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  • Proposal to Eliminate R-1 Single Family Zoning is a Terrible Idea

    Housing

    Dear Davis City Council, Planning Commission, and Social Services Commission Members,

    I would like to take a moment to address the idea of removing R-1 single-family zoning that is popular with developer interest groups and YIMBYs at the moment. This radical policy change would allow investors to buy single family houses in any neighborhood in the city and replace them with 4-unit or more multi-unit complexes. A good way to look at this type of proposal is as deregulation and trickle-down housing. The removal of R-1 zoning is often suggested by these pressure groups as a panacea for creating affordable housing and ending homelessness. There is mounting evidence that this is just not true, and I strongly recommend you read this article on the downfalls of trickle-down housing. https://www.housinghumanright.org/trickle-down-housing-is-a-failure-heres-what-you-need-to-know/?fbclid=IwAR2a_TkSVF0Zlb6pSMrZ7n3fL3SfLHAh354XQN3NZZuL6TNs85r5eST5iqc

    In Davis we have a large demand for rental housing. That demand coupled with an abolition of R-1 single-family housing zoning will result in investors converting single family homes to 4 units or more (per lot) of student rental housing that will be leased at top dollar. This is most likely to occur in what are currently the most affordable neighborhoods, like Davis Manor. These are also the most diverse neighborhoods. This will increase the cost of housing in these neighborhoods. This is the opposite of creating the affordable housing that deregulation advocates claim will come as a result of their trickle-down theories. Deregulation will hurt the people who need affordable housing the most.

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  • Surprising outcome and a few oddities at Planning Commission meeting

    Housing-ElementBy Roberta Millstein

    This is just a short update to follow on the Davisite’s earlier articles concerning the Housing Element Update (see here, here, and here).

    This past Wednesday (June 9th), the City of Davis’s Planning Commission met for a second time to discuss the recommendations of the Housing Element Committee (HEC)– the first meeting was May 26.  At the earlier meeting, most of the comments from the public concerned 10 recommendations that the HEC had passed.  And a good number of the comments came from UC Davis students who were apparently reading from the same script, since their comments were identical or nearly so.

    So, one might have expected that the June 9 meeting would be more of the same.  But that was not the case.

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  • California’s Huge Budget Surplus Provides Once in Lifetime Opportunity to Bury Fire-Causing Power Lines

    Four power line fires map Sonoma Independent June 3 2022

    By Nancy Price

    Despite predictions of an even worse year for wildfires and power shutdowns than 2020, not one dollar of California’s immense $76 billion budget surplus is being allocated to actually prevent wildfires which is to bury overhead power lines.

    Since 2017, four of the six most destructive fires have been sparked by overhead power lines. Burying just a tiny fraction of these lines that pose the highest risk of fires is by far the most important preventive measure to protect us from catastrophic fires and the terrible cost we pay with our lives, health, economy and environment. 

    Preventing fires mean we can protect our forests that are much need carbon sinks so we can realize our state’s ambitious greenhouse gas reduction target to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045.

    Burying overhead wires would also eliminate the expanding number of massive power shutdowns that liability-averse utility companies order because of the fire risks. These shutdowns impacted 2.5 million Californians last year, especially the elderly and infirm, whose lives sometimes depend upon medical machinery requiring steady electricity.

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  • 15 mph DESIGN SPEED in Davis!

    SD15
     
    My strong feeling is that all local streets – including Downtown – should have a 15 mph design speed. This is already a number most are familiar with, as it's used alongside e.g. speed tables on school routes and even the sharp turn from 2nd St to L St.

    The design speed is a speed that most people feel comfortable moving at in motor vehicles. People on bikes can also feel a design speed, but they are nearly infinitely more inherently safe than motor vehicles to others in the public ROW. 15 is also a bit faster than most cycling speeds.Traveling by bike on most greenbelt paths in Davis at 15 mph feels too fast – the paths are under-built – and perhaps the biggest design flaw in post 1970's Davis, sadly and ironically complemented by the clinically-insane wideness of many streets in West Davis, Mace Ranch and South Davis… but also much older streets in Old North, etc.

     
    Does it seem slow? Perhaps. However, consider that for most journeys by motor vehicle a relatively short distance is on local streets. So any journey lengthening will be minimal.
     
    Or can it even be shorter? Yes! 15 mph speed design is best complemented by elimination of existing mandatory stops; to be replaced by yields. It's these often unnecessary stops that lengthen journey time the most. Getting rid of them also decreases pollution (gas, particles and noise) and makes people less likely to feel the need to speed to the next stop sign.
     
