Letter: After Decades of Farmland Preservation, Davis Must Now Prioritize Housing

By Ron Glick March 22, 2026

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At the beginning of the 21st century, after a period of strong growth, concerned citizens of Davis passed two major reforms to preserve farmland. The first was the Measure J ordinance that requires a popular vote to rezone agricultural land to other uses. This is the reason Measure V, which I support, is on the June ballot. The second reform was a parcel tax dedicated to the preservation of open space around Davis. 

Together, these two reforms have been incredibly successful in preserving farmland in the area directly surrounding the city of Davis. In the last 25 years, and with little acrimony or fanfare, thousands of acres of land have been purchased by the city or otherwise preserved under conservation easements. The City of Davis Open Space Commission deserves the thanks of everyone in Davis who cares about land preservation.

Most people don’t realize it, because much of the land that has been preserved is in farm production and not open to the public, but almost 6000 acres, more than nine square miles of land near Davis, has been preserved to date. In fact, and I was shocked when I learned this, the amount of land preserved exceeds the footprint of the city itself. See: https://www.cityofdavis.org/city-hall/community-development-and-sustainability/open-space-program

When these two reforms were enacted, the hope was that half the land surrounding Davis could be preserved. We have more than accomplished that goal. 

It is for this reason that I will be voting yes on Measure V in June. Davis has done a wonderful job of preserving farmland but farmland preservation can’t be the only priority of this community. We have other needs and housing is a big one. 

Under Measure V, Davis will get 16 acres with the developed infrastructure to build Affordable homes. It will also get six million dollars as seed money towards the construction of those homes. There are lots of people who would benefit if that housing gets built. Additionally the construction of market rate housing will provide much needed supply to the local and regional housing markets.

Davis should be proud of itself. We set out to preserve farmland and even taxed ourselves to do so. We have been wildly successful in that endeavor. But now it’s time we built more housing. Please join me in voting yes on Measure V.

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