Original Village Farms proposal but showing locations of the Old City Landfill and Sewage Treatment Plant, Channel A, and the UATA site.

By Eileen M. Samitz

The Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) has been released for comments on Village Farms, on a parcel outside city limits, is the largest project ever proposed for Davis with 1,800 units on almost 500 acres. The DEIR was rushed and is inadequate since it’s missing  important details and makes unwarranted assumptions and conclusions.

The project has a multitude of problems primarily because it is a seriously handicapped land parcel. The site’s serious issues include a 200-acre flood plain, being located adjacent to the unlined Old City Landfill and Sewage Treatment Plant with a long history of leakage into the ground water of toxics and other chemical contaminants (now including PFAS “forever chemicals”), enormous traffic issues already at Covell Blvd. and Pole Line Rd., access issues because it cannot be accessed from F St. due to the railroad tracks and there’s questionable feasibility of a Pole Line undercrossing, massive impacts on habitat, and enormous costs of the infrastructure and services needed.

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Sitting-friendly does not mean the same thing as "Joy Priority, Expressed with Convivial Design".

Join me on G Street…

I'm not discussing here the fight to make it happen, the politicians who voted against it, the free car parking entitlement, and the process to get us to this point…

I visited early on Saturday afternoon, January 25th, 2 days before the ribbon cutting..

Please see photos with captions.  

It's incomplete and it's not clear why they are doing an opening event at this time. But I will say that the only clear positive thing about it is that it's much quieter than the rest of Downtown at that time of day. At the time I compared it to the corner of 2nd St and E St, where one could barely hear the sound of a violin over all the engine noise. Nearly all of Downtown is like that, vibration pollution squashing any notion of genius loci.

Unfortunately, a significant proportion or perhaps the majority of people will drive to get here.  The title of what I'm writing at you now refers to "bicycle-friendly", our City's delusional compliment about itself: It's designed for cars, but bikes are accepted in some places. 

Comments:

The varied types of seating seem to be well used, though demand is very low right now. 

There's only two intentional ADA compliant seating spaces, in the typical 3/4 configuration, but it's not clear if people will be able to move to a free table if a space is needed and there's no space for a couple using wheelchairs, which may also be a oversight of ADA, but it reflects an ugly assumption. 

The bicycle parking is reduced compared to the prior configuration and it's nearly all full now, which is a problem since there's hardly anybody here… Most of the bike parking is at the south end. There's nothing specifically for larger bikes such as cargo bikes or bikes with trailers.

As I understand it, restaurants here will be able to rent spaces on the platforms and displace existing furniture and spots to sit in… If I have this correct, it means a lot less general public seating. This will create conflicts if the exclusive seating is empty and the public seating is full.

The total number of proper seats at tables is well less than the number of Commissioners which were eliminated in the recent Purge led by the mayor. 

Tables, for example, in Central Park allow groups of perhaps eight people to sit together. The tables here only allow four.

The wood and cube formed feeding block things encourage climbing, which means that they'll be filthy very quickly and not very conducive to seating for many. Certainly, kids should not be discouraged from climbing, but there's not any climbing specific equipment here.

There's no food available at windows on the sidewalks. There's a coffee shop and a tea place, but it's not clear if they or the restaurants etc. will platform-ize.

There's a provision for sun shades only on the tables and it's not clear who will put these up and take them down everyday, or if they will be locked in place overnight during the summer… The other seating has no shading at all 

It's not clear to me how the unshaded seating will perform when it's in the sun for hours during the summer. The platform material will likely create an issue.

The existing street surface is incredibly ugly and actually forms a centerpiece for the whole thing. One of the videos at the link is 180° shot of the street street. From the perspective one of those yellow two-person one-sided tables. It's all ugly, asphalt and parked cars.

The white colored pavers or whatever on the platforms show dirt really easily and will look like crap immediately. 

Bright headlights from cars coming north from 2nd Street and turning left or right from southbound G Street at 3rd Street will all pierce the eyeballs of everyone sitting at both ends or actually most of the street. I had actually made a specific point about this to city staff months ago but got no reaction.

There's an absurdly insufficient number of trash and recycling receptacles. 

The vertical poles holding up the string lights are dark and may have insufficient contrast from the street etc. Especially at night. This might be an ADA oversight. Some high curbs were eliminated, which is positive.

What's happening with the two empty store fronts?

Thanks for reading!

by Alan C. Miller

Note:  Read Jonathan Greenberg’s article, below this article, before reading this!   Both my and JG’s articlse are in response to the Davis Enterprise article by Kevin Wan at:  https://www.davisenterprise.com/forum/commentary-ddba-addressing-downtown-safety/article_b2cc9648-d81e-11ef-9fb7-17ed56e5d85f.html

If you know a downtown business owner, encourage them to go to the DDBA meeting at Natsulous Gallery this evening at 5pm to vote Heather Caswell, Ezra Beeman, Shelly Ramos and Kellie Palmerto the Board.  It’s time to clear the board and start with a fresh slate that isn’t blinded by embracing an outdated belief in a failed ideology.  

Gloriously, Tuesday’s piece in the Davis Enterprise by Kevin Wan (KW) says that accusations have been leveled against the DDBA that it doesn’t address public safety, then goes on at length to claim that DDBA does address public safety (in the ways that are OK to KW).  KW continues that the purvue of DDBA is “marketing, promotion, and economic development” and adds, “Law enforcement and security is not within our purview.”

