No on Measure V campaign at April 5th Farmers Market

(From press release) The No on Measure V campaign will be at the Farmers Market tomorrow, Sat. April 5^th, with literature and lawns signs and  volunteers to meet with Davis residents wanting more information. The campaign now  has a website, NoOnMeasureV.org posted with information about many reasons to vote NO on Village Farms on June 2^nd.

Village Farms is a proposal for a 1,800-housing unit project on 498 acres, at Covell Blvd. and Pole Line Rd. It is the largest project ever proposed in Davis, with the worst impacts and it would  impose costs on Davis residents.

The project housing would be unaffordable particularly to local workers and families with young children. The vast majority of the project would be housing priced at $740,000 – $13.4 MILLION  per the BAE fiscal report which means a monthly housing payment of at least $6,000 to cover the mortgage, property taxes, insurance, CFD, and other fees.  Families with young kids cannot afford this so the project will not bring hundreds of kids as the School District believes, and therefore it will not help the schools as claimed.

The developer is not responsible for building the affordable housing , except possibly 100 apartments in the last phase of the project 10+ years into the development.

Concerns also include toxics, including carcinogenic PFAS’ “forever chemicals” leaking from the adjacent Old Davis Landfill/Burn Dump and Sewage Treatment Plant into the project site. Vapor intrusion can result exposing future residents to these carcinogenic chemicals. The project also has high levels of could toxics including neurotoxic toxaphene and lead on the proposed Heritage Oak Park site where kids would play.

Village Farm would build housing on an enormous 200-acre FEMA Hazard Zone A floodplain with flooding  potential. The re-routing of Channel A would endanger the vernal pools and also potentially connect with the PFAS contaminated groundwater with Channel A runoff. This contaminated runoff would run through Wildhorse, exposing those residents and the wildlife, and then flow east through the wetlands to potentially pollute Yolo Basin and its robust habitat then eventually connect with the Sacramento River.

Massive traffic impacts would be imposed including more than 15,000 car trips PER DAY at the already heavily impacted Covell Blvd. and Pole Line Road area.

Infrastructure costs would be imposed on current residents for street “improvements” and the developer is not paying the full cost of the two grade-separated crossings

Village Farms is too big, has too many impacts and costs, and unaffordable housing. This proposal must be rejected and sent back to the drawing board. The City has a certified Housing Element until 2030, so there is no rush for this proposed now. It needs to go back to the drawing board to propose a better alternative of a “reduced footprint” project of building only below Channel A. This would distance the housing from the toxics and the majority of the floodplain to avoid those impacts as a similar “environmentally superior” proposal previously included in the Covell Village EIR  proposal on the site years ago.

The vernal pools need to be protected with a conservation easement  and reduce the number of housing units to 900 – 1,000. This reduced footprint alternative would significantly reduce impacts, including the traffic impacts. This alternative would also avoid City liability related to toxic exposure and flooding potential.

For more information, to donate, or help in other ways, please see our website at NoOnMeasureV.org, email us at citizens@dcn.org or call (530) 756-5165.