Davis’ Role in Yolo County General Plan
Yolo County 2030 General Plan, Pass-Through Agreement and Uncertain Revenue Sources May Affect Davis’ Growth.
On November 10th, the Yolo County Board of Supervisors approved a new plan for how the unincorporated area of the county is expected to grow over the next 20 years. Although the plan respects Davis’ right to approve development along its borders (or “sphere of influence”) and focuses growth within existing urban areas, it does create the opportunity for allowing development on county farmland abutting our city limits. If Davis citizens refuse to accommodate growth, the Board may approve new development next to our neighborhoods without a Measure J vote. It has happened before and it could happen again. Davis only has two representatives on the five member board.
A Bit of History – Mace Ranch previously was in the unincorporated area of the county before the city annexed the ranch and approved the development plan. Back in the 1980’s, a group of influential local developers asked the County to approve their request to build this new residential neighborhood of 1,500 homes. The City Council objected vehemently that the city should have no say over growth along our borders, and likely lawsuits may have been threatened.
So two things happened. The city agreed to annex Mace Ranch and process the development plan. It also approved the “pass-through” agreement whereby a portion of its redevelopment funds (the increment in property taxes from downtown and south Davis) was to be paid to the County for 20 years. The pass-through payments provide the County with roughly one to two million dollars annually. In return, the City obtained control over development in its sphere of influence. If the County violates the agreement, it loses that revenue.
County Needs Money – New development next to Davis could generate more money for the county than the pass-through payments it would lose. In the recent past, the owner of the agricultural land east of Mace Blvd along the freeway made a proposal to some of the supervisors to allow development of a large commercial shopping center. There was also the stem cell research campus proposal along Chiles Road next to the bypass/wildlife refuge that some supervisors supported.
As the State continues to cutback funding for public health, welfare and law enforcement services, the county may become desperate for additional revenues from new development. Also, some day those pass-through funds will dry up, either when the redevelopment plan term ends or if the state keeps stealing this local revenue source.
Covell & Pole Line – The property at Covell & Pole Line (site of the proposed Covell Village) across from Nugget Market is part of the unincorporated area of the county. The new county general plan designates this site as “specific plan,” not its current agricultural use or its prior industrial land use classification. The general plan also specifies that a development plan be prepared for this site, giving a “green light“ for some form of urbanization in the future.
If the Davis citizens, under Measure J, vote no again when the next plan for that site is presented, that rejection could spur the county to allow the development to proceed nonetheless. With the recent defeat of Measure P by such a large margin, maybe the Covell landowners won’t even try a third time to seek approval from Davis residents. The post-Measure P newspaper reports claim that no proposal to convert agricultural land for new development will ever be approved under Measure J.
City Annexation Not Needed – Without annexation into the city, new development can still be served either under contract or by creation of an independent community services district. El Macero and Willowbank are in the county and the city provides some services under contract. The North Davis Farms neighborhood (next to Davis Muni Golf Course) provides its own water and sewer services, and relies on the county sheriff and fire protection districts. Similar arrangements could be made to allow for a development at Covell & Pole Line to remain in the county and not need city services, similar to the new West Village project on UC Davis’ property.
Unless Davis starts planning its future, the county may do that for us.
Question: Even though the General Plan does not change the land use for other properties around Davis, could the County also be swayed to develop those properties if the fiscal benefit was large enough? I’m thinking of Monafred/Parlin’s property near the hospital & Binning Ranch, Gidaro & Co.’s “Shriner” property along Covell, Signature’s properties inside and outside the Mace Curve, and the Yackzan Group’s Oeste Ranch.