Davisite logo
Davisite Banner. Left side the bicycle obelisk at 3rd and University. Right side the trellis at the entrance to the Arboretum.

Category: Land use

  • Sierra Club calls for a Subsequent EIR for the Vulcan Mining Permit Extension

    [Note: the following memo was shared for posting on the Davisite]

    To:       Clancy McConnell, David vanRijn
    cc:       Yolo County Planning Commission (via Jeff Anderson), Phil Pogledich
    From:  Alan Pryor, Chair, Sierra Club Yolano Group
    Date:  October 26, 2026
    Re:      A Subsequent EIR is Required for the Vulcan Mining Permit Extension instead of just an Addendum to the Previous EIR

    ___________________________________________________

    Executive Summary

    Under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), when a project changes or new information emerges after an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) is already certified, lead agencies must use a specific legal framework to determine if further environmental review is necessary. Yolo County has determined that just an Addendum to the 1998 SEIR for the Syar-Vulcan Madison Mine is required to extend the operating permit for that mine from 2029 to 2049.

    We strongly disagree with this determination believing instead that a Subsequent EIR must be prepared. This is because new information has arisen regarding a plethora of more severe adverse environmental impacts that have occurred at the Vulcan and other Cache Creek off-channel mining sites since the 1998 certification of the SEIR for the Vulcan Madison mining project. This new information requires disclosure and analysis in a Subsequent EIR subject to public circulation.

    These adverse environmental impacts for which additional information has arisen include widespread unresolved methyl mercury contamination of the deep wet impoundment pits at the Madison mine and other mining sites along Cache Creek site.

    (more…)

  • Yes on W

    By Rena Nayyar

    I enthusiastically support Willowgrove (Measure W) since it is a well- planned project and our community had much input into its design.  One can see the contrast from the problematic Village Farms project by reviewing the project’s documents which are available on our city’s website.  A paper copy of the EIR is also at Yolo County Library.

    It is clear by the documents that Willowgrove will actually deliver on its promises.  In contrast to Village Farms, Willowgrove project will not have impacts on endangered or threatened species, has no toxic concerns, no massive flooding issues, and no Channel A rerouting and associated tree removal.  There is safe access thanks to an existing Covell Blvd. undercrossing, so no uncertain construction or costs to the city. 

    There is a plan to build the 250 deed-restricted affordable housing units early on because the Willowgrove developers have partnered with an affordable housing developer.  Willowgrove also has a plan for missing-middle housing and will also bring other amenities which are enforceable because the subdivision map is already developed.  This is in contrast to the vague language and loopholes that were in the Village Farms project.  Willowgrove also has a sustainability plan showing how it can meet the city’s climate goals.  This level of advanced preparation is rare.  It guarantees more certainty and means Willowgrove will be ready to build if approved so we can get needed housing soon. 

    (more…)

  • Willowgrove – An Exceptional Housing Project

    By Eileen M. Samitz

    Willowgrove is a 232-acre housing project with 1,250 units on Covell Boulevard, across from Harper Junior High School. The project will finally be on the November 3rd ballot as Measure W after many long delays since informal conversations about the project first began over 10 years ago.

    The good news is that the project has benefited from much public input, and the resulting project has been worth waiting for. Willowgrove has many amenities and features that make it a desirable project for Davis. It was designed for Davis with a lot of direct input from the community.

    The Willowgrove project developers have been upfront and transparent from the beginning. This is the first time in Davis history that a project has offered a completed subdivision map before the Measure J/R/D vote, allowing the community to see the final project design before it is approved. In addition, the agricultural mitigation land has been identified and disclosed to the public before the Measure J/R/D vote. This early disclosure is also a first for Davis and hopefully will set a precedent for future proposals.

    (more…)

  • A Planning Commissioner’s Enthusiastic Support for Measure W, Willowgrove

    By Greg Rowe

    My involvement in evaluating and commenting on the merits of proposed development projects began in the mid-1980s when I joined the environmental commission of a rapidly expanding city in San Diego County.  I later worked for a Bay Area business association, where I identified the pros and cons of development proposals, and then helped launch housing and commercial projects for the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency.

