The Abridged version:
- More ballots were counted over the last few days in Yolo County, but the opposition to Measure V holds a narrow lead.
- “No” votes carried about 51% of the ballots counted as of late Friday afternoon. “Yes” had 48%.
- If Measure V passes, the Village Farms housing project will move forward.
The latest drop of election results continues to show a tight Measure V race, with “no” slightly outpacing “yes.”
With more ballots left to count, the “no” campaign had slightly more than 51% of the vote as of about late Friday afternoon, while “yes” had a little more than 48%.
To move ahead, the project would need a simple majority of Davis voters to approve it.
If the “yes” campaign reaches that threshold, the Village Farms development is cleared to move forward with up to 1,800 residential units just west of the Wildhorse neighborhood. The construction timeline hasn’t been finalized, but it would likely take years to complete.
If voters reject the project, it will die in its current form. Should the landowners decide to propose a new development, they would need to go through the entire approval process again. Village Farms was first proposed in 2023.
While results show a majority of votes opposing the measure, the election will not be certified until all votes are counted, and it’s still a close race. The county will continue to share updates with the next batch of results expected Tuesday.
Support and opposition for Davis Measure V
No on V campaign
No on V, spearheaded by Eileen Samitz, raised concerns about the environmental consequences of the project, its proximity to the old Davis landfill, traffic and what the campaign says is an inadequate affordable housing plan.
Yes on V campaign
Yes on V was funded by the North Davis Land Co., which was established by the group of developers behind the project, including John Whitcombe. The campaign touted the project’s potential to increase Davis’ struggling housing stock and sagging school enrollment rates.
What’s Village Farms?
In addition to housing, the proposal includes a list of baseline project features and an affordable housing plan.
- Up to 1,800 residential units can be built, including high-density, medium-density and low-density.
- The developer will set aside land and money for the construction of 360 deed-restricted affordable housing units. It will provide at least $6 million for the construction of those units and at least 100 lower-income units will start to be built by the time the 150th market-rate low-density unit is built.
- Land dedicated to Davis Joint Unified School District for pre-kindergarten facilities and an educational farm.
- A community park, a neighborhood park, greenbelts, trails and bike paths.
- Landing sites for grade-separated bike and pedestrian crossings for F Street and Pole Line Road.
- Public open space, land for habitat conservation and land for agricultural uses.
Daniel Hennessy joins Abridged from the California Local News Fellowship. He’s a reporter covering Yolo County.