Village Farms housing project sent to Davis voters

The Abridged version:

• In a vote taken early Wednesday morning, the Davis City Council decided to send the controversial Village Farms housing project to the ballot.
• The project, which would add 1,800 new homes to a 500-acre plot of land on the northeastern edge of Davis, was proposed in April 2023.
• The election is scheduled for June 2.

---

The future of Village Farms Davis is now in the hands of the voters.

After a six-hour meeting in which dozens of Davis residents spoke in opposition or support of the controversial project, the City Council decided to move forward and schedule it for the June 2 ballot. If voters approve the project, 1,800 new homes would eventually be added to a 500-acre plot of farmland on the northern edge of Davis.

The special election is the final major hurdle in a lengthy approval process for Village Farms. Initially proposed in April 2023, the project has undergone scrutiny as developers and the city hammered out specifics.

Supporters of the project who spoke at Tuesday’s meeting applauded those deliberations as evidence of a carefully thought-out development.

“I believe we are looking at a truly smart growth opportunity with Village Farms,” said Heather Caswell, Davis resident and small-business owner. “Further tweaks will just a delay a vote for housing that is desperately needed for our schools, our community and downtown businesses.”

“Village Farms supports our schools, strengthens our business community, provides needed workforce housing and improves quality of life in Davis,” said Rusty Seymour, vice chair of the Davis Chamber of Commerce.

Opponents say project ‘going too fast’

But opponents decried the process as rushed, citing concerns about flooding, groundwater contamination from the old Davis landfill, traffic and environmental degradation.

“I have to say this is going too fast, coming too soon and development is too big,” said Davis resident John Cooper.

“This is less ‘ready to go’ and more ‘let’s figure it out on the way,” said Davis resident Jeff Merritt. “This is a rushed, oversized civil engineering experiment and the residents are the test subjects.”

The city continues to test at the old landfill, and Village Farms developers have assured that flood mitigation efforts will address potential flooding. But concerns from residents have persisted.

Affordability a major issue

In addition to worries about environmental outcomes and land use, a major sticking point for many was the affordable housing plan, which officials discussed as recently as last week. After multiple rounds of negotiation, the developer agreed to dedicate 16 acres of land to the city for affordable housing and $6 million to the housing trust fund.

Project supporters pointed to the affordable housing allocation, as well as the significant increase in overall housing stock, as a way to combat the city’s increasing cost of living and declining public-school enrollment.

“I want Davis to remain a desirable community for families,” said Davis resident Krista Hoffman. “This project will not just benefit potential homebuyers and schools, it will be an asset to our community.”

“It’s not going to solve all of our affordability issues, but it’s going to help,” said Davis resident David Massey.

The affordable housing plan includes more concessions from the developer than the original proposal, but some council members had previously tried to push the project manager to go even further.

In recent meetings, council member Bapu Vaitla cast a dissenting vote for the affordable housing plan, citing his concern that the units may not actually come to fruition. But weeks of negotiations brought Vaitla around, and he voted with the rest of his colleagues to unanimously approve the project.

“I know that we’ve butted heads, sometimes publicly, but I think this is a great affordable housing agreement for the city,” he said.

Its passage is far from certain. Measure J/R/D, which requires a vote by Davis residents on proposed land use changes and baseline project features, has stopped similar proposals in the past, including one that was very similar to Village Farms.

Daniel Hennessy joins Abridged from the California Local News Fellowship. He’s a reporter covering Yolo County.