01/07/2025 City Council Minutes Page 1 of 5
MINUTES OF THE DAVIS CITY COUNCIL
Meeting of January 7, 2025
The City Council of the City of Davis met in regular meeting session beginning at 6:33 p.m. in the Community Chambers, 23 Russell Boulevard, Davis, California. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Josh Chapman.
Roll Call: Councilmembers Present: Linda Deos, Donna Neville, Gloria Partida, Bapu Vaitla, Josh Chapman
Councilmembers Absent: None
Other Officers Present: City Manager Mike Webb , City Attorney Inder Khalsa, City Clerk Zoe Mirabile
Approval of
Agenda
L. Deos moved, seconded by B. Vaitla, to approve the agenda. Motion passed unanimously.
City Manager
Announce-
ments
M. Webb: Village Farms Draft Environmental Impact Report is available for public review and comment starting today. January 10 —Make Davis Sparkle event, cleaning and beatification downtown. January 10 —Na- talie Corona remembrance event at the Davis Police Station. January 16—Senior Center outdoor patio grand open ing. January 18 —Trash Dash event, downtown trash pickup. January 20—Annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration.
City Council
Announce-
ments and Li-
aison Reports
None
Public Com-
ments
• Alan Miller: Homeless individuals are generating garbage piles, cre- ating a safety hazard for pedestrians and bicyclists. Oppose new state “daylighting” law that prohibits parking within 20 feet of cross- walks.
• Connor Gorman: Government should provide housing for homeless individuals with mental health issues.
Consent Cal-
endar
Police Accountability Commission Community Meeting
Informational
D. Neville moved, seconded by L. Deos, to approve the consent calen- dar. Motion passed unanimously.
01/07/2025 City Council Minutes Page 2 of 5
2025 General
Plan Update
Consultant
Contract
Community Development Director Sherri Metzker: Overview of required elements in the General Plan: land use, circulation, housing, conserva- tion, open space, noise, safety, and environmental justice. Certain com- missions will be assigned to review elements. Presented phased project timeline.
Public comments:
• Alan Miller: Plans should create certainty. Personal experience par- ticipating in a citizen committee and expectations were not met. • Mary Jo Bryan: Request consultant receive report from League of Women Voters regarding the General Plan and community vision. • Judy Ennis, Davis Community Action Network: Support starting pro- cess.
• Connor Gorman: Support outreach proposals and separate general plan committee, should consider additional at large community mem- bers for committee.
G. Partida moved, seconded by D. Neville, to approve Resolution No. 25-001 - Authorizing the City Manager to Execute Professional Services Contract with Raimi + Associates, Inc. for the Preparation of the 2025 Update to the General Plan.
B. Vaitla proposed a Friendly Amendment:
1. Direct staff to develop a process to form and appoint a General Plan Committee made up of two representatives from six commissions (Planning, Climate and Environmental Justice, Open Space and Hab- itat, Recreation and Park, Social Services, and Transportation)
2. Authorize and direct P lanning Commission to form a subcommittee to develop land use concepts/visions/scenarios for growth projections in regards to allowable uses on parcels once staff has completed their initial review.
3. Authorize and direct Open Space and Habitat Commission to form a subcommittee to look at peripheral parcels that are high priority for open space and habitat conservation and agricultural easements in a quasi-spatially explicit manner.
Accepted by mover and second.
Motion passed unanimously.
City Council recessed at 7:40 p.m. and reconvened at 7:52 p.m.
Rental Hous-
ing Inclusion-
ary Guide-
lines
Assistant City Manager Kelly Stachowicz : In July 2023, City Council adopted an ordinance to set rental housing inclusionary requirements at 15% (1/2 low income and 1/2 very low income) and allows for alternative to be set by resolution. In October 2024, Council directed staff to develop 01/07/2025 City Council Minutes Page 3 of 5
guidelines for alternatives to meeting the default requirements for discre- tionary and non -discretionary projects. Summarized recommendations for non-discretionary project in lieu fees a nd proposed alternatives for discretionary projects.
