The upcoming City Council meetings — Nov. 12 for a public hearing and Nov. 19 to finalize The Cannery development — are critically important. As the largest development to come before the council in years, this will be a “watershed” vote.

Citizens for Healthy Aging and others have spent years working with the Senior Citizens Commission and the Disability Subcommittee urging that small, single-story, detached homes be required at The Cannery and other developments in Davis. Nonetheless, the Planning Commission sent this project on to the City Council, as is, with unanimous approval.

We expect leadership from our City Council members to require the kinds of housing our community wants and needs. Citizens should not have to petition, lobby, testify and demonstrate over and over again to convince the council of the merits of their request for The Cannery. The need for these homes is obvious. What is the rationale for leaving them out of The Cannery? No justification has yet been articulated.

Unfortunately, citizens do not get to vote on this project. The only way we can express ourselves is in how we vote or offer support for the current five City Council members who will vote on this project. How can council members expect us to support them for re-election, or election to higher office, if they allow this project to go forward without the small, single-story detached homes their constituents have been fighting for?

If the City Council can’t get it right, and show leadership now, how can voters trust them on other much more controversial issues?

If the council acts only as a “rubber stamp” for the Planning Commission’s approval, rather than show leadership to require the project to meet the expressed needs of our graying population and those with disabilities, then what’s the point of their jobs? Approving a 547-unit housing development without a single small, one-story, detached home should not be acceptable.
Deborah Nichols Poulos
Davis

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