City of Davis

It was nearly a month ago that the Business and Economic Development Commission (BEDC) considered whether Measure J should have a business park exemption during their vote to place a renewal on the ballot that would sunset in 2020.  At that time, the BEDC did not feel comfortable with the vague lack of direction that the council provided them.  They would vote by a 7 to 1 vote to recommend no exemption at this point in time.  The one dissenting vote actually wanted the qualifier “at this point in time” removed.

The BEDC was reluctant to permanently recommend against this consideration based on the notion that they are in the midst of receiving a staff report on the city’s business park land needs.  Depending on the outcome of that study, they might wish to revisit the issue should the study show the definitive and immediate need for a business park.

A bare quorum of the Davis Planning Commission was on hand on Wednesday evening in Davis, but they agreed to approve the staff report unanimously with a 4-0 vote on all measures except the Final EIR which was inexplicably only received from city staff on Monday.  Commissioner Ananya Choudhuri voted against approving the Final EIR due to her not reading it (she probably should have abstained rather than voted no, but that’s largely a moot point).

The actions taken by the Planning Commission on Wednesday were fivefold.  First, they certified the Final EIR for the Wildhorse Ranch proposal, including findings of fact, statement of overriding considerations, and mitigation monitoring plan in the staff report.  Second, they approved the General Plan Amendment Resolution that establishes the land use designations for the Wildhorse Ranch.  Third they introduced the ordinance that rezones and establishes the use and development standards for the Wildhorse Ranch site.  Fourth, they approved the Affordable Housing Plan.  And finally they introduced the ordinance to approve the Development Agreement between the City and the Developer, Parlin Whildhorse Ranch.  Again, this item was approved as received as it was not complete at the time of the meeting.

After three years of sitting vacant, the West Lake Shopping center will have a new grocery store by November, in time for Thanksgiving according to a deal announced at Davis City Council.  This deal was agreed to by all parties involved including the current owners, the prospective grocers, the neighbors, and approved by city staff and city council. 

DeLano’s Markets is coming to West Lake.  The talks had been on and off for much of the last six months.  The deal at one point appeared dead when the owners pulled the financing, however due to the persistence of DANG (Davis Advocates for Neighborhood Groceries), city staff kept the pressure on the owners to put something together.  Those talks had heated up for the past month and they made steady progress until last week when the Vanguard announced the two sides were close to an agreement.

Back in January the issue of whether there should be a woodburning ban became a topic of tremendous controversy.  On the one side were some environmentalists and some health advocates concerned with both the impact of wood burning on the environment as well as health implications.  On the other side were citizens who, for a variety of reasons, use wood during the few cold months of the year to heat their homes and provide themselves with some sort of aesthetic enjoyment.

The council in January decided to punt after the Natural Resource Commission recommended an ordinance that would ban woodburning.  Given the time of year and the fact that it was the end of the burning season, it made some sense to defer a decision in this case.  The council will now hear the issue once again and perhaps make some sort of determination.

In a letter dated July 1, 2009, the city received a sustainability proposal from the Wildhorse Ranch developer and the project’s energy conservation consultants that will put the city of Davis back on the map in terms of environmental sustainability and innovative developments.  The proposed Wildhorse Ranch development would achieve a 90% reduction in green house gas (GHG) emissions.  A typical single family home will create around 5.5 metrics tons per year of GHG emissions.  This proposal would reduce that number by 4.95 metric tons per residence to .55 metric tons per residence.

In April, the Davis City Council passed a resolution recommending GHG reduction thresholds and standards for new residential housing projects.  It set as its initial goal a 2.4 metric ton reduction per residence, or a 44% reduction of GHG emission for new homes.  This project more than doubles the city’s goals.

The Vanguard has learned from sources close to the situation that a deal is close that would bring a Grocery Store to West Lake after the shopping center has been absent a grocer for over three years since Food Fair closed in May of 2006.

The Vanguard had previously reported the deal between the Delanos Grocery Store Chain and the owners of Westlake to be dead after the owners pulled their financial offer to put up the capital necessary to re-fixturize the interior of the store that the owners themselves gutted following the closure of Food Fair.

A letter sent on Monday June 22 shows that the city is continuing to move forward with attempting to constitute a committee to make recommendations related to senior housing in Davis.  The schedule is to make recommendations to the City Council by the end of 2009.

This particular letter was sent to the Yolo County Commission on Aging and Adult Services.  It appears from the letter that the constitution of the committee has been altered since its inception.

Two weeks ago the Davis City Council heard from the neighbors and developers on the proposed project at Chiles Ranch.  The infill project has triggered strong opposition from neighbors as they believe the agreement they reached with the developers in the form of an MOU has been violated.  At that meeting, City Attorney Harriet Steiner informed the council that they are not bound by the MOU signed between the developers and the neighbors.  However, council by a 5-0 vote agreed to holdover the issue to see if the developers and neighbors could reach a compromise.

There are four key issues in question.  First is the total number of units.  That number was agreed to as 107 units in an MOU signed in June of 2008.  However, city staff has recommended 21 second units (Granny flats).  The neighbors have argued that that constitutes an additional 21 units on the site, pushing the total number of units to 128, which violated their agreement with the developer and greatly increases density.  The developer has been willing to compromise at 10 units.  However, the neighbors continue to argue that they already signed an agreement for zero additional units, and thus they should not have to come off that number.

There has been a lot of discussion following the story on the Business Park Study project.  Much of that has focused on the issue of Cannery Park and the implications for what should happen with that project.  While I understand that focus, I think there is a big looming issue that goes beyond Cannery Park.

That is the issue of 215 acres of business park build out over a 25 year period.  Granted that is a long period of time, but the issue itself forces a discussion of peripheral development and building on farmland.  The city has only 140 acres of potential business park with Cannery included in the mix.  That means even considering Cannery the city is looking at 75 acres of development on agricultural land.

On June 22, the NRC received testimony from Dr. Tom Cahill on the highly anticipated Wood Smoke Study he did in Davis last winter. Vanguard readers may recall that a decision by the City Council on the then proposed wood burning restrictions recommended by the NRC last November was deferred at the Council meeting on January 6 of this year. The basis for the decision was to allow the wood smoke study proposed by Dr. Cahill and staff to be completed and the results reviewed by the NRC.