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Author: davisite2

  • Measure V is a Very Bad Idea

    By Glen Holstein

    The Environmental Impact Report provided by the Village Farms consortium includes the following: “groundwater beneath the project site…appears to have been impacted by the former landfill…Eight contaminants were found to exceed the Maximum Contaminant Level…detected …PFAS…compounds and manganese appear to originate from the Old Davis Landfill.  Three PFAS compounds exceeded their…USEPA water quality standards…Anomalously high…groundwater elevations were reported…for…dry seasons…the depth to water…was reported as 9.93 feet on September…elevations…not typical of dry-season conditions.”

    Despite their own EIR’s abundant evidence Village Farms consortium plans to invite home buyers to live just a few feet above toxic groundwater, which it has consistently either ignored or minimized.  The resulting potential outcome is no mystery.  A New York state school district  first built schools in such a place. and then arranged for homes to be built there as well so families would fill the schools.  The only problem was that when the toxic groundwater rose in elevation, as it often does, kids and their parents living there ended up in hospitals instead of classrooms.

    This Love Canal disaster of the 1970’s was so notorious it led to Superfund legislation, but those who made it happen could at least honestly claim nothing like it had ever happened before.  Those who fast tracked Village Farms in Davis, however, have no such excuse.

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  • Two issues about Willowgrove Project need to be addressed

    [The following email by Dan Carson and Elaine Roberts Musser was sent to the Davis City Council today and is posted to the Davisite at the request of the authors]

    Dear City Councilmembers,

    As you move toward final action on Tuesday on the Willowgrove project, which could provide new housing our community needs, we urge you to address two significant issues (both referenced in your new city staff report) that we strongly believe will undermine its chances of winning voter approval this November.  

    Fourth City Fire Station

    Last month, at a Planning Commission hearing on the Willowgrove project, a city planning staff member suggested the city has decided to build a fourth city fire station. For weeks city staff has since declined to answer specific questions posed to them about the city’s intentions. We believe this is an important matter for you to consider, given the findings of a city consultant in a 2018 study, that our community does not need an expensive fourth fire station the city cannot afford. 

    Additionally your new city staff report contains a strong hint city staff are still pursuing a four-fire station plan. Notably, it cites a fiscal analysis by BAE Urban Economics that analyzes the projected net operating costs to the city from just such a new fourth city fire station. Staff selectively cites a version of the BAE fiscal analysis that assumes the 15 year fiscal impact of such a  project “would be slightly negative at $190,422”. This is based on the assumption that other city residents gained from future new development projects would shoulder most of the costs of the operation of a fourth new fire station. 

    Why is this matter relevant to your consideration of Willowgrove?

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  • In support of Measure V

    By Ron Glick

    At the beginning of the 21st century, after a period of strong growth, concerned citizens of Davis passed two major reforms to preserve farmland. The first was the Measure J ordinance that requires a popular vote to rezone agricultural land to other uses. This is the reason Measure V, which I support, is on the June ballot. The second reform was a parcel tax dedicated to the preservation of open space around Davis. 

    Together, these two reforms have been incredibly successful in preserving farmland in the area directly surrounding the city of Davis. In the last 25 years, and with little acrimony or fanfare, thousands of acres of land have been purchased by the city or otherwise preserved under conservation easements. The City of Davis Open Space Commission deserves the thanks of everyone in Davis who cares about land preservation.

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  • A Long-Term, Pragmatic Plan for a Livable & Sustainable Davis

    By The Davis Citizens Planning Group

    The Davis Citizens planning group would like to present our vision for a pragmatic, realistic, and sustainable way to develop our city going forward.   This vision represents several months of work and builds upon a series of articles we have published over the past two years on the topics of how we might plan our city to have housing that is  more affordable, sustainable, and a city that is more liveable and economically viable.

    In the past we have framed our commentary in a reactive way with respect to the developments in the housing proposals being considered.   Going forward, we have decided to be more proactive, starting with best practices, and advocating for a top-down city-wide vision for how we develop our city not just for the upcoming 25-year general plan cycle, but looking towards the end of the century.

    Over the past few decades, more and more thinkers in the field of urban planning have come around to endorsing what is essentially the same set of strategies for urban planning:

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  • It’s A “May” Day for Village Farms

    Words Do Matter

    By David Thompson

    To: Citizens of Davis on May Day
    From:  David J Thompson. Affordable Housing Advocate
    Re: Recent words used by or about Village Farms

    Text in recent mailer from Village Farms reads as follows:

    “Davis Needs Housing – Village Farms is the Answer, Housing for All…construction of 360 Permanently Affordable Homes.”

    140 high density rental apartments very low-income families (max income family of 4 = $31,450)

    140 high density rental apartments low-income families, (max income family of 4 = $83,900).

    80 permanently restricted for sale units for moderate income families (max income for family of 4 = $136,800.

    As a long-time co-developer of affordable housing in Davis, I see a real problem in getting these units being built except  possibly as high density apartments with a very hard to get substantial subsidy. These will not be single family homes and there is no subsidy for this income group.

