Category: Uncategorized

Business Park Developer makes late offsite affordable housing disclosure.

This is a letter sent to the City of Davis on January 6, 2020 regarding the the developers disclosure at the Social Services Commission that affordable housing will likely be built at another location separate from the ARC project. This disclosure could mean the project could actually build 1,000 to 1,308 new housing units, not the 850 units in the ARC project description. The difficulty is where the several hundred affordable housing units will be built is yet to be disclosed, and their likely off-site construction has not been accounted for in the Environmental Impact Report.

January 6, 2020

Dear Ms. Metzker, City of Davis Principal Planner,

I am writing regarding new information about the developer’s plans for the ARC business park that came to light during the City of Davis Social Services Commission meeting the evening of December 16th. This new information was not provided to the public until after the 5PM December 16th deadline for ARC EIR scoping comments, but the information is directly relevant to the supplemental EIR process and needs to be considered in the new environmental evaluation of the site. Since the developer was late in providing this new information, it is incumbent upon the City to include this new information in the SEIR process.

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In the era of so much uncertainty there is plenty of reason for despair. But there is also plenty of reason for hope.

Energy has been buzzing to address the greatest challenges of our time in this time of urgent need.

Groups like the Sunrise Movement and the Youth Climate Strike are pushing forward national and local climate action at a pace never seen before. Labor groups are organizing for fair pay, secure employment, and dignity. Right here in Davis, there are groups and individuals developing local and national Green New Deal initiatives and support, and our City Council has passed strong climate goals for the next 20 years.

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By Eileen M. Samitz

The deadline for comments on the Draft EIR for the monolithic University Mall mega-dorm proposal (University Commons) is this Friday Dec. 20^th at 5pm. The email addresses to send comments in are to City Staff at smetzker@cityofdavis.org  and elee@cityofdavis.org.

The proposal is to demolish all of U-Mall leaving only Trader Joe’s (the Arco station is not part of the project) and to replace it with a “mixed-use” project of a wall of 7-story buildings towering over the retail with 264 apartments with almost 900 “beds” (see attached illustration). 25% of the units would be 4-bedroom which makes clear, as the project name “University Commons” suggests, that it is targeting students. Since the City has approved almost 4,000 beds designed specifically for UCD students in four mega-dorms in the City already, the last thing we need is yet another mega-dorm.

The Russell and Anderson vicinity is already hugely impacted with traffic and this project would make it gridlock. U Mall now is difficult enough to find parking, yet the proposal wanted to add over 46,000 square feet of retail (the size of a Safeway grocery store) adding only 2 more parking spaces to support it!

This project proposal is too large and out of scale for that site, and would be luxury apartments with no affordable housing. None of this helps the City’s need for housing for our community’s workers and families and does nothing to provide affordable housing needed. In addition, it encourages UCD to continue neglecting to build the needed student housing on its enormous 5,300-acre campus with a 900- acre core campus. UCD is the only UC which has not agreed to provide 50% on-campus housing, yet it is the largest UC having so much land.

The U-Mall needs to redeveloped into an expanded and updated retail center which is the environmentally superior alternative in the EIR, not another mega-dorm, or possibly a dramatically scaled down mixed-use project if the parking and circulation can work. The City needs the sales tax and this site was intended for retail serving the entire community, not serving UCD’s student housing needs. The City needs the sales tax and this site was intended for retail serving the entire community, not serving UCD’s student housing needs. We have few sites left in the City to offer retail and this is one of the most important.

For information including the details of the project and the Draft EIR documents to review and comment on by the deadline this Friday Dec. 20^th at 5pm please see the Davisite article posted today at:

https://newdavisite.wordpress.com/2019/12/15/the-new-u-mall-proposal-a-monolithic-mega-dorm-fraught-with-problems/

By Bapu Vaitla

It’s hard to talk about homelessness. Many of us in Davis consider ourselves to be compassionate progressives sincerely wishing to support our community’s unhoused, but we’ve clearly failed to find answers. Tensions are rising, with local businesses reporting aggressive interactions downtown and Police Chief Pytel stating at the last City Council meeting that “one of the greatest tragedies we have in the city right now” is the degree to which homeless people victimize each other, with serious violence and theft occurring continuously. The most recent debate concerns the proposed location of a homeless day respite center near L & 5^th streets. Some residents have cited safety concerns, while others, including Chief Pytel, feel that the center is a necessary first step to meaningful change.

