned bicycle and pedestrian connections and other active transportation amenities.
The proposal contains several climate and sustainability measures as well.
According to the staff report, Willowgrove is planned as an all-electric community. The draft agreement references participation in Valley Clean Energy’s UltraGreen option for homes, solar rooftop systems, electric vehicle charging infrastructure and possible future participation in a municipal utility or microgrid if available and feasible.
Landscape and environmental commitments include native and climate-ready plantings, front-yard turf restrictions, composting and waste-diversion measures, stormwater management improvements and floodwater storage capacity intended to improve resilience.
The project would also plant 2,500 new trees on public and private property, according to the report. Staff said those trees would be selected from the city’s climate-ready lists and would help provide shade, expand the urban forest and support carbon sequestration goals.
The Planning Commission reviewed the proposal earlier this month and voted unanimously, 7-0, to recommend approval of the environmental impact report and associated findings, the General Plan amendment, prezoning, planned development approvals, the development agreement, subdivision maps and the affordable housing plan.
According to the report, commissioners cited the project’s design, housing mix, affordability plan, amenities, public outreach process, environmental analysis and proposed roadway improvements among the reasons for their support. Public comment at that hearing was described as overwhelmingly supportive, with many speakers pointing to housing needs, community benefits and the accelerated construction timeline.
Several nearby Wildhorse residents were described as generally neutral, asking for support for a wider agricultural buffer and more single-story homes near the neighborhood but not expressing direct opposition to the project.
The Planning Commission also forwarded several additional ideas for council consideration, including moderate-income ownership units, expanded solar options, edible landscaping where feasible and potential support for a future grade-separated bicycle or pedestrian crossing near Covell Boulevard.
City staff, however, raised concerns about some of those suggestions. The report states staff and the council subcommittee do not support a grade-separated crossing near Harper Junior High because another crossing already exists less than a mile away. Staff also questioned edible landscaping, saying it generally requires more water and maintenance than other climate-resilient options.
Follow the Vanguard on Social Media – X, Instagram and Facebook. Subscribe the Vanguard News letters. To make a tax-deductible donation, please visit davisvanguard.org/donate or give directly through ActBlue. Your support will ensure that the vital work of the Vanguard continues.
“electric vehicle charging infrastructure and possible future participation in a municipal utility or microgrid if available and feasible.”
The response to comments on the Draft EIR directly rejected this option so it appears that the staff summary is incorrect. The response to Comment 25-16 and Comment 9-12 reflected an ignorance about the proposal on this issue provided by Ari Halberstadt. I provided the following rebuttal:
The response to 9-12 states “The electric power grid operates with much greater stability by remaining highly interconnected in a way that allows power to be shifted as needed from
one location or municipality to maintain voltage stability and adequate power and energy reserves.” It is clear that the consultant responding to this is not familiar with the latest status on grid management and technology. Stand alone microgrids serving communities are not common place. PG&E is now planning on at least 30 such microgrids in its service area where wildfire risk is high. SDG&E now has nine community microgrids. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has studied these systems extensively. These systems do not need to be “highly interconnected” to “maintain voltage stability and power and energy reserves”—the microgrids are designed already to meet these needs. Further, these microgrids have interconnection points with the overall grid that provides further reliability and resiliency. The lack of understanding of how microgrids actually operate reveals the lack of expertise by the responding consultant.
Instead of relying on an outside consultant who apparently had ties to the utilities such as PG&E who want to suppress development of technologies that give communities more local control, the City should be examining where the best opportunities are to implement these microgrids, places like Willowgrove and Village Farms. Davis has several well-known and respected experts in this area that the City can retain to investigate these opportunities. Willowgrove should be required to plan for a microgrid while it prepares to develop the land.
“The Planning Commission also forwarded several additional ideas for council consideration, including moderate-income ownership units, expanded solar options, edible landscaping where feasible and potential support for a future grade-separated bicycle or pedestrian crossing near Covell Boulevard.
City staff, however, raised concerns about some of those suggestions. The report states staff and the council subcommittee do not support a grade-separated crossing near Harper Junior High because another crossing already exists less than a mile away. ”
I wrote this rebuttal to Comment 25-12 about the lack of “missing middle” housing in the project:
This response says that NO market rate multi-family rental housing units will be built. This omission stands as a barrier to bringing in the young families that cannot afford to live in Davis now. This gap is the definition of the “missing middle” in the housing market today. Approval for Willowgrove should be withheld until this problem is addressed.
I am concerned that the Council will again vote to override the significant environmental impacts from the present proposal, when in fact the Environmentally Preferred Alternative #3 is feasible. The added benefit is that alternative will provide substantially more “missing middle” market rate housing which is what the City wants from these developments. The responses to comments supporting this alternative are weak and undocumented. Those responses are largely just hand waving and open to a court challenge later given the detail comments submitted on these issues.
Understand that the burden is not on stakeholders and commenters to show that the Environmentally Preferred Alternative is better than the Proposed Project. The burden is on the project proponent to show clearly and convincingly with empirical evidence that the significant environmental consequences identified in the EIR cannot be avoided if the project is to move forward. Hand waving does not count as evidence, yet hand waving is the only response made. The Council should vote to reject the Final EIR in its current form until sufficient evidentiary record is presented to support overriding the use of Alternative 3.
The Council should ask Staff this simple question: What is their objective, quantifiable standard for “provide a balanced and wide variety of housing densities?” Without that standard it is impossible for the Commission or the City Council to evaluate whether this EIR is sufficient for approval.