Ken Wagstaff – Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,

I support the proposed West Davis Active Adult Community, appearing on the November 6 ballot as Measure L.

The project plan has many features that will stimulate and enhance community relationships among its senior residents. Overall it will be denser with homes of smaller average size than many Davis neighborhoods with 560 diverse units linked by a network of walking and bicycle paths.

Buyers will be releasing their former homes into a market in which families are crying out for available houses. Keeping our “baby boomer” seniors in Davis while attracting a new generation of families is a winning formula to enrich our city and and make it more resilient.

It is a false argument to say that this project is somehow “discriminatory”. Both our City General Plan and the voter-approval provisions of Measure R emphasize the idea of limiting the growth of Davis to projects that meet internally-generated need. That means avoiding the conversion of farmland to houses unless the internal needs of our city population require it. I like the idea of offering these homes primarily to Davis-connected seniors. The law allows developments built for seniors, and the City General Plan encourages us to meet local needs first.

The WDAAC will include 150 affordable apartments to be built by Neighborhood Partners, nonprofit local developers who have a trustworthy record of attracting the necessary subsidy financing, as attested by their successes with Eleanor Roosevelt Circle, Cesar Chavez Plaza and several other Davis projects.

I encourage a YES vote on Measure L.

Ken Wagstaff

Former Mayor of Davis