    My career culminated as Senior Environmental Analyst for the Sacramento County Department of Airports for 13 years, where I studied  the potential aviation impacts of housing proposals near  airports. During the past nine years I have spent countless hours evaluating and suggesting improvements to proposed developments in my role as Davis planning commissioner.

    This background means it takes an extraordinary proposal to garner my unqualified support. For the reasons summarized below, that project is Willowgrove, Measure W on the November 3 ballot. If approved by Davis voters, Willowgrove will transform 232 acres in northeast Davis into 1,250 homes of various types: single-family dwellings, townhomes, condominiums, and deed-restricted affordable apartment units for lower income households. 

    (more…)

  • 4th District Congressional Candidate Eric Jones Admits: “I’m not from here.”

    (From press release) In a televised debate hosted by KCRA on Wednesday, 4th District congressional candidate Eric Jones declared “I’m not from here.”

    Jones, a venture capitalist, has claimed he moved to the 4th district in 2021 but in fact voted in San Francisco until 2025 and purchased his $4 million Napa home with a mortgage that described it as a second home. His shocking admission came at the end of a half-hour televised debate where Jones faced questions about his venture capital firm’s investments in companies fined hundreds of millions of dollars for harming consumers, his reversal on policy positions including his suggestion to sunset all federal programs including Medicare and Social Security, and whether he is truly a resident of the community he wants to serve in Congress. In his closing statement, Jones said, “I’m not from here”

    Jones’ admission is in stark contrast to Congressman Mike Thompson, who was born, grew up, and still lives in our district. Thompson, a combat veteran and member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee in Congress, dominated the debate. 

    “Eric Jones couldn’t have said it better: he’s not from here, and he doesn’t know the needs of our community. While Eric furnishes his third home in Napa with half a million dollars worth of designer furniture, Mike Thompson has been showing up and delivering for our District to lower costs for families, protect our democracy, and put an end to this forever war that’s raising prices,” said Thomas Dowling, Mike Thompson for Congress Campaign Manager. 

    Congressman Thompson is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over health care, tax, trade, Social Security and income security issues.  Congressman Thompson is the Ranking Member of the Tax Subcommittee and a senior member of the Health Subcommittee.  He is also a member of the fiscally responsible Blue Dog Coalition and a combat veteran. To learn more about Congressman Mike Thompson visit here.

  • “Village Farms” vernal pools have been leveled

    California Department of Fish and Wildlife is investigating and an open letter is gaining signatures from concerned citizens

    By Shannon Hickey

    The city’s last remaining vernal pools—the ones on the Measure V (for Village Farms) property that supported a local population of the federally endangered vernal pool tadpole shrimp as well as two rare plant species (alkali milkvetch and San Joaquin spearscale)—were potentially filled, disced, and graded in the week of September 13, 2026.

    The attached photos were taken early Saturday morning, September 19, showing the area where the largest pool existed, now a level surface. To give a little back story, this pool was on a property that has been proposed for development since the early 2000s and actively farmed since circa the late ’60s, according to historical aerial imagery. Despite regular discing, this vernal pool continued to pond because it was protected on two sides by a railroad berm to the west and an irrigation channel berm (Channel A) to the north. The developer has known about this vernal pool and the extremely rare species in it since the last time this project went up for a vote by the citizens of Davis back in 2005. At that time, it was known as the Covell Village project and it was voted down then as well. For both the Covell Village project and the Village Farms project, the associated environmental surveys supporting the EIRs revealed that these species were present.

    (more…)

  • A Win for Measure W – Willowgrove May Be Our Last Chance to Preserve Our Direct Vote on Local Projects

    By Elaine Roberts Musser and Dan Carson

    Measure W -Willowgrove is the latest housing development to come up for consideration under Measure J/R/D.  This measure is the City of Davis law that requires a majority vote of the public to annex farmland or open space to our city for urban development.