Request Council direction on:
1. Determine in-lieu fee parameters (per unit amount, payment options)
2. Decide how to handle fractional units
3. Decide if there are other alternatives to include in guidelines or addi- tional information necessary to finalize resolution
Public comments:
• Robert Chappel: Should let supply and demand lower cost of housing and rents.
• Martha Teeter; Judy Ennis, Davis Community Action Network ; Ben; Gayna Lamb-bang; Ellen Kalorik; and Barbara Clutter : Support land dedication and in-lieu fee. Threshold should be set to build highest number of affordable units per project. Recommend up-front fee ra- ther than payment over time.
• Alan Miller, Wesley Sagewalker, Doug Buzbee , Corey Calfee, Cort Tellis: Oppose proposed in-lieu fees. Punitive and prohibitively high, much more than neighboring jurisdictions . Will result in fewer pro- jects. Consider modest fee across all projects , retain current fee, or increase by inflationary metric or gap financing method. • Connor Gorman: Support guidelines and in -lieu fee. Question why very low income units are not required.
B. Vaitla moved as follows:
1. Require that any fractional units necessary to reach 15% affordable unit requirement be paid in a proportional in-lieu fee.
2. Allow a one-time payment option for in-lieu fee.
Motion withdrawn.
G. Partida moved, seconded by J. Chapman, as follows:
1. Set in-lieu fee at $250,000.
2. Set in-lieu fee for fractional unit for on-site provision of affordable units at $125,000.
Motion withdrawn.
D. Neville moved, seconded by B. Vaitla as follows:
1. Set in-lieu fee at $369,000.
2. In-lieu fee for fractional unit for on-site provision of affordable units to be half the amount.
Motion failed by the following vote:
AYES: Neville, Vaitla
NOES: Deos, Partida, Chapman
01/07/2025 City Council Minutes Page 4 of 5
G. Partida moved, seconded by B. Vaitla, as follows:
1. Set in lieu at $250,000
2. In-lieu fee for fractional unit for on-site provision of affordable units be half the amount.
3. Approve Resolution No. 25-002 - Adopting Rental Housing Inclusion- ary Guidelines Pursuant To Municipal Code 18.05.060 , amended with the revisions above.
Motion passed by the following vote:
AYES: Neville, Partida, Vaitla, Chapman
NOES: Deos
By consensus, Council interest in information on potential sliding scale option based on project size or classification of projects.
City Attorney Inder Khalsa: Staff will confer. Will need to combine sliding scale with density parameters.
City Council recessed at 10:09 p.m. and reconvened at 10:16 p.m.
Designation
of Mayor and
Vice Mayor
City Manager Mike Webb: Summarized Council adopted criteria to con- sider when selecting the mayor and vice mayor.
Public comments:
• Alan Miller: Support
• Connor Gorman: Support Bapu Vaitla as Mayor and D onna Neville as Vice Mayor. Consider restructuring role of mayor, rotate every meeting or every few meetings or more often for ceremonial events.
By consensus, Council interest in information on historical patterns and process options such as rotate sequentially through districts . Also inter- est in title options such as “Chair” instead of “Mayor.”
G. Partida moved, seconded by L. Deos, to nominate B. Vaitla as Mayor and D. Neville as Vice Mayor for calendar year 2025.
Motion passed by the following vote:
AYES: Deos, Neville, Partida, Chapman
NOES: None
ABSTAIN: Vaitla
AB 1234 Re-
porting
None
Long Range
Calendar
M. Webb: Next regular meeting on January 21. Will schedule follow up on inclusionary resolution and mayor/vice mayor options.
01/07/2025 City Council Minutes Page 5 of 5
Public comments:
• Alan Miller: Mayor should self-declare title. Bapu Vaitla can be Chair and Donna Neville can be vice mayor.
Adjournment Meeting was adjourned at 10:44 p.m.
Zoe Mirabile
City Clerk