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On Monday, December 16 at 6pm, the City of Davis Social Services Commission is hosting a free talk by Rohit Naimpally on evidence-based best practices to prevent and reduce homelessness. Rohit is the senior policy & research manager for J-PAL North America. J-PAL's co-founders recently won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics.

This will be a good opportunity for us to discuss what we can do about the recent increase in homelessness in Davis and Yolo County. The talk will be at the Davis City Hall Community Chambers. 23 Russell Blvd. The event is free and open to the public.

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Special Education System Fundamentally Conflicted

By Aaron Wright

I wrote “Daisy Has Autism” to give a voice to those struggling with the state of special education services in Davis. “Daisy” was also a sorrowful goodbye to the town that I loved and called home for nearly 20 years. I felt obligated to shed a light upon the neglect, marginalization, and removal of disabled children from our community. I prepared for a backlash to my book, but I believed our community still capable of driving a legitimate discussion about the treatment of children.

Tragically, as publication neared, that confidence was destroyed. When DJUSD student Max Benson was killed at the school where our administration had placed him, the coverage in Davis was anemic. No discussion regarding the absence of an appropriate education program within the community to which he belonged took place. Had any non-disabled child in Davis been made to take a bus 80 miles a day because of a lack of educational materials or teachers, there would have been a furor.

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Planning Commission Meeting Tonight!

City of Davis, California

December 2019

Dear Davis Resident,

You may not have heard our town of Davis is facing an onslaught of new 5G antennas in our city without any public involvement or knowledge.  There has been no public notice given, nor letters sent to any residents living within 500’ of any of these proposed 5G cell sites.  The Davis Enterprise has also refused to publish any of our editorial comments related to 5G, nor do they publish or give comment mentioning any of our group’s multiple appearances at the City Hall giving public testimony during City Council and Planning Commission meetings, even though they were present, each and every time, taking notes.  It is obvious they do not wish to give any publicity on this issue.  They know there is a growing number of people against it and therefore, refuse to create any public stirrings or knowledge that 5G is even being deployed in our town.  I have never seen such stealth treatment by media-based news.

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            I think of you. The sun is struggling through thick clouds, looking to break free. I heard the news of your passing while I was in the midst of snow in cold upstate New York. I closed my eyes and there against the white of snow, in my mind bloomed the biggest most gorgeous flower with big petals. They were deep brilliant red in hue. The center was golden and bright yellow.  Vibrating in color. Surging in quivering glory. Bright. Giving. Receiving. Held.

            Boundless joy and exuberance bubbling into eternity. Living in the dead of frozen winter, yet flooded in light, love and energy. This is who you have been to this earth. The way you so beautifully dressed and shone your light, gave us permission to express ourselves a little more in a world where unbeneficial patterns have been ironed into generations, denouncing the boundless benefits of healing. Lies holding us captive. Trapped. I trust that you have bright light that you need to shine from a different angle. Your petals needed to continue to unfurl above the cloud cover.

            Thank you endlessly for walking up to me and inviting me to create flowers out of wool with you and our planets’ beautiful children. Each of us who have known you might well find out that a little magic ball fluffy light was placed into our pockets so that when we feel sad we can bring it out. Hey you never know- that ball of light might turn into the most gorgeous flower that you can imagine. Cheering you up from the inside out. It might turn into something else- hey you never know! Each one of us must remember the spirit that we truly are and know to be true to exhibit our fullest form. For now, and forever. Thank you for inviting us to blossom. To stand our ground and take root!!! Being light isn’t easy and we each must be a shoulder for each other to lean on.  As you truly have been, eternally.

Shining light.

Grateful. Forever.

Now.

Beaming.

From the heart.

Thank you,

Carey Ann Hunt

Irregularities Continue with ARC Proposal

* see photo credit below

By Colin Walsh

Yesterday afternoon at 3:15 PM, Assistant City Manager Ash Feeney sent emails to several people announcing the deadline would be extended for scoping comments on the ARC supplemental EIR. The new deadline for submitting comments is Dec. 16 at 5pm.

This email came less than 2 hours before the previous, now-superseded 5pm 12/9 deadline.

Feeney pointed toward an announcement on the City website: https://www.cityofdavis.org/city-hall/community-development-and-sustainability/development-projects/aggie-research-campus

This is the second deadline extension for ARC comments.

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Skippy and family camping 1955

By Robert Pratt

It must have been my 8th birthday, I had been bugging my parents for a dog, a friend of mine had just got a golden retriever puppy and I was smitten.

The day of my birthday Dad, and I got in the truck and drove across town to a farm house with a compound of chicken wire, a crude lean to, and a barking dog, I stayed in the truck, I was beyond excited!

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