Measure W to headline ballots in Davis with no opposition

The proposal has widespread support from city council members

By: COLE TAYLOR — city@theaggie.org

This upcoming November, a housing proposal known as Measure W will be on the ballot for Davis. If passed, Measure W would amend the Davis General Plan to change a land use designation that allows for the Willowgrove project to be built in Northeast Davis. The proposed project site would be next to the Wildhorse neighborhood and north of Covell Boulevard.

The Willowgrove project would have 1,250 residential units in total and include at least 250 affordable housing units. It would also include a community park with an indoor gym, a basketball court, playing fields and a playground.

Unlike previous housing proposals, no official opposition to Willowgrove has been filed. The proposal was voted on unanimously by the Planning Commission and City Council, and numerous political figures from Davis have voiced support for the project. 

Previous housing proposals have failed in Davis, including Measure V, which was voted down in June of 2026 by Davis voters. Measure V, like Measure W, would have changed the land use designation in the Davis General Plan for the creation of the Village Farms housing development in north Davis. Opposition groups, like No on Measure V, were formed and successfully lobbied against the proposal. 

The website for Yes on W, a pro-Measure W campaign, features endorsements from Davis mayor Donna Neville and multiple Davis City Council members, like former Mayor Bapu Vaitla. Cecilia Aguilar-Curry, majority leader of the California Assembly, whose district covers Yolo County, also gave an endorsement for the project.

“Yolo County’s future also depends on giving our young families a real chance to put down roots here,” Aguilar-Curry said in the endorsement. “Measure W shows we don’t have to choose. By approving Willowgrove with Measure W, we can provide much-needed family housing while offsetting twice as much prime farmland. I'm proud to endorse this Measure.” 

Of the 1,250 units, at least 20% will be designated as affordable housing, which is defined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development as when an occupant pays no more than 30% of their gross income toward housing. The affordable housing units will not utilize city loans and grants, with more than $70 million in construction costs allocated for the units.

In 2023, Davis was found to be out of compliance with state housing law for failing to create a plan to meet the housing demand by the end of the decade. Housing measures in the past have proved divisive for the Davis community, with Measure V being the most recent example. 

Additionally, the Willowgrove project will also partner with Alta California Regional Center, a private, nonprofit organization funded by the state of California that provides services for individuals with intellectual disabilities, for which the partnership plans to provide at least 20 affordable units. 

Beth Foraker, a longtime Davis resident and director of the Redwood SEED Scholars Program, a program focused on aiding people with intellectual disabilities in acquiring jobs, spoke about why she supports Measure W.

“[A]lmost no developments consider people with intellectual disability in building living because they can't pay high rents,” Foraker said. “And so, the idea that a new development, which is so needed in our town, would also include very intentionally housing for people with intellectual disability and like think of the transit needs, the job potential, the shopping needs, like all of that is really intentionally designed in this development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.”

Foraker also talked about her support for housing in general, as well as her support for Measure V in the past.

“I want young families to be able to live here, and a lot of young families are being priced out,” Foraker said. “So I was a supporter of Measure V as well, and I feel like just the more we can build housing in Davis, the more it will help our community economically thrive too.”

The Davis City Council will meet on Oct. 6 to determine whether the plans to conserve farmland by the developers of the Willowgrove project meet city standards. Ballots for vote-by-mail will be sent out starting Oct. 5, the day before the meeting. Election day is Nov. 3.

Written By: Cole Taylor — city@theaggie.org