The University of California, Davis is today (May 16) releasing a preliminary update to the 2017 Long Range Development Plan. This preliminary planning scenario refines the initial planning concepts shared with the community over the past six months and reflects the collaborative engagement with senior city staff and council leadership, as well as valuable community feedback regarding enrollment growth and local housing capacity. 

“The goal of the proposed plan is to keep UC Davis compact and keep people connected,” said Bob Segar, assistant vice chancellor for Campus Planning and Community Resources. Today’s update includes estimates of additional students to be housed on campus, which are published on the planning website, campustomorrow.ucdavis.edu.

Five public events are scheduled this week to engage the community and introduce the preliminary planning scenario for the 2017-27 Long-Range Development Plan, or LRDP, an update to the 2003-15 LRDP.

The 2017-2027 plan will accommodate enrollment growth on campus while promoting a compact growth pattern, creating great places for people to learn and interact, and advancing sustainability goals. 

Student housing

Since last fall, the campus planning office has engaged the greater community through a variety of events and open houses, including one co-hosted by the city of Davis. One of the main concerns voiced by the community dealt with local housing capacity for students. UC Davis planning staff have been meeting with senior city staff and council leadership since the beginning of the process to understand goals and concerns about absorbing sizable student housing growth in the Davis community.

In response and in alignment with UC Davis’ goals of community life and sustainability, the LRDP preliminary planning scenario provides capacity to accommodate an additional 6,200 students on campus — 1,550 in residence halls and 4,650 in apartments. The scenario retains Toomey Field at Fifth and A streets as an athletic facility.

In 2014-15, about 9,400 students lived on campus: about 5,500 in residence halls and 3,900 in apartments. The on-campus residents accounted for about 29 percent of the three-quarter average campus enrollment of 32,130.

With predicted enrollment capacity of 39,000 in 2027-28, the campus could see 6,870 new students and would provide on-campus housing for 6,200 of them, or 90 percent. Altogether, the campus would have space for 40 percent of the projected 2027-28 enrollment capacity.

Engaging the community

Here is the schedule for this week’s public events:

• Monday-Tuesday, May 16-17 — Coffee House (in the Memorial Union), in the westernmost dining area, on the west side of the Swirlz coffee-bakery shop, 6-9 p.m. both days. Complimentary parking in the Quad Parking Structure on Howard Way off Russell Boulevard.
• Wednesday, May 18 — Table and tent at Thank Goodness for Staff Picnic, Russell Field  along Russell Boulevard, 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m.; and table at the Davis Farmers Market, 4:30-8:30 p.m., Central Park, Fourth and C streets.
• Thursday, May 19 — Table at “Celebrate Davis,” 4:30-9 p.m., Community Park, 1405 F St. (off West Covell Boulevard).

Next steps

Over the summer, campus planning aims to study the efficacy of various transportation programs that enrich community life, reduce daily commute emissions and minimize traffic impacts, both locally and regionally.

The LRDP preliminary planning scenario precedes the environmental review process. The initial scoping meeting for environmental review is anticipated in late 2016, and the draft 2017-27 LRDP and accompanying environmental impact report are expected in 2017.