    So it can be both safer and faster!

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  • Big problems at BTSSC meeting tonight!

    2nd StRailway modification project along 2nd St. leads to subverted process and disrespected City policy.

    The item "CCJPA 2nd Street Improvements 30% Design" is on the Consent Calendar for the Bicycling, Transportation and Street Safety Commission (BTSSC) today.

    The Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA), which runs the eponymous rail service with partner Amtrak, is planning to make modifications to the railway parallel with 2nd St, roughly between L St and the Pole Line. A significant part of the project will also raise, repave and re-stripe 2nd St – there's long been a problem with railway ballast making its way to the street – and include installation of an ADA-compliant sidewalk on the north side of the street, where no sidewalk currently exists up to the west end of Toad Hollow.

    So far, so good? Unfortunately not. The item involving a significant infrastructure modification is only on the Consent Calendar and the changes to the street itself – aside from the new sidewalk, which is clearly a good thing – are not following the 2016 Street Standards, and the whole length of 2nd St is not compliant with the 2013 General Plan Transportation Element.

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  • Letter from OEDNA Board, RE: Core Transition East in Downtown Plan

    June 8, 2021
    Mark N. Grote, Secretary
    Old East Davis Neighborhood Association

    City Council and Planning Commission Members
    Planning Staff
    Community Members

    Re: Future of the Core Transition East

    Dear decision-makers and community members: On behalf of the Old East Davis Neighborhood Association Board, I am writing to ask again for collaboration between the city, property owners and neighbors, to address the unique challenges of the Core Transition East as the Downtown Plan moves forward.  

    Unique challenges of the Core Transition East parcels

    The Core Transition East, located in Old East Davis just to the east of downtown, consists of four large parcels adjacent to the Union Pacific railroad tracks between 3rd and 5th Streets. Current planning provisions designate this area for neighborhood-compatible buildings that make appropriate scale transitions between the downtown core and the traditional, small-scale houses of Old East Davis.

    The parcels of the Core Transition East present unique design challenges that are not met by the general building forms of the November 2019 draft Form-Based Code currently under review as part of the Downtown Plan. Some of the unusual features of these parcels are:

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  • Unequivocally Bad Solar Panel Placement at Cesar Chavez Elementary .

    This letter was sent to DJUSD on June 8.
     
    Redwood tree
    Dear Matt and Facility planning team,
     
    I just saw the proposal for the placement of solar panels at CCE and it is unequivocally a bad placement.
     
    The panels will cover the existing grass at the edge of the blacktop thereby creating more of a barrier between the grass and the blacktop.   This necessitates the destruction of two massive and iconic redwood trees.    Removing trees in itself is not a problem – if the result is inescapable.  In this case, it is not an inescapable result to place the solar panels in that suggested location.
     
    The video clearly says that the benefits of this placement include  only 2 things.
     
    Benefit 1) providing a solar shade structure.    This is not necessary if there were more trees on the grass AND if those trees were maintained AND if the children were allowed to use the grass and the pathway during school hours.  Did you know that kids at CCE are not allowed to use their own school yard (the grass) during recess?  Did you know that the trees that were planted at the edge of the track are mostly dieing? 
     
    Benefit 2)  Preserving Blacktop.   Preserving blacktop is not a value of the community at large and nor is it a value of the parents of CCE, were you to poll them.  Preserving play space is important, and blacktop is important for certain kinds of play – but preserving it at the expense of creating what effectively amounts to a barrier between the children and the natural space of the field (where they should be allowed to play) is not a long term postive vision.
     
    There are at least 3 other areas where the Solar panels could be placed.
     
    1) On top of the new MPR.  Why are we building a new building that apparently cannot hold solar panels?
     
    2) Shading the portable classrooms on the south side of CCE Campus.  These roofs would benefit from the shade and the industrial structures on campus would not take anymore of the campus footprint.  In fact, one could imagine the solar array shading any number of buildings on the campus in whole or in part.
     
    3) Over the parking area.  Wouldn't the teachers appreciate a solar array over the parking area to keep their cars cool?
     
    I don't claim to speak for anyone but myself on this issue.  However, I do believe I have a good sense of the pulse of the community.   This placement will be met with massive pushback from the community and I strongly recommend reconsideration as soon as possible.
     
    Best regards
    Joseph Biello
    Parent of CCE Student and Neighbor
     
    _____
    the DJUSD video mentioned in the letter can be viewed here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUn0h5tukbo
     
    CCE Solar
     

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  • What the HEC is Going On?

