[OldNorth] City Council, 27 July 2004

[sheryl lynn gerety]

29 July 2004

Old North Neighbors:

	Here is a quick summary of what happened at the City Council meeting 
this last Tuesday, 27 July.

	Recall, there were two items on the agenda of immediate interest to us 
because they challenged the Residential Design Guideliness that cover 
Old East, Old North and University/Rice Lane.  The first was a 
development of four rental units with a total of 10-12 bedrooms on two 
adjacent K Street lots (Old East).  That project would replace two 
bungalows.  The second was a development of four single-family homes, 
replacing a single cottage on a single small lot, on B street 
(University/Rice Lane).

	Council rejected the K Street project without prejudice, on a 3:2 vote 
(Asmundsen, Greenlaw, and Sousa against; Puntillo and Saylor in favor), 
meaning that it could be reconsidered within the next several months.  
With Greenlaw recused because her Rice lane home is within 500 ft of 
the proposed B Street project, Council split 2:2 on that development 
(Asmundsen and Sousa voting no; Puntillo and Saylor voting yes).  
Because the B Street project would require that Council pass a 
single-lot zoning exceptions to proceed, it is effectively stymied by 
the tie vote.

	There was considerable, organized opposition to these particular 
projects, but not necessarily to appropriate in-fill, from the 
neighborhoods, including Old North.  That opposition and divided 
reports from City Staff and the Planning Commission forced Council 
Members to recognize that “in-fill,” which everyone seems to endorse in 
theory, is not well-defined or governed in practice.  For the most 
part, then, Council members publicly justified their negative votes on 
these projects by the need to think seriously what constitutes 
appropriate “in-fill” for the DG neighborhoods, so to be fair and 
consistent to residents, developers, potential residents, etc.  In both 
cases, Council directed staff to work with a subcommittee of Council 
members to get a better handle on the situation.  This probably will 
happen more quickly than not, due to a sense of urgency and not a 
little impatience, especially on the part of those pushing these and 
other pending projects.  The developers also are organized and are not 
hesitating to make their views known.

	Council members appeared not to recall, or if newly elected not to 
know, that they also in January had directed staff to work with the 
neighborhood organizations on the Guidelines and questions about R2-CD 
zoning.  After the meeting, I sent them all a copy of that resolution 
and the unanimous roll call vote in its favor.

	  I want to thank everyone who came out to express an opinion, whether 
or not you got a chance to speak (Mayor Asmundsen limited public 
commentary severely).  Special kudos to Dennis for the “We have a Plan 
-- In-Fill and Preservation” name tags.  Once again, it is clear that 
we must be present and vocal, in numbers, to be heard.  These issues 
have not gone away; they are, rather tenuously, on hold for a short 
while.

	We will have to be ready to participate vigorously in the discussions 
that try to resolve how the City Council is going to define in-fill 
appropriate for our neighborhoods.

	Bruce Winterhalder
      	President, ONDNA

Here is the letter the ONDNA Board presented to Council:

27 July 2004
Members of the Davis City Council:
	We, the Board of Directors of the Old North Davis Neighborhood 
Asssociation, wish tonight to make two points:  first, we support 
residential infill; second, we oppose the project proposed for 233 B 
Street.  We and other residents of Old North reviewed and discussed the 
Staff report and the July 7, 2004 Planning Commission hearing on this 
project at our July 22nd meeting.
	First, the "Downtown and Traditional Residential Neighborhood Design 
Guidelines and Overlay District," or “Design Guidelines,” were 
developed as part of a multi-year public process involving hundreds of 
citizens.  Their goal is not to isolate and fossilize our 
neighborhoods, but to promote development that reinforces their 
strengths and respects their residential diversity, scale and unique 
historical character.  Indeed, infill projects have gone forward in and 
around Old North since adoption of the Guidelines (see attached list). 
Most of these proceeded uncontested; a few involved working out 
compromises among neighbors.  Our first point, then, is this: in-fill 
consistent with the Design Guildelines is happening and it works.
	Second, the City staff report on the B Street project found it to be 
inconsistent with multiple elements of zoning (PD2-86A), the Core Area 
Specific Plan (CASP), and the Design Guidelines.  The Planning 
Commission did not contest these negative evaluations; nonetheless they 
voted narrowly in their meeting to approve the 233 B Street project.  
At least once it was said in that meeting that infill development is 
impeded under the Design Guidelines; thus, a new vision is needed.  
That conclusion is simply incorrect; moreover, it is dangerous.  
Single-lot zoning in support of infill that decisively violates the 
CASP, zoning codes and the Design Guidelines sets a precedent that 
threatens all of us with piecemeal development driven by speculation.  
Thus, our second point: we urge you to reject this and any project so 
decisively inconsistent with multple City planning documents, including 
the Design Guidelines.
	In conclusion, we affirm our support of the Design Guidelines.  We 
endorse and document in-fill consistent with them.  And finally, we 
plead that you support City Staff, deny these projects, and join with 
us in promoting in-fill that is worthy of the City’s reputation for 
democratic, coherent and progressive planning.
Signed by

Bruce Winterhalder (President),
and the Board Members,
Daniel Braunschweig,
Dennis Dingemanns,
Dan Quickert,
Steve Tracy,
Andrew Wallace,
Angela Willson,
Old North Davis Neighborhood Assocation.

	Partial list of projects recently approved or completed in or near Old 
North under the auspices of the Traditional Neighborhood  Design 
Guidelines.

616 B Street   	2nd story addition (Maria Ogrdziak Architect)
626 B Street   	Addition
602 C Street   	New second unit (Scott Neeley & Associates Architecture)
518 D Street   	Relocated home onto existing lot as 2nd
617 D Street   	New second unit (Scott Neeley & Associates Architecture)
508 E Street   	2nd story addition (Scott Neeley & Associates 
Architecture)
616 E Street   	New second unit (Scott Neeley & Associates Architecture)
618 E Street   	New second unit (Scott Neeley & Associates Architecture)
622 / 630 E 	Street Renovation
637 E Street  	Addition (Clay Johnson Design)
613 F Street  	Renovation unknown
530 F Street  	New second unit (Kevin Fong Design)

Bruce Winterhalder
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