Letter: Village Farms pricing

Letter to the editor

When my voter guide arrived, I read it carefully. I spent months researching Village Farms, reading the EIR, reviewing fiscal reports, the traffic study, and speaking with people on both sides. When I saw the first bolded claim in the argument against Measure V, I knew something was wrong.

The No on V campaign claims the minimum market-rate home would cost $740,000. That is false.

The $740,000 figure comes from the BAE Urban Economics fiscal report prepared for the city. It is the estimated average price for medium-density units, not the minimum price of Village Farms homes. The No campaign printed it as fact in the official voter guide mailed to every voter.

The actual housing plan includes 360 permanently deed-restricted affordable units for income qualified very-low, low and moderate income households.

In addition, the market-rate neighborhood includes more than 1,000 homes with a wide range of attainable housing choices, including townhomes and half-plexes projected to start in the $400,000s and smaller detached homes projected to start in the $500,000s.

By comparison, Davis' median resale home price is roughly $1 million. The claim that nothing at Village Farms will be available under $740,000 is not supported by any data in any public document.

The baseline features are what voters are approving. They legally require homes across income levels. That commitment is binding, not aspirational.

When opponents misrepresent a figure from a public city report, scrutinize everything else they claim.

The source documents are publicly available. Vote Yes on Measure V.

Nathan Harper

Davis