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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Recommended Project Alternatives for the Supplemental Environmental Impact Report
The following comments were submitted to the City by The Aggie Research Center Working Group, an ad hoc committee of interested Davis environmentalists with experience in evaluating land use and planning issues in Davis, on December 7. The Group has collaboratively developed this set of recommended sustainability features for the project and submitted them to the developer in November, 2019. With his knowledge, these recommendations are now formally submitted as scoping comments to the supplemental EIR for the purposes of evaluating desirable sustainability alternatives for the project
Others who wish to submit their own written scoping comments can do so via the City of Davis Community Development and Sustainability Department, 23 Russell Boulevard, Suite 2 Davis, CA 95616 Attn: Sherri Metzker, Principal Planner or via electronic mail to smetzker@cityofdavis.org up until Monday, December 9, 2019 at 5:00 PM.
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I. SUSTAINABILITY PLAN
Functional Goal: Develop and implement a comprehensive Sustainability Plan and ensure sustainability commitments made in the Plan are embodied in the subsequent Development Agreement and implemented and maintained for life of project.
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Questions about traffic, area impacts, climate change
The following comments were submitted by Roberta Millstein to the City of Davis. This is part 2 of 2; other comments submitted by Millstein and posted earlier addressed land use, parks/greenways and open space. These comments serve as recommendations as to the scope and content of the supplemental environmental impact report (EIR) for the "Aggie Research Campus," a proposed massive ~200 acre business park on prime farmland outside the Mace curve, focusing on the changes in project and conditions from the previous Mace Ranch Innovation Center (MRIC) proposal.
Others who wish to submit their own written scoping comments can do so via the City of Davis Community Development and Sustainability Department, 23 Russell Boulevard, Suite 2 Davis, CA 95616 Attn: Sherri Metzker, Principal Planner or via electronic mail to smetzker@cityofdavis.org up until Monday, December 9, 2019 at 5:00 PM.
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The following questions need to be addressed by the Supplemental EIR for the “Aggie Research Campus” (please note that wherever I say “impacts” I mean “environmental impacts”):
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Questions about land use, parks/greenways and open space
The following comments were submitted by Roberta Millstein to the City of Davis today. This is part 1 of 2; other comments submitted by Millstein to be posted later [edit: see here] will address traffic/transportation, area impacts, and climate change impacts/interactions. These comments serve as recommendations as to the scope and content of the supplemental environmental impact report (EIR) for the "Aggie Research Campus," a proposed massive ~200 acre business park on prime farmland outside the Mace curve, focusing on the changes in project and conditions from the previous Mace Ranch Innovation Center (MRIC) proposal.
Others who wish to submit their own written scoping comments can do so via the City of Davis Community Development and Sustainability Department, 23 Russell Boulevard, Suite 2 Davis, CA 95616 Attn: Sherri Metzker, Principal Planner or via electronic mail to smetzker@cityofdavis.org up until Monday, December 9, 2019 at 5:00 PM.
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The following questions need to be addressed by the Supplemental EIR for the “Aggie Research Campus” (please note that wherever I say “impacts” I mean “environmental impacts”):
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The Davis Farmers Market turns into Gift Basket Central for the first three Saturdays in December, offering free baskets and wrapping of market items.
(From press release) On Dec. 7, 14 and 21, shoppers can compile items for custom gift baskets, and have them wrapped for free at the market’s Gift Basket Central station, near the large oak tree. The service is available to anyone who purchases three or more items at the Davis Farmers Market.
Looking for ideas? Besides the abundant produce, market sellers offer preserved jams and sauces, lemon curd, honey, balsamic vinegars, olive oils, dried herbs, nuts and nut butters. There are sweets like dried fruit or chocolate-covered almonds, pistachio brittle, and local wines. Other items include handmade soaps and lotions, wreaths, hats and scarves.
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(From press release) Holiday shopping is a treat at the Davis Farmers Market, where patrons can cross off their gift and grocery lists with one stop. Along with the farm-fresh produce, eggs, meat and baked goods, there are local crafts, free gift baskets and holiday music on Saturdays, Dec. 7, 14 and 21.
During the holidays, the C Street sidewalk is dubbed Crafters’ Lane, with local artists selling custom purses, scarves, hats, sun spinners, aprons, pottery, candles, soap, lotion, wreaths, flowers, art, photography and more. Artist Heidi Bekebrede has a Paint-a-Pot booth, where patrons of any age can decorate a pottery item, such as a cup, bowl or ornament.
On the first three Saturdays in December, shoppers can compile items for custom gift baskets, and have them wrapped for free at the market’s Gift Basket Central station, near the large oak tree. The service is available to anyone who purchases three or more items at the Davis Farmers Market.
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I am grateful for the efforts of the Davis City Council in organizing the priority items for the next year in Davis. It’s great to see actions regarding sustainability, resilience, and equity.
