The Davis City Council is considering changes to Measure J to address the city’s growing housing needs, but the process is complicated by political and economic factors, and the city is bracing for the possibility of a legal challenge.
The Willowgrove project has become the first annexation project in Davis to release its tentative map prior to a vote of the Davis voters, providing the public with a detailed understanding of the proposed community before any final vote.
The Davis Joint Unified School District is facing an enrollment crisis due to 25 years of constrained housing production, which has resulted in a population gap of 8,000 missing residents and a decline of 2,300 students in the district.
Davis residents are debating whether the city should build housing to support school enrollment, but demographic modeling shows that the level of housing needed to stabilize enrollment is almost exactly the same level the state is already requiring the city to build under its housing obligations.
Declining school enrollment in Davis is a result of Measure J, which has made it difficult to build housing for families, leading to a lack of balance in the community and a need for responsible development to sustain the city’s future.
The Davis City Council held a marathon workshop on the Village Farms project, while the Davis Joint Unified School District warned of the consequences of inaction on housing, including declining enrollment, program cuts, and possible school closures, highlighting the need for affordable housing in Davis.
Davis voters overwhelmingly renewed Measure J in 2020, but the context of the vote and the worsening housing crisis have led to mounting pressure from the state to demonstrate progress on housing production, and the city is now exploring whether to modify Measure J to meet state mandates while preserving local control.
The City of Davis is considering modifying Measure J to allow developers to qualify for exemptions through affordable housing, climate or environmental mitigation, community benefits, or an Urban Limit Line, in response to increasing state pressure on the city’s housing policies.
The City of Davis is facing a housing crisis and should focus on facilitating the addition of housing and affordable housing, rather than pursuing costly and speculative microgrid projects.
The housing crisis is not a result of declining birth rates, but rather the unaffordable cost of housing, which is driving people to delay marriage and having children, and forcing workers to live further away from their jobs, leading to longer commutes, higher emissions, and a diminished quality of life.
California lawmakers have passed two significant housing bills, SB 79 and CEQA reform, which loosen zoning restrictions and reduce opportunities for legal challenges, but Davis is unlikely to be affected due to its Amtrak station not being a Tier 1 or Tier 2 transit stop and Measure J requiring voter approval for major projects.
The Davis Joint Unified School District is facing a potential loss of 1,000 students over the next decade, and the fate of the district’s schools rests in the hands of Davis voters, who will decide in 2026 whether to approve two major housing developments, while the city’s Measure J restriction on housing development remains a barrier to growth.
The Davis City Council is considering two schedules for the Village Farms Davis development, a 497.5-acre project that would add 1,800 market-rate and affordable homes, parks, greenbelts, and a range of community amenities, with voter approval required under the city’s Measure J/R/D ordinance in June 2026.
The City of Davis must make urgent and far-reaching decisions in its general plan update to address housing shortages, job and transportation mismatches, and the growing effects of climate change, while balancing growth with the protection of agricultural land and open space.
The City of Davis Social Services Commission is considering the Village Farms Davis affordable housing plan, which includes a proposal to dedicate roughly half the amount of land normally mandated, and a package of alternative contributions to offset the reduction.
The state of California is taking a more aggressive approach to ensuring cities meet their housing targets, and Davis must take this into account as it makes decisions today to avoid potential state intervention in the future.
The City of Davis has begun the process of updating its General Plan, which will involve workshops, surveys, and other activities to shape the city’s future in terms of land use, transportation, climate change, equity, and more.
The housing crisis is a complex issue that requires a multi-faceted approach, including deregulation, funding for affordable housing, and rethinking the financial system’s role in driving prices.
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law sweeping reforms to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and Senator Scott Wiener’s SB 79, a bill designed to streamline multifamily housing near transit, while California YIMBY celebrated the “historic victory” but observers note that local land use restrictions, such as Davis’s Measure J, remain the biggest barriers to housing production.
A recent court ruling in Orange County has upheld the City of Newport Beach’s decision to implement its state-mandated housing element without voter approval, and may have sweeping implications for cities in California, including Davis, that are governed by voter-controlled growth ordinances.