I am one of many active seniors whose name is on the long Davis senior housing wait lists. As the years tick by, my name moves up a place or three; but, having I started at 89th on the list, my chances are very slim to nonexistent that I will move into one of these units. Having lived and worked in Davis for over 20 years, Davis is my home. I am an example of many Davisites on these waiting lists. Affordable apartments for seniors is but one component of WDAA Community.

The planners have striven to maintain the atmosphere of many Davis neighborhoods with a mixture of age groups in the planned components of the community with 325 single-story homes of various sizes, small builder lots, an activity and wellness center, and so much more.

The location is ideal — medical facilities and shopping nearby, easy access to freeways, and all in a rural setting with bike/walking trails, community vegetable garden areas, ag buffer and more.

 

Please vote for Measure L  — a new sustainable community that will enhance Davis.

Cecily Bailey
Davis

Sensible development

As a long-time resident of Davis, and one who very much enjoys our yard and landscaping, my wife and I are approaching the age where we need to seriously think about a living situation with less physical home-maintenance demands, proximity to high-quality medical care, and down-sizing our home.

 

The project proposed by Taormino & Associates, and on the ballot in November as Measure L, offers many of these features for the aging population in Davis in a range of housing prices. Moreover, from a General Plan perspective, it is a sensible development in a sensible location. As such, I support the project, and encourage a “Yes” vote on Measure L.

Robert Traverso
Former Davis city manager

Here is a rendering of the site plan for Eleanor Roosevelt Circle (DSHC Davis flagship) showing the gardens, orchards, planter beds and open space. The DSHC project at WDAAC will have a similar attractive apartment density.

Great Location for our Seniors in Need:

Next to Sutter Davis, Communicare, and the Marketplace,

WDAAC is a Winner

 

We ask you to please vote YES on Measure L to start a new life for the low income seniors in Davis who have nowhere else to go.  The wait list for senior affordable housing is 3-5 years, and there are currently 400 plus low income seniors on the wait list for affordable housing in Davis.  There were only ten openings in Davis in 2017.

 

Sheila Allen, Executive Director of Yolo County Healthy Aging, has shared, ”In five years time, when the first phase of DSHC’s affordable senior housing opens its doors at WDAAC there will be over 16,000 seniors in Davis over 55”.

 

“The Far Edge of Town is Exactly the Wrong Location for a Senior Development…” No on L Statement – September 6th, 2018.

 

The No on L group proposes no alternative to meet the coming silver tsunami. No site in downtown Davis can donate five acres to build a 150 unit affordable senior campus.

 

Neighborhood Partners (NP) and Davis Senior Housing Communities (DSHC) at West Davis Active Adult Community (WDAAC) believe the location will be an excellent place to live.  

 

In fact, the area near West Covell Blvd and Shasta Drive is already home to the most seniors in any neighborhood in Davis. Within a half mile of Sutter Davis Hospital there are already about 600 Davis seniors who chose to live at the University Retirement Community, Shasta Point, Olympic Cottages and Covell Gardens.

 

Davis Senior Housing Communities (DSHC) and Neighborhood Partners are well aware of the benefits of the West Covell DSHC site, proposed in the WDAAC neighborhood.

 

• First and foremost, this site is adjacent to the Sutter Davis Hospital, the Sutter Out-Patient Clinic, Sutter Urgent Care, and the only Emergency Room in Davis. Being just moments away from all those critical health services is critical to seniors. Except for toddlers up to one year old, seniors are the most frequent user of emergency wards.
• In addition, many of the low income seniors who will live at the DSHC campus at WDAAC will take advantage of Communicare which is also adjacent to the WDAAC site. Already, 19% of the 26,500 yearly clients of Communicare in Davis are low income seniors. Right now residents at Eleanor Roosevelt Circle have to go quite a ways to get to Sutter Davis Hospital, the Emergency Room, and Communicare or to go shopping.
• Other health, dental and hearing services are all located in the same neighborhood such as UC Davis Health and Woodland Health Care.
• The bus stop is just east of the site with frequent service by Unitrans and Yolobus. In addition DSHC will arrange for a car sharing service to be located near the property. Many of our low income seniors frequently have to go to Woodland for County services.
• Being near the Marketplace Shopping Center means having important access to Safeway and the CVS drugstore plus the restaurants, coffee shop and parcel delivery store. Safeway has a delivery service that residents’ will likely use.
• In addition, DSHC builds a Commons Market into each of the campuses. Staffed by resident volunteers, the Commons Market provides a range of food options to meet short term need without residents having to go to the store. The Commons Market also distributes free fresh fruit and vegetables from groups like Farm Davis, Local Harvest and surplus food from Panera Bread and Nugget Markets.
• As with Eleanor Roosevelt Circle, DSHC will arrange with the Yolo Food Bank to deliver twice monthly food parcels to all our eligible residents.
• Finally, with a 150 senior apartment campus we have talked with Meals on Wheels about opening a second Davis location in our community room.
• Additionally, there will be garden beds and community gardens for residents to grow their own food.
• The DSHC site overlooks the Urban Forest, is adjacent to a pocket park and walking distance to the WDAAC Neighborhood Center and its services.
• The West Covell DSHC site will be a senior campus with many amenities and community activities. Like other DSHC communities there will be on site social service coordinators and numerous programs arranged with many local nonprofits.
• Lastly, no other affordable housing site in Davis is adjoining so much open space. The DSHC site looks west onto part of a 4 acre Urban Forest, looks north onto a greenbelt and pocket park and has walking and bike paths on all four sides.  The location will have beautiful views to the west of the Vaca hills. No other Davis affordable housing site has been provided with so many green landscape elements.

 

NP and DSHC at are grateful for this affordable housing location in Davis. It will be one of the loveliest in the County and bring great pleasure to many low income seniors.  

 

Please Vote YES on Measure L to bring 150 affordable apartments to low income Davis seniors. See our efforts at https://westdavisactive.com/affordable-senior-housing/

 

On behalf of the seniors we serve and the hundreds on our waiting list,

 

We thank you,

 

Bill Powell, President, Davis Senior Housing Communities

David J. Thompson, Neighborhood Partners, LLC.

 

www.npllc.org/projects

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