I would encourage that climate action be put as item #1 given our very short window of time to act and to create resilient models for dealing with the impacts of climate change. Regarding framing things in terms of “sustainability”, I would like to repeat the words of the visionary Dr. Daniel Christian Wahl, author of the book, Designing Regenerative Cultures:
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By Colin Walsh
On Tuesday night (tonight) the Davis City Council will “Provide direction to staff on new Focus Items for the 2020 calendar year.” This is a time to set the general sweeping agenda for the next Council year. This is an opportunity for the Davis City Council to set priorities for 2020.
With City Council elections pushed from March to November, the current Council will be together a little longer than expected, so how will they set their priorities?
The current expressed council goals are:
Every part of the Council’s goals deserve a deeper look, but let’s just look at 2 of the goals: the goal to “Pursue Environmental Sustainability and to “Drive a Diverse and Resilient Economy.
The first stated Objective in pursuing Environmental Sustainability is, “Reduce the community's carbon footprint and achieve measurable GHG emission reductions, including reduction of Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT).” The City goals propose to “Implement the City’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, collaborate with organizations promoting sustainable programs/projects, such as Valley Climate Action Center, Cool Davis, UC Davis, etc.”
The City’s climate action and adaptation plan can be found on the City website and is certainly worth a look. https://www.cityofdavis.org/city-hall/community-development-and-sustainability/sustainability-program/climate-change
The plan was put in motion some time ago and one wonders what the outcomes have been. There is no report or update on the City website.
There is however a March 2019 declaration of climate emergency. But no significant changes in the City’s course have been taken since then.
The Open space section of the sustainability plans seem to have nothing to do with protecting more open space at all – they are more focused on making existing open spaces and habitat areas more usable to people.
By comparison, under “Drive a Diverse and Resilient Economy,” the City is considering adding the Aggie Research Campus (ARC) as part of the goal. Because this project is oriented toward freeway commuting and will have parking for over 4,300 cars this clearly does nothing to further the goal of cutting down on car emissions. Worse, the project had 6-9,000 parking space proposed for it at one time, and it is unclear how the project has been able to reduce parking spaces since there is no transportation plan for the city, innovative or otherwise.
The ARC has such a high need for cars because the City of Davis and UCD has such a high jobs to housing ratio. UCD is a major California employer and is already a regional draw bringing commuters in from all over the Sacramento and Bay Area. If the ARC is successful, it too will draw in many of its employees from around Northern CA. That will mean more exhaust from more cars and more green house gases.
The developer will tell you that the project itself will provide housing, but there are real problems with the developers assertions.
Not to mention all of these additional cars will mean more traffic on Mace and on the freeway.
Furthermore, the Aggie Research center is proposed for prime farm land – and that is becoming increasingly scarce as 40 acres of farmland is paved over an hour in the US.
Is the City really serious about reducing emissions if it is prepared to support a freeway business park like ARC? How does the Council reconcile the disconnect between its sustainability and climate goals with a retrograde car focused project like ARC?
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Last minute release questioned
Attorney's for the Massive Mace Business Park dubbed "ARC" provided the City of Davis with a letter and tables in preparation for the EIR scoping yesterday. The City posted these documents to the City Website and emailed them to select individuals. Unfortunately these documents have come under scrutiny for possibly containing misinformation.
The City of Davis did not vet the information before releasing it to the public and injecting it into the EIR process. In the words of City Manager Mike Webb, "These documents were submitted by the applicant and therefore are appropriate to posted to the city web site as such."
When asked if the "City has opened itself up to litigation by sending false and misleading information out in advance of tonight’s meeting," Webb stated, "The City, as you know, does not edit documents that are submitted by the applicant. "
The letter below details some of the problems with the applicant's last minute release:
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Public comments on Draft Environmental Impact Report accepted through Dec 20
(From press release) The City of Davis Planning Commission will conduct a public meeting on the University Commons Project Draft EIR, as described below, at a meeting beginning at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 11, 2019 in the Community Chambers, City Offices, 23 Russell Boulevard, Davis, California. Please contact the Department of Community Development and Sustainability for the approximate time this item will be heard.
Project Description:
The Planning Commission is scheduled to review the Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) that has been prepared for the University Commons Project located at 737-885 Russell Boulevard, known as University Mall. The proposed project would demolish approximately 90,653 square feet of the existing University Mall building to create a new mixed-use development. Buildout of the proposed project would result in the addition of 264 new multi-family residential units and approximately 136,800 square feet of retail space, not including the existing Trader Joe’s building, which would be retained as-is. The proposed 264 multi-family residential units would include a mix of unit types with a total of 622 bedrooms and 894 beds. The ARCO gas station is not part of the proposed project or project site and would also remain unchanged.
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