LAFCO had me laughing > Rexroad.com

Tonight we had a LAFCO meeting in Davis.

It was a very interesting meeting for a number of reasons. The Davis City Council has requested to dramatically increase the area within their sphere of influence (SOI). They are doing this in an attempt to have greater control over development on their edge.

I actually want the City of Davis to have control of development on their urban edge. It makes sense to me. As a former Mayor I don't want (or need) the county telling me what I need to do. That is up to the City Council.

Here is the problem. If you increase the area within the SOI you are signaling that development is the desire for this area.

The reality os that Davis does not really want development in the area. They want to control any development in the area -- and probably kill development. That is their choice.

I want to let Davis have control of their boundary. I am just not sure that the request to LAFCO is sincere.

My deal is this -- If a city in Yolo County wants to annex land or increase their control of their edge I will work to make the deal happen. This request does not really appear to be that at all.

It was a very strange meeting and I have done a terrible job of explaining the choice we are trying to make. Those people in Davis sure are different.

PS -- It was my first meeting in my future board room. I don't think I had ever been in the Davis City Council Chambers before. If I am going to be a good member of the City Council I need to get comfortable there.

PSS -- I am also adding a third name to my endorsement list for Davis City Council -- my own.

Comments

By mattwill @ Saturday, April 05, 2008 9:59 AM

As I said in the public comment at Monday's LAFCO meeting, the biggest problem with the City's request is its timing. I completely support the argument Souza made that the citizens of Davis believe that active farming on agriculturally zoned land is a valid urban land use.

The problem is that this concept is one that Davis has yet to act on. Many people have voiced a dream of a permanent agricultural buffer around Davis. That dream has not as yet become a reality. Your questions to Souza focused on how "prepared" Davis is to truly provide protection. That question was right on the mark.

The City's Housing Element Steering Committee (HESC) has through its deliberations over the past 12 months set the stage for Davis to move from "dream" stage to "reality" stage with regard to a protected agricultural buffer on the City's perimeter. The HESC report to Council, which will be presented on 4/22, ranked 36 potential housing sites in the City and on its periphery. That ranking places all the peripheral sites way down on the prioritized list. Out of 36 total sites, the four NW Quadrant sites are #33, #34, #35 and #36. Covell Village is #31. The report makes it very clear that none of these sites are needed (or desirable) prior to 2013. The agricultural lands Davis proposed adding to the SOI are well protected until then.

Since 2013 is the date of the next LAFCO SOI assessment, Davis can use the next five years to 1) complete the (recently authorized by Council) Mid Course Correction analysis of its 1% Growth Guideline/Cap and thereby get a handle on Davis' true "internal" demand for housing, and 2) complete the 2010 General Plan Update. Hopefully, that Update will clearly spell out how Davis has "prepared" itself to recognize and protect active farming as a valid urban land use within a clearly defined Urban Boundary.

Davis may even be in a position to annex some or all of those lands into the City itself. Now that is a decision that is right up LAFCO's alley.

2013 is the right time to be presenting LAFCO with a clear, coherent, well-thought-out, plan for what the SOI of Davis should be.

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