Proposal Description
The project site consists of approximately 56.11 acres located southwest and adjacent to the City of Davis within the City of Davis Sphere of Influence (SOI) of unincorporated Yolo County. The project site is triangular-shaped and bounded by existing industrial development to the northeast, I-80 to the southeast, and the Union Pacific Raid Road (UPRR) rail line and UC Davis to the northwest. The project site is currently undeveloped and has been dry-farmed for winter wheat crops in the past.
The City of Davis approval changed the general plan land use designation from Agriculture to Residential and Natural Habitat Area. Correspondingly, the parcel has also been pre-zoned to Planned Development. The project includes development of rental residential uses; up to 10,000 sf of commercial/retail space and other community building uses; onsite water detention; open spaces, including private open space for the proposed residential uses, urban forests or urban farmland; and a satellite surface/structure parking area with solar panels. The project would include up to 700 rental apartment units to accommodate up to 2,200 occupants (primarily students).
Factors to be Considered
In accordance with Government Code Section 56668, the factors to be considered in the review of a proposal shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following:
- Population, land use, natural boundaries, proximity to other populated areas, and likelihood of significant growth in the area during the next 10 years;
- The need for organized community services, the adequacy of governmental services and controls in the area, the probable effect of annexation and alternative courses of action;
- The effect of the proposed action (and alternative actions) on the adjacent areas, social and economic interests and local governmental structure of the county;
- The conformity of the proposal and its effects with adopted commission policies on providing planned, orderly and efficient patters or urban development;
- The effect of the proposal on maintaining the physical and economic integrity of agricultural lands;
- The definiteness of the boundaries with parcel lines and the creation of any "islands" or corridors of unincorporated territory;
- A regional transportation plan;
- The proposal's consistency with city or county general and specific plans;
- The sphere of influence of any applicable local agency;
- The ability of the receiving entity to provide services and the sufficiency of revenues for those services;
- Availability of water supplies;
- The extent to which the proposal will affect a city in achieving its regional housing needs as determined by its council of governments;
- Any information or comments from landowners, voters or residents fo the affected territory;
- Any information relating to existing land use designations;
- The extent to which the proposal will promote environmental justice, meaning the fair treatment tof people of all races, cultures and incomes with the respect to the provision of public services; and
- Any local hazard plan or safety element of a general plan that identify land as a very high fire hazard zone.
Yolo LAFCo's local standards of evaluation for proposals (Section 2.0) elaborates on these state-mandated factors with the following additional standards:
- Favoring municipal services by cities in urbanized areas rather than the County or special districts;
- Consider not only present service needs of the area under consideration, but shall also consider future services which may be required to take care of future growth or expansion;
- Requiring a service plan that describes the extension, financing and timing of services;
- SACOG's regional housing needs for the agency, recent update (and certification) of the agency's housing element, whether the agency's inclusionary housing ordinance complies with SACOG's Affordable Housing Compact, the degree to which the proposal meets the agency's "low income" and "very low income" housing targets, and the extent to which the proposal advances or inhibits the agency's housing element; and
- Consistency with the Agricultural Conservation Policy.
Analysis
The proposed annexation area is within the City's sphere of influence (SOI) and is a logical and orderly extension of the City’s urban area. The proposed development will need urban services and the City has the capacity and is the appropriate agency to provide services. The subject territory is mostly surrounded by existing city jurisdiction and the proposal does not create any "islands" or corridors of unincorporated territory. The project is consistent with the regional growth projections prepared by SACOG and is consistent with the City's General Plan land use designations. The City of Davis has pre-zoned the territory consistent with its General Plan.
LAFCo Policy No. 4.4 requires LAFCo to review projects based on a number of considerations to promote the Yolo LAFCo's Agricultural Conservation Policy’s goal that “boundary changes for urban development should only be proposed, evaluated, and approved in a manner which, to the fullest extent feasible, is consistent with the continuing growth and vitality of agriculture within the county.” The project site is mostly undeveloped, excepting the UPRR line, and has been previously used for agricultural uses. The site is not designated as Prime, Unique, or Farmland of Statewide importance by the Department of Conservation Farmland Mapping and Monitoring Program. However, development of the site would result in a loss of farmland that was determined to be of high agricultural importance based on land suitability and site assessment criteria. The project would convert 43.5 acres of agricultural land to urban uses. Because the project would result in the conversion of active agricultural land to urban uses, it is a significant impact. The project would be required to comply with City Municipal Code Article 40A.03 that requires the purchase of compensatory agricultural lands at a 2:1 ratio compared to those lost/converted. Although the project is required to mitigate to the extent feasible, the City has adopted a Statement of Overriding Considerations as the impact remains significant and unavoidable. The subject property is surrounded by existing City and UC Davis development and I-80 and, therefore, will not be growth inducing. Therefore, the proposal is consistent with Yolo LAFCo's Agricultural Conservation Policy.
The City's EIR and Addendum analyzed the capacity and availability of public services and utilities and concluded that the City has the capacity to serve the project. The territory is intended to be developed with student housing and will help the City to meet its regional housing needs. The proposed boundary does not exclude any existing communities that should be provided equal access to municipal services. The proposal area is not identified as a "very high fire hazard zone". Finally, the City and County have approved a property tax exchange agreement. For all these reasons, staff recommends that the annexation proposal complies with required state factors and local standards of evaluation.
Correspondence
The East Davis Fire Protection District provided comments stating the District will no longer provide fire service to the territory, but does not oppose the proposal. The Auditor's Office submitted its required response indicating a new tax rate area (TRA) will be required for the subject territory and lists the agencies and amount of the 1% tax rate before and after reorganization.
Action Without Notice and Waiver of Protest Proceedings
The application includes written consent signed by one landowner that represents 100% of the affected territory exclusive of land owned by a private railroad company. Notice was provided to all landowners within the project territory plus a 300’ radius and all registered voters, as well as to all affected agencies, and no written opposition has been received. The notice includes the Commission’s intent to waive protest and election proceedings, as provided in Government Code section 56662.
CEQA
The reorganization is a discretionary action subject to CEQA. On February 6, 2018, the Davis City Council adopted Resolution No. 18-022, adopting an Addendum, and adopting CEQA Findings of Fact, Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program, and Statement of Overriding Considerations which analyzes and discloses the significant environmental effects associated with development in the annexation area.
LAFCo is considered a "responsible agency" under CEQA, which means a public agency, other than the "lead agency" (i.e. the City), which has responsibility for carrying out or approving a project. In other words, LAFCo approval (i.e. the annexation) is required for the City to carry out development under its project approval. Pursuant to Government Code Section 15096, LAFCo as a responsible agency complies with CEQA by considering the EIR prepared by the City and reaching its own conclusions on whether and how to approve the annexation. LAFCo is required to make findings for each significant environmental effect of the project. CEQA requires the decision-making agency to balance the economic, legal, social, technological, or other benefits of a proposed project against its unavoidable environmental effects when determining whether to approve the project. If the benefits outweigh the adverse effects, they may be considered "acceptable".
The City's EIR and Addendum identified significant and unavoidable impacts at the project site related to agriculture and forest resources; air quality; greenhouse gas emissions, climate change and energy; noise and vibration; and transportation and circulation. The City's EIR and Addendum have not been attached due to size considerations, but can be found here: https://www.cityofdavis.org/city-hall/community-development-and-sustainability/development-projects/the-promenade-2023. Staff provided comments to the Notice of Preparation to ensure the EIR and Addendum was consistent with LAFCo policy. |