So according to KW, the DDBA deals with “public safety” all the time, but “public safety” isn’t within DDBA’s purvue. In other words, KW doesn’t agree with the proposed safety plan, so he makes claims that DDBA doesn’t have the prevue of public safety then explains how they deal with public safety every month.  Why not just say you don’t agree with the proposed program instead of opening the article with a glaring contradiction?

KW claims DDBA has, “devoted time every month to tackling the challenges of crime and homelessness facing our downtown community”.  If that’s true, why have the tactics you have used so far rendered the current state of things downtown and in adjacent neighborhoods with the effects from the so-called “homeless” the worst they has even been in many years?

If you question my statement, let me tell you I can see downtown out my living-room window.  I live adjacent to the railroad tracks by the Amtrak station.  I have so-called “homeless” encampments both 200’ to the east of me and 200’ to the west of me, and the associated piles of garbage that are always associated with these encampments. Myneighbor and I have repeatedly cleaned up this garbage ourselvesmore times than I care to imagine.  We’ve also spent countless hours and thousands of dollars in deterrence measures.  

Since DDBA has been working so hard, as you claim, and clearly utterly failing, why attack people who are willing to try something new, taking the matter into their own hands to do it themselves when the City and the current DDBA board cannot, or will not?   

KW goes on to claim that the proposed program could pose liability to DDBA regarding privacy, trust, discrimination, etc.  Yet the program has been presented to Yolo Countt DA Jeff Reisig, and he has given support to the idea as beneficial in deterring crime.  Ask yourself, who might know more about the legal consequences of a crime-deterrence program:  the Yolo County district attorney, or the owner of a restaurant?

KW seems very concerned about what harm may come to DDBA from this crime-deterrence program.   But do you know what reallyhurts the DDBA and downtown businesses?  Crime!  

All we are SAY-ing, is give S.E.N. a chance!  #sing-it!#  

All we are SAY-ing, is give S.E.N. a chance!

S.E.N. is the Safety Empowerment Network.  The idea is to use security cameras to identify repeat offenders, and a database so downtown businesses can identify these repeat criminals efficiently and report their findings to law enforcement.  It’s similar to talking to each other, but must faster and far more efficient.

KW continues, “we can address safety concerns without compromising our values” and sites the need for “balancing accountability with compassion”.  Who’s values?  Compassion for who?  No one is questioning the societal compassion of sheltering a mom who lost her job and couldn’t pay the rent.  But I hold nocompassion for those who trash our downtown and its adjoining neighborhoods and commit crimes even to the point of threatening and even punching people.  

The implication at the end of the article seems to be that Heather and Ezra and others who support S.E.N. will be implementing something illegal, destructive to DDBA, and somehow lack compassion.  These implied accusations are ridiculous and borderline offensive.  Heather and Ezra are good people – they are very good people.  I’ve known Heather for decades.  She owns and runs one of the longest-running independent businesses in downtown Davis.  I’ve known Ezra as a good neighbor for near a decade.  He owns a consulting business based in downtown and lives in the adjacent neighborhood.  He is concerned not only for the safety of downtown, but for the safety of his daughters, and the safety of others in nearby neighborhoods.  

What is KW expressing concern about? . . . “our” (his) “values” for “compassion” towards . . . who exactly? . . . criminals who threaten people downtown ?

This so-called “compassion” that KW brings up needs to be examined more closely.  This is what the professor and author Gad Saad has termed "suicidal empathy": the excessive, self-destructive form of compassion where individuals or societies prioritize the well-being of others to their own detriment. “Suicidal empathy” occurs when empathy is taken to an extreme, leading to decisions or behaviors that harm oneself or one's group in the name of helping others.  Saad argues that while empathy is an essential human trait, it becomes dangerous when it blinds people to the negative consequences of their actions. Overly empathetic policies or attitudes may enable harmful behavior, sacrificing rational self-preservation or fairness in favor of misguided moral virtue.

The advocates of the Safety Empowerment Network will of course address issues of liability, privacy, trust and discrimination in order to make the program successful and fair, within the framework of the program.  It is highly disingenuous to use fear mongering tactics to imply that the program will itself cause any of these things.  The purpose of the program is the safety of Davis businesses and Davis residents.  And as Jonathan Greenberg rightly points out, the biggest threat to those who are living outdoors who are NOT criminals is those living outdoors that ARE criminals.

I am personally interested in the S.E.N. Program to help deter issueswith the effects of the so-called “homeless” in the downtown-adjacent neighborhoods and other neighborhoods near parks, drainage ditches, bicycle paths and railroad tracks.    It is my hope that if the database and camera system is successful for use by downtown businesses, this could be used as a tool in protecting our neighborhoods as well – from these same and other criminals found amidst the so-called “homeless” population.

A neighbor of mine, myself and a nearby business have used CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) concepts to make the area around our homes less conducive to crime and criminals.  This is needed because of the over-abundance of so-called “homeless” that congregate nearby.  We have spent countless hours and thousands of dollars doing this, with, I believe, a degree of success.  No, we shouldn’t have to spend our time and our money doing this.  However, we have learned through experience that the City isn’t going to do this for us.

Similarly, downtown businesses and the DDBA must fend for themselves, because the City isn’t going to do it for them.  Downtown businesses must take matters into their own hands, as we did, and the Safety Empowerment Network is an important tool to help empower downtown businesses against crime.  Apparently, Kevin Wan and other members of the current board aren’t interested in even trying this program to see if it works.  Therefore, it is time to vote Heather Caswell, Ezra Beeman, Shelly Ramos and Kellie Palmer to the DDBA Board.

Alan C. Miller is nearly 40-year resident of Old East Davis, a friend to a few good people, and a source of great annoyance to many others.