    IMG_0744The Subversion of the Housing Element Committee (HEC) Deliberation Process by Hidden Development Interests

    Note: Several recent articles in the Davisite touch on the subject matter discussed here: For other comments on the Housing Element’s failure to address affordability and the proposals being pushed by development and real estate interests, see Davis Housing Element Fails Affordable Housing (5/27/2021). See also Comments on Draft Housing Element from Legal Services of Northern California (5/25/2021) For comments on problems with the City of Davis’s decision-making process see Good decision-making process involves staff and City Council too (6/3/2021)

    By Alan Pryor and Rik Keller

    The City of Davis’s Housing Element Committee (HEC), which is supposed to represent a “diversity of interests” in the community, was instead co-opted by development and real estate interests. Two weeks ago, there were a last-minute series of policy recommendations that were sprung on the Committee by these same real estate and development interests in violation of Brown Act open meeting laws. The HEC then further violated these laws in considering and voting to adopt the recommendations. Furthermore, the development and real estate interests on the Committee failed to adequately disclose conflicts of interest in terms of their investments and holdings in the City that would be impacted by the favorable recommendations approved by the HEC.

    This subverted process brings up important questions: Why has the City directed a process that has so little public input, especially from genuine affordable housing advocacy groups? How did the City staff allow so many violations of Brown Act laws regarding transparency and open government? Why did the City select HEC members with such a preponderance of real estate interests instead of appointing more representatives from the affordable housing community?

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  • Comments on Draft Housing Element from Legal Services of Northern California

    Screen Shot 2021-06-06 at 11.20.18 AMConcerns raised about lack of public participation from all economic segments of the community without adequate time to review, among many other concerns. Additional changes are needed to comply with the law and provide the most effective strategies to address the critical housing needs facing Davis residents with low incomes.

    Background: The City of Davis is preparing the 2021 – 2029 Housing Element to evaluate current and future housing conditions and identify housing sites to meet the community’s needs. Updating the Housing Element is a state requirement. The following letter commenting on the Draft Housing Element from Legal Services of Northern California was sent to the Davisite to post.

    May 25, 2021

    Jessica Lynch, Senior Planner
    Department of Community Development and Sustainability
    23 Russell Boulevard
    Davis, CA 95616

    Via email at jlynch@cityofdavis.org
    Re: Housing Element Update 2021-2029, draft submitted May 3, 2021

    Dear Ms. Lynch and City of Davis Staff,

    We are writing to provide comments on the Draft Housing Element released for public comment and submitted to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) on May 3, 2021.

    As you know, Legal Services of Northern California (“LSNC”) is a nonprofit civil legal aid organization providing legal assistance to low income individuals and families throughout Yolo County. LSNC’s mission is to provide quality legal services to empower the poor to identify and defeat the causes and effects of poverty within our community. LSNC has represented tenants in Yolo County since 1967. Last year, we handled more than 900 housing cases, including almost 200 cases for Davis households. Through our work, we gain insight into the struggles of low- income residents in Davis.

    We have prepared these comments in partnership with and on behalf of the Sacramento Housing Alliance, a nonprofit coalition that works to ensure that all people in the greater Sacramento region have safe, decent, accessible and affordable housing in healthy neighborhoods supported by equitable public policies and practices.

    The draft element adequately addresses many of the statutory requirements. Our comments cover areas where additional changes are needed to comply with the law and provide the most effective strategies to address the critical housing needs facing Davis residents with low incomes. We, along with SHA, are happy to discuss our comments and provide additional input as the City incorporates our suggestions and finalizes the draft.

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  • Good decision-making process involves staff and City Council too

    Screen Shot 2021-06-03 at 4.27.34 PM

    The following letter was emailed as a comment for tonight's special City Council Subcommittee on Commission Process meeting.

    Dear City Councilmembers and Commission Chairs,

    It is extremely difficult to comment on this item without knowing more about what will be discussed. However, one concern I have – and I will just have to see where things go today – is how this group became a “Subcommittee on Commissions.”

    The original letter that triggered this subcommittee, a letter that I co-signed, was titled “A Proposal for Improving City of Davis Decision Making.”  It included provisions regarding City Commissions, but it was not limited to that.  It also included provisions regarding “transparency, information, disclosure, and public engagement” as well as provisions “for developing and making decisions on Staff proposals submitted for City Council action.”  It was not just about how commissions operate.

    It would be a missed opportunity if this subcommittee were to narrow its concerns from the letter’s original scope.  Indeed, it would be a sad irony, given the letter was in part prompted by commissioners feeling that they were not being heard and seeing their communications to the city lost in translation.

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