    As you assess the merits of this project, it’s important to understand where we stand today. The state has imposed mandatory requirements for communities like ours to rezone the land needed for additional housing. These requisites include additional units of low income housing, as well as housing for moderate income persons who work in Davis but cannot afford to live here.  Our failure to comply with these mandates would, without question, trigger state intervention to force our compliance with state housing policy.

    That state intervention could even result in state action to override Measure J/R/D itself. The last legislative session saw strongly bipartisan approval in the Assembly of AB 2676. This bill would have curbed the use of local initiatives and referenda, that are widely being used around the state to block cities from meeting their state-mandated housing obligations.  AB 2676 did not pass the Senate, but has momentum, and will almost certainly be reconsidered in some form in next year’s legislative session.

    (more…)

  • Prophets of the Finite: Remembering Paul Ehrlich, Ronny Davis, and Wendell Berry

    From L to R: Ann Ehrlich, Amory Lovins, Dr. Paul Ehrlich, and David Kupfer, having lunch in Palo Alto in 2022

    By David Kupfer

    The summer of 2026 has witnessed the quiet, heavy closing of an era. With the recent passings of population biologist Paul R. Ehrlich, radical theater pioneer R.G. “Ronny” Davis, and most recently, the visionary agrarian writer Wendell Berry on August 31, we have lost a singular trinity of American defiance. Operating in vastly different arenas—the university laboratory, the public park, and the rural hillside—these three men were bound by a shared, ferocious commitment to shaking humanity out of its industrial complacency. To have known them as friends and mentors over the decades was to witness the rare alchemy of brilliant intellect wedded to an uncompromising moral compass. Now, as the dust settles on their long lives, their final, intimate moments reveal the heavy burden borne by those who dare to speak truth to a civilization bent on its own consumption.

    (more…)

  • In CA04, which Eric Jones do you get?

    Wrong Seat, Wrong Moment – Part V

    By Judy Tipple

    Yesterday in Marysville, Eric Jones stood in front of 250 farmers at the Yuba-Sutter Farm Bureau forum and said this:

    “Let me make a simple statement: no more data centers in California.”

    He called for a national moratorium. He said members of Congress who don’t understand the technology shouldn’t be in the room for these decisions (Patch, Sept. 2, 2026).

    Strong stuff. The kind of line that gets applause in a room full of people watching data centers drink their water and eat their farmland, and farmland all over the country.

    Here’s the problem. It’s not what his campaign has been telling voters for months.

    Go to ericjones.us right now. His official AI platform page said something very different, until 2 days ago:

    (more…)

  • Why an Unubstructed Delta Breeze Is Critical for California

    And how the proposed California Forever project threatens livability in Davis and other parts of the Central Valley

    By Dr. Glen Holstein

    Covering 18,000 square miles, California’s Central Valley is the largest nearly flat valley on earth.  It is almost entirely surrounded by mountains and consequently prone to very high temperatures since winds blowing downhill from mountains compress and heat air.  That is why Death Valley, completely surrounded by mountains, has average July temperatures higher than those of any month anywhere else on earth.  Its mean July temperature is 100.9 degrees F while the mean July temperature of Aswan deep in the Sahara Desert but not surrounded by mountains is 91.8 degrees F.  Death Valley even set the all-time scientifically accepted high temperature record of 134 degrees F in 1913.

    But the Central Valley is not entirely surrounded by mountains.  They open up at the Golden Gate to permit a cooling air flow from the Pacific Ocean called the Delta Breeze to significantly lower summer temperatures in the center of the Central Valley but much less so in its northern part called the Sacramento Valley and its southern part called the San Joaquin Valley. 

    The Delta Breeze’s origin is the cold California Current flowing southward from Alaska.  Disturbance where it encounters obstructions like Point Reyes and the Monterey Peninsula causes upwelling from depths that cool coastal water even more.  

    (more…)