The east end of south Davis: No street refreshing for a "Farm fresh" business like Chipotle – and automobile dealers and other businesses here have been paying taxes for years, but to date not for any improvements to Chiles Rd and adjacent streets (Chiles Corridor).
In addition to Chipotle, multiple projects have been completed or are in process on or near the Corridor over the past four years, while the City excuses itself by requiring no mitigation fees or investment since there's no specific "project" to improve transportation conditions in the Corridor.
Westbound Chiles just east of the site in question. Staff seemed to have interpreted my photo as a suggestion that sight lines could be problematic for people leaving Chipotle. My actual intention was to make clear how unsafe it is to cycle this way from the large neighborhood to the east…. explicitly parents telling e.g. younger teens perfectly capable of riding a bike that they can't go get their food.
Staff is recommending that the City of Davis Planning Commission – at their meeting on October 9th – approve the destruction of the building formerly used by Cindy's, following an earlier cancellation at their July meeting – so that the Historical Resources Management Commission could consider historical designation – and that Commission's vote against it on September 16.. The site would then be used by Chipotle Mexican Grill, for new building with its "Chipotlane" feature, a drive-thru – they call it a "pickup window" – designed to reduce idling by visiting motor vehicles.
If you have something to say on this matter which you would like to be considered by the Planning Commission, please write them by end of morning on Wednesday at planningcommission@cityofdavis.org, or – better yet – come to the meeting at 7pm at City Hall.
About the not-Historical part and Cindy's as an example of Googie architecture, I don't have a lot of professional experience, but a commenter at the mentioned meeting was a former HRM Commissioner (and current Yolo County Climate Action Commission member), Robin Datel. See the video starting at 16:15. Ms Datel commented that the Cindy's building represents a shift to suburban, automobile-focused planning, and that we lose something if it's destroyed.
That continuing endeavor is murderous, but it's good to keep memories of horrors along the way, isn't it? About interiors, I DO like the traditional diner aesthetic…
(By the way, the 'Enterprise article on that Commission meeting failed to mention that expert opposing comment.)
The natural segue of, um, deconstruction here is that the Chipotlane is the next step in the "evolution" of automobile-centric planning, which Davis is increasingly known for! So, this 'pickup window" is at once the evolution and symbol of big car.
My precise position on this proposal is pragmatic: Leaving aside my justified criticism of car culture, while I think the best solution for I-80-focused businesses is some variant of the I-5-style multi-businesses that essentially form their own drive-thru, entrance and exit, for this location I question the absolute lack of any changes to the streetscape itself to make it safer for vulnerable users especially – but really, also people travelling by car.
Historical Designation Dismissed – Archaic Infrastructure Ignored
It's widely known that the Davis automobile and RV dealerships and associated services – e.g. gas stations and car washes – on and adjacent to the long stretch of Chiles on both sides of Mace Blvd are one of if not the primary source of tax revenue for the City. But take a look at Chiles… what's been improved here since the whole area was first constructed, except perhaps some signal upgrades? It's so awful that it's logical to propose that the intensely old-school streetscape itself is worthy of historical designation!
But fear not, the City is not interested in tearing it down!
The following from the Staff Report, starting on pg. 9. with my COMMENTS:
"Traffic Considerations
Staff acknowledges that conversations regarding traffic operations along Chiles Road have taken place. Staff considered several alternatives to the proposed project, such as restricting turning movements at the project driveway, especially the eastbound left turn into the driveway. Staff felt that without a viable U-turn opportunity on Chiles to the west [do they actually mean "east"???], restricting turning movements at the driveway would increase cut-through traffic along Cowell Boulevard and El Cemonte Avenue, as this would be the shortest path of travel for automobiles. This route is not desirable since this portion of Cowell Boulevard is a residential neighborhood as well as a suggested safe route to school.
BUT also there's a huge residential neighborhood to the east and the most direct connection to Chipotle is via these streets. The alternative via Cowell requires a trip through the Mace and Chiles intersection, and back through the same.
Additionally, there have been discussions about existing issues related to traffic on Chiles Road, such as existing congestion at the intersection of Chiles Road and Mace Boulevard and truck parking along Chiles Road near the project location. In this case, these issues are existing deficiencies. The City is not allowed to condition improvements on a private development project to address existing issues. If there were an identified project to address them, then the City could look at assessing a proportional share of the cost of that solution for the new traffic that would be created by this project; however, in this case, there is no such project in place.
WHY is there "… no such project…" here? During the past three or four years to the present day the following six varied projects were completed or in development, on the Corridor:
- 400 Mace Blvd: 7-11 & gas station re-construction (2020/21);
- 3820 Chiles Road (The Celeste Apartments, opened early 2023)
- Mace Blvd (South of Cowell; Re-design (2023 final version);
- 4480 Chiles: ARCO/AM-PM (2022 status: Approved and Pending/Under Construction)
- 4810 Chiles: Chiles Road Plaza (2022 status: Approved and Pending/Under Construction)
- 480 Mace (Sunny's Carwash, opened spring 2024
All of the development projects in the list have related transportation studies. The one done for 4810 Chiles – across the street from the proposed Chiptole – by Fehr & Peers – essentially the City's in-house external transportation experts – recommends features for Chiles to restrict turns and notes the hazards caused by the slip lane from NB Mace to EB Chiles. The study was done before Cindy's closed and likely before it was envisioned that it would, and that this possible variation of the restaurant model would be introduced.
