By admin 
The future of a proposed housing development that would expand Davis’ borders remained uncertain Tuesday as Measure V was too close to call, with voters narrowly divided over the 1,800-home, 498-acre Village Farms project.
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Early results showed that a slight majority of Davis voters opposed the proposal to build the Village Farms housing development north of East Covell Boulevard.
About 51.5% of voters opposed the development, which appeared on the ballot as Measure V. The three-point difference amounted to a few hundred votes. Yolo County elections officials estimate they have about 25,000 ballots left to count countywide, including as many as 10,000 from Davis, according to a Bee analysis. The next batch of results is scheduled to be released by 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Both the city and the Davis Joint Unified School District delayed some funding and governance decisions to see how Measure V would turn out.
Measure V performed best in west and central Davis, but most precincts nearest the proposed development opposed the development, according to a Bee analysis of early-counted votes.
Davis law requires voter approval to redesignate open land as urban space, and those votes have tended to draw steep opposition from local homeowners. The city also had a slow-growth requirement that traditionally capped housing development, but it has been rendered moot by state housing laws in recent years.
The housing shortage in Davis has caused an exodus of young people priced out of the city. Supporters of Measure V said the project could help make Davis more affordable for young families whose children would attend DJUSD schools and whose property taxes could help bolster the city’s faltering revenue.
The Davis City Council approved the second half of the city’s two-year budget through 2027 on Election Day. The budget made some progress toward closing the city’s deficit, but Davis was still expected to spend more than it brought in and would not meet its 15% cash reserve target.
Growing revenue is a high priority for the city, which hired its first economic development director, Katie Yancey, in 2024. Yancey is working to identify barriers to economic growth and make Davis more competitive with neighboring jurisdictions that have more developable land and faster permitting processes.
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Developers estimate the project would generate about $1.2 billion in property-tax revenue over time.
Opponents of Measure V questioned whether the housing would be affordable or completed in time to prevent school closures, which could come as soon as fall 2028 — years before the first families would move into Village Farms.
The Davis Joint Unified School Board has been among the initative’s most enthusiastic supporters, even though school board members have typically refrained from weighing in on city matters. Board members spoke at the Measure V campaign kickoff event and at the campaign’s Election Night celebration. The district estimates that the development could bring about 1,100 students into Davis schools.
The district, which has lost more than 300 students since 2019 and expects to lose another 600 in the next five years, is planning to adjust its boundaries to match the lower student count, which would result in a loss of more than $9 million in outside funding. To address the shrinking student population and revenue, the district is considering closing schools or consolidating campuses.
DJUSD has been involved in a yearslong public process to determine how best to serve the smaller student population, but some district parents still feel their voices have not been heard. More than 1,000 parents signed an open letter to the school board advocating for greater parental involvement in school closure discussions.
The updated results expected Tuesday afternoon and the following update that will come out on Friday afternoon will be more substantial than the roughly 5,000-vote update released at the end of last week, Deputy Clerk-Recorder Katharine Campos said.
Campos said voter turnout was higher expected and more than half of vote-by-mail ballots arrived on or after Election Day. The trend mirrors what other elections offices saw in the primary, she said, as a hotly contested race for governor convinced many voters to make their decision at the last minute.
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