City Opens Downtown Plan EIR Comment Period

Special to the Vanguard

Davis, CA  – The City of Davis announced that the comment period is now open for the Draft Environmental Impact Report (Draft EIR) for the Davis Downtown Specific Plan (Downtown Plan). While the State requires 45 days for the comment period the City is proactively extending the comment period for a total of 60 days, starting from July 14, 2022, and closing September 16, 2022, at 5 p.m.

The Downtown Plan is intended to re-envision and reinvest in the Davis Downtown area for future development that reflects sustainability, safe multi-modal transportation and a thriving economy and community. The proposed Downtown Plan encompasses 32 blocks of approximately 132 total acres in the Davis downtown area.

“We encourage residents to review the Draft EIR for the Downtown Plan, which takes great care to consider existing downtown resources and aesthetics, as it seeks to improve transportation, infrastructure and development,” said Mayor Lucas Frerichs. “This plan aims to foster a future downtown that is vibrant and sustainably designed.”

The Draft EIR is a significant milestone to this project that gives the public the opportunity to provide comments on the contents and analysis. It will assist with determining if clarification or changes are needed on the environmental analysis. The Draft Downtown Plan was crafted in collaboration with City of Davis staff, an advisory committee, stakeholders, community members and a consultant team. The consultant team sought feedback through a wide range of events including focus group meetings, pop-up events around Downtown, two multi-day Participatory Design Workshops, and online questionnaires. The Draft EIR provides the environmental analysis as required under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) of the draft plan.

Residents can find information about the Downtown Plan and the Draft EIR by:

• Going to the City’s homepage at www.cityofdavis.org and selecting ‘Downtown Davis Plan in the Spotlight Section and then clicking on the green button labeled “Environmental Review”
• Visiting the City of Davis Community Development and Sustainability Department in City Hall (23 Russell Boulevard, Suite 2), Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. to see a printed copy of the document
• Bringing a thumb drive to the Community Development and Sustainability Department to get an electronic copy of the documents

All comments must be received by the City no later than 5:00 pm on September 16, 2022, to be considered. Pursuant to Section 15088a of the CEQA Guidelines, late comments will be considered only at the City’s discretion.

Comments may also be emailed to: downtownplan@cityofdavis.org or mailed to: Eric Lee, Planner, City of Davis Community Development and Sustainability Department, 23 Russell Boulevard, Suite 2 Davis, CA 95616.

On September 14, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. the City of Davis Planning Commission is scheduled to conduct a public meeting to provide comments on the Draft EIR. The public or interested agencies may also provide public comments at the meeting. The agenda for this meeting will be posted September 9 at cityofdavis.org (click on “Agendas”).

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