The Chiles Corridor: The Celeste is just west of Esmeralda Drive and the proposed Chipotle is next to – and to the east of – Taco Bell. Click on image to enlarge. (Sorry about formatting glitch)
The Chipotle analysis, for its part, consists of pasted in projections about the Chipotlane from the applicant and references staff and external input – included in the appendices of the Staff Report.
However, the project – again, consisting in part of a transportation feature wholly new to Davis – was not brought to the Bicycling, Transportation and Street Safety Commission (BTSSC) prior to the cancelled July 2024 Planning Commission meeting, and the successor Transportation Commission (TC) did not see the project prior to the Planning Commission review this week. Fun Fact: Out of all the projects I mentioned above, only what came to be known as the Celeste was reviewed by the BTSSC (back in 2019 or so). The BTSSC/TC didn't see anything else, and so had no opportunity to, for example, suggest the Chiles Corridor needed the elusive "project". (I wrote the TC several times about this, including a link to these photos/videos. The only reaction was in September 2024: One Commission member suggesting a look into drive-thru's at a future meeting.) However, Chiles Road from the east frontage of the Celeste to the EB exit from I-80 will be part of the Cool Pavements project, so there will be new asphalt and universally-agreed-as-inadequate paint-only bike lanes just as there is all the way to the Cowell-Drummond-Chiles roundabout (The project – and of course funding application to the Federal government – mentioned "progressive striping standards" which haven't been updated for eight years.)
Mace Blvd NB, about 1/3 of the way between the WB I-80 exit and 2nd St. This is the apparently acceptable solution from the City for a damaged drain grate that could literally grab a bicycle wheel. It took two months after my report for the City to bring it to this state. From a collection of related photos.
From the "Conditional Use Permit" section of the Staff Report, starting at the bottom of pg 3, again with my COMMENTS (starting in BOLD):
"The proposed demolition and reconstruction project would continue the long-standing use of the site as a restaurant the with addition of a pick-up lane. The project site is located on a major collector street in proximity to freeway off ramps, and is well suited to serve travelers along I-80 and visitors to the nearby auto dealers. The restaurant also provides a convenience for the community as a whole with proximity to the businesses and recreation facilities east of the City limits and residents in the South Davis vicinity, where there are limited restaurant choices, and will be the first “pick-up” lane in Davis.
ANOTHER "long-standing use" of this area is Mace Blvd as the most direct connection from El Macero, El Macero Estates and adjacent neighborhoods to the east end of Mace Ranch, including – most notably Target and its CVS pharmacy – there is currently no other pharmacy in the area, the closest might be at Safeway on Pole Line in the near future – the Ikeda fruit stand, University Covenant Church, the new businesses on Alhambra and Mace, etc. (For me it forms part of the most direct route by bike to Sutter Davis on West Covell.) This "connection" has to be for all modes, and safely. The sewer grate fix in the photo above is objectively, trash, and should have never been approved. It would not be tolerated in most other parts of Davis. "Recreation facilities east…" refers to the soccer fields, which have exactly zero safe official connections by bike – it's possible when dry to access from the east end of Cowell Blvd, but that's at least partly on private land. (It's a good candidate for an official cycling and walking corridor, but – as with Nugget Fields – cycling to soccer in Davis is overwhelmingly an alien activity.) In other words, the convenience of people driving is paramount here, including those getting off and back on I-80 .
SAFE cycling (and walking) for kids vs. Gig-driver Delivery
Chipotle will have some bike racks and such, but given the described non-plan of Davis to make the areas safe for its peripheral #cycling capital activity, the racks will likely remain empty. If I lived east of here, I'd be nervous to allow any children to go by foot to Chipotle, i.e. to cross Chiles either east or west of Chipotle I would simply use Door Dash.
An expert friend remarked:
“It is the opposite of progressive to purposefully avoid looking for ways to improve the existing infrastructure only because it has been determined that the new project isn’t expected to negatively impact the current, inappropriate, outdated infrastructure… '*IF* there is an issue with trucks….' There is no if."
I would assume that Chipotle would not want to be tainted by an "accident" (collision!) involving a child cycling to the new restaurant. But clearly they're not volunteering to go beyond any minimum requirements, and neither is Staff (and apparently not interested in that "project" ) and so let's see if the Planning Commission (and Council) will intervene!
Recommendations:
1) Cancel item for Planning Commission meeting on October 9th.
2) Create a new item for the Transportation Commission, specifically a process for a project focusing on efficiency, joy and safety for the Chiles Corridor… ideally forming a sub-committee process inclusive of one or more public hearings, or at least implementing features recommended for 4810 Chiles, and also possibly involving the Fiscal Commission (in relation to e.g. the Chiles Corridor business tax disconnect with Chiles Corridor improvements) and the Climate and Environmental Justice Commission (in relation to climate goals and transportation equity in the Corridor).
Davisite 