The Planning Commission will continue the public hearing for the proposed Village Farms Davis project to December 17, 2025 to finalize negotiations tied to the project’s draft development agreement.
California’s housing crisis is accelerating, with Davis being particularly affected due to local land-use choices, resulting in rising costs and a shrinking labor pool.
The City of Davis announced Monday it will recirculate portions of the Village Farms Draft Environmental Impact…
Davis residents are debating whether the city should build housing to support school enrollment, but demographic modeling shows that the level of housing needed to stabilize enrollment is almost exactly the same level the state is already requiring the city to build under its housing obligations.
The EPS projection that Village Farms would add about 701 new students to the Davis Joint Unified School District is based on district-approved methodology and real-world results in Davis, and is necessary to reverse the district’s long-term enrollment decline.
The City of Davis has released the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the proposed Willowgrove Project, a 1,250-unit mixed-use development that would convert 232 acres of farmland into residential, retail, and commercial space, and includes a 45-day public comment period running from Nov. 10, 2025, to Jan. 2, 2026.
The Davis City Council held a marathon workshop on the Village Farms project, while the Davis Joint Unified School District warned of the consequences of inaction on housing, including declining enrollment, program cuts, and possible school closures, highlighting the need for affordable housing in Davis.
California has quietly shifted its housing policy over the past five years to favor housing production, with CEQA reform, SB 423’s continued streamlining, Prohousing incentives, and an empowered HCD now working to strip away red tape and encourage more housing production.
The Village Farms Davis project team will host a community open house on Oct. 15 to showcase local partnerships supporting sustainable development, including the future Educational Farm planned in partnership with the Davis Joint Unified School District.
Davis voters overwhelmingly renewed Measure J in 2020, but the context of the vote and the worsening housing crisis have led to mounting pressure from the state to demonstrate progress on housing production, and the city is now exploring whether to modify Measure J to meet state mandates while preserving local control.
The City of Davis is considering modifying Measure J to allow developers to qualify for exemptions through affordable housing, climate or environmental mitigation, community benefits, or an Urban Limit Line, in response to increasing state pressure on the city’s housing policies.
The housing crisis is not a result of declining birth rates, but rather the unaffordable cost of housing, which is driving people to delay marriage and having children, and forcing workers to live further away from their jobs, leading to longer commutes, higher emissions, and a diminished quality of life.
California lawmakers have passed two significant housing bills, SB 79 and CEQA reform, which loosen zoning restrictions and reduce opportunities for legal challenges, but Davis is unlikely to be affected due to its Amtrak station not being a Tier 1 or Tier 2 transit stop and Measure J requiring voter approval for major projects.
California lawmakers passed two landmark housing bills, SB 79 and CEQA reform, to address the state’s housing crisis, but their impact remains to be seen due to structural realities and local political resistance.
Palomino Place, LLC has filed a lawsuit against the Davis Joint Unified School District, challenging the district’s decision to impose the maximum statutory developer fee of $5.17 per square foot of residential construction on the Palomino Place project, alleging that the district has misrepresented the actual need for new school facilities and that the fee is unconstitutional.
The Davis City Council received overwhelming public support for the proposed Village Farms Davis project, which would bring 1,800 homes and other amenities to the city, and staff recommended adopting Schedule A to move the project forward to a Measure J/R/D election in June 2026.
The City of Davis Social Services Commission is considering the Village Farms Davis affordable housing plan, which includes a proposal to dedicate roughly half the amount of land normally mandated, and a package of alternative contributions to offset the reduction.
The state of California is taking a more aggressive approach to ensuring cities meet their housing targets, and Davis must take this into account as it makes decisions today to avoid potential state intervention in the future.