Davis City Council Meeting – October 15, 2024

The Davis City Council met Tuesday, October 15, 2024, beginning at 6:49 p.m. The agenda was approved 5-0. The meeting featured five ceremonial proclamations, a consent calendar, general public comment, and a public hearing on the new downtown outdoor dining program. The council approved the outdoor dining program package except the fee resolution 5-0, then adopted the fee resolution 3-2.

Ceremonial Proclamations

• Recognized October 14, 2024, as Indigenous People’s Day. Recipients included James Kinter (Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation), Najona Ellenwood (president of the Davis Joint Unified School District Native Parent Group and Title VI program), Jade Kinter, Gabby Avila, and Professor Jesus Vaye. Speakers thanked the council and mentioned the new K-12 Native resource center in Davis.
• Recognized October 2024 as Filipino American History Month. Recipient Charlie Villanueva, a Davis High School sophomore, described the theme struggle, resistance, solidarity, and resilience, and listed local events on October 23, October 26, and October 27.
• Recognized October 2024 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Empower YOLO Executive Director Lynette Ehrlmeyer accepted the proclamation and announced a domestic violence awareness forum on October 21 at the Veterans Memorial Center, with doors at 5:00 p.m. and the program at 5:30 p.m.
• Honored outgoing Poet Laureate Julia Levine for her 2021–2024 term, including her civic poetry and the Hope River language arts program for middle school students.
• Appointed Mercedes Ibanez as Poet Laureate for 2024–2027. Ibanez read an original poem, Destination.

City Manager & Council Announcements

• City Manager Mike Webb announced that Neighbors Night Out had more than 115 gatherings, marking its 18th year.
• The Davis Fire Department open house is scheduled for October 19 at Fire Station 31, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• The Zombie Bike Parade is scheduled for October 27, with a BMX stunt show from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. and a skydiving grand finale.
• The Downtown Treat Trail is scheduled for October 31, 3-6 p.m.; Discover Davis and Dia de Muertos is scheduled for November 1, 5:30-7:30 p.m.; city offices will be closed November 11 for Veterans Day.
• No council AB 1234 trip reports were offered.
• Councilmember Neville recused herself from consent item 4E, the DBID fee item, because she pays into the district as a downtown business owner.

Consent Calendar

• Councilmember Neville asked about item 4D, the home energy score pilot project. Staff said the consultant would target 50 homes occupied by disadvantaged community members, with a mix of home ages, sizes, rental homes, and owner-occupied homes.
• The consent calendar was approved 5-0 as recorded in the transcript, with the noted recusal on item 4E.

Public Comments & Testimony

• A resident honored Jack Forbes, founder of the UC Davis Native American Studies department, and noted his connection to both Indigenous People’s Day and the idea of a Davis poet laureate.
• Robert Canning of Old East Davis opposed council members accepting firefighter-union and bundled campaign contributions. He cited a Davisite post reporting over $22,000 in contributions to four of the five current council members and said three former mayors had sworn off such contributions. He urged candidates to just say no.
• Alan Miller performed a protest song and urged a no vote on Measure Q.
• A resident described being nearly hit by a car while crossing a street, said police were not responsive, and called for safer driving enforcement in Davis.
• Alan Hirsch urged the council to address toxic community dialogue, increase collaboration, build the tax base, and add downtown housing. He referenced an essay he wrote about healing Davis’s wound.
• A speaker whose family has lived in Davis since 1969 said he personally owed his life to Davis Firefighters Local 3494 and urged a yes vote on Measure Q.
• Pre-recorded comment: Connor Gorman asked the city to examine commercial rents at Oakshade Town Center and to pursue a commercial vacancy tax as a way to lower rent burdens and generate revenue.

Public hearing comments on outdoor dining:

• Alan Hirsch supported the outdoor dining program but said it missed sales-tax enforcement and tree maintenance. He asked for a downtown tree plan and for protection of pedestrian throughways.
• Alan Miller questioned the value of replacing parking spaces with parklets, mentioning roughly $70,000 per parking-space replacement, and said G Street should be reopened for traffic.
• Another speaker supported civic spaces but worried about reduced parking downtown for people with mobility and access needs.
• Connor Gorman, in pre-recorded comment, was generally supportive of businesses paying to use public space and wanted more publicly open pedestrian spaces.

Discussion Items

• Agenda item 5 was a public hearing on the downtown outdoor dining program. Staff planner Katie Ancy presented a plan to consolidate existing sidewalk, civic space, and parklet dining arrangements into one municipal code program, a fee schedule, and furnishing standards.
• The program would apply within the Downtown Specific Plan area, with a red-line geographic correction noted by staff.
• New definitions were proposed for civic space, parklet, pocket park, and urban open space.
• Sidewalk zones were explained: Zone A is building frontage, Zone B is the pedestrian thoroughfare with a minimum 5-foot ADA path and no dining allowed, Zone C is the furnishing zone, and Zone D is the parking space or parklet zone. Outdoor dining would be allowed in Zones A, C, and D.
• Businesses would enter revocable license agreements with the city. Existing agreements, encroachment permits, or no agreements would be converted to the new program by July 1, 2026, tied to the end of pandemic-era relief.
• Alcohol service, propane heaters, fire pits, and needed encroachments such as electrical connections and shade structures would be permitted under the new program.
• Proposed application deposits were $750 for basic tables and furnishings in Zones A and C or civic spaces; an additional $750 if electrical, heating, or lighting elements are added; and $3,500 for larger structures or parklets in Zones A, C, and D.
• The proposed annual renewal or conversion fee was stated as $349, although the transcript later contains $394 and $359 figures for the same fee.
• Proposed rents were $1.92 per square foot per year for Zones A and C, based on accelerated sidewalk depreciation, and $13.20 per square foot per year, or $1.10 per square foot per month, for Zone D or civic spaces, based on comparable retail rents adjusted for 25% seasonal vacancy. Staff said average downtown retail rent is about $2 per square foot per month.
• Staff projected the program could generate about $30,000 in the first year and about $50,000 after 17 to 19 existing businesses are converted.
• Councilmembers praised the program for creating consistency, predictability, and a level playing field for downtown businesses.
• Councilmember Partita asked about rents, conversion of existing structures, and fee structures. Councilmember Neville asked about enforcement and whether adopting this model prevents future use of SB 969 authority; staff said the license agreement model is enforceable and does not necessarily preclude SB 969, though administering both would be awkward.
• Mayor Chapman questioned charging rent for Zone A tables and chairs, and asked what process would apply to converting on-street parking into parklets. Staff said the city manager, rather than the public works director, would handle parklet approvals. City Manager Webb said on-street parking conversions would be treated as a high bar and would not be done lightly.

Key Outcomes

• Approved the agenda 5-0.
• Approved the consent calendar 5-0, with Councilmember Neville’s recusal on item 4E noted.
• Adopted the outdoor dining municipal code updates, CEQA findings, and furnishing standards resolution by a 5-0 vote, after the fee resolution was separated into a second motion.
• Adopted the resolution establishing outdoor dining fees and rents as written by a 3-2 vote. Mayor Chapman voted no because he opposed charging rent for Zone A and wanted that issue separated; the transcript records one additional no vote.
• No AB 1234 travel reports were presented.
• The next regular city council meeting is scheduled for November 12, 2024.
• Councilmember Partita requested a November update on Crisis Now and on the $1.1 million set aside that must be encumbered by the end of the calendar year.