    These “360 Permanently Affordable Homes” imply houses, however 280 of these units would be apartments, not houses only for lower income qualified residents. Also, this developer is not building any of these affordable units except he “may” build 100 lower income affordable rental apartments in the last phase (Phase 3) in 10 years or more down the road. But he “may” not. Let me explain this disingenuous affordable housing “plan”.

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  • UCD Sustainable Transportation Plan Open for Public Review Through May 4

    Students navigate a mix of bikes, e-scooters, skateboards, and foot traffic on campus—illustrating the growing complexity of how people move through the Davis campus. (Courtesy photo / UC Davis)

    (From press release) UC Davis is inviting the broader Davis community to review and comment on a draft of its updated sustainable transportation plan through May 4.

    The plan—called Moving Forward Together—has been in development for over a year and outlines more than 100 possible improvements for how people get to and move through campus, from safer crossings and separated bike paths to better transit connections. It marks the first comprehensive update since 2009, with recommendations supported by input from more than 3,000 people, along with an analysis of travel patterns, infrastructure gaps, and collision data.

    Why this plan matters

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  • What Justice Looks Like in Davis

    We find out at the April 28th City Council Meeting

    By Scott Steward

    July 1, 2024, UCD Student Encampment – Popular University of Liberation of Palestine
    One sign reads: “As You Go to Class Today, remember that there are no Universities Left in Gaza

    City Staff released its version of the Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian and Allies (MAPA) recommendations this past Friday. (provided below)

    Discrimination against Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian bodies, families, and cultures has been an unfortunate project that has accelerated since the First World War. This bias is also evident in the colloquial, systemic, unequal, and dehumanizing treatment of our Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian residents and students in Davis.

    City email boxes are filling with canned opposition emails leading up to the April 28th special City meeting to hear Muslim, Arab, Palestinian, and Allies (MAPA) antidiscrimination recommendations, recommendations made by our own City Human Relations Commission (HRC).  The HRC recommendations were made after months of surveys, hearing testimony, and careful consideration. 

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  • What does “No on Measure V” really stand for?

    By Matt Williams

    For Davisite readers, the following is a response to an Alan Pryor post that made the following accusation, “Grass Roots” is not an accurate description of the opposition to Village Farms. How do you spell “NIMBY”? It is not spelled “Grass-roots”! (see https://nextdoor.com/p/9nSwSrmBTckW/c/1585068648?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=1776984857876&share_action_id=a32ff6cd-07c2-4764-a989-a686060c125a)
     
    Alan, is there a reason you are deploying the “If you can’t address the message, attack the messenger” tactic?  There are very few NIMBYs in No on Measure V.   That is very clear in the unifying principles of No on Measure V, which were just yesterday presented to DTA, the DJUSD teachers union, and are anything but NIMBY, specifically:

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  • Davis Art Studio Tour to Highlight 48 Artists from Across Region May 16-17

    Free self-guided tour provides inside peek at local artist studios

    Artists Thelma Weatherford, Cathie James-Robinson and Schorré Oldham gather in Weatherford’s studio. The three women are leading and participating in the 2026 Davis Art Studio Tour that will showcase 48 local artists in May.

    (From press release) Forty-eight artists from across the region will open their Davis studios for the free self-guided Davis Art Studio Tour where hundreds of guests can immerse themselves in the creative spaces where local artwork is being crafted. The two-day public event will take place May 16-17 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will include opportunities to view and purchase a wide range of artwork, from sculpture and painting to print making and photography. For information about participating artists and studio locations, visit www.davisopenstudios.com.

    The Pence Gallery, 212 D Street in Davis, will feature a preview show for the Davis Art Studio Tour, showcasing one piece from each participating artist. The show will open at the Davis 2nd Friday ArtAbout Reception on May 8 from 6-9 p.m. and will be on display through June 5.

    The Davis Art Studio Tour began more than two decades ago and became a casualty of the pandemic until 2023 when a small group of local artists formed a grassroots effort to bring the tour back to life with 21 artists showing their work. In 2024 and 2025, they doubled the number of artists featured, and this year will showcase 48 artists to hundreds of guests on the tour. For more information, visit www.davisopenstudios.com

  • Give students stronger representation on the UC Board of Regents

    Support ACA 18

    By Raymond de Vente

    In a public university system that manages a $53.5 billion annual budget, oversees three national labs, and educates nearly 300,000 students, you would expect those students to have a real say in how things are run. Currently, they do not.

    That is why Californians should pay attention to ACA 18, a new Assembly Constitutional Amendment moving through the state legislature. Authored by Assemblymember Jessica Caloza (D-Los Angeles), this measure would finally fix a long-standing democratic deficit at the heart of the University of California.

    Here is the current reality: Under the California Constitution, the UC Board of Regents, the powerful body that governs the entire system, includes just one voting student representative. One vote for almost 300,000 minds. While the constitution currently authorizes the Board to appoint student members, it does not guarantee meaningful representation. After a year of serving as a non-voting “designate,” a single student finally gets a vote. For a system this massive, that is not representation; it is a token gesture.

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