One of the attractions of the City of Davis is that it still retains the beneficial qualities of a small college town with a unique and diverse living environment. In order to foster continued good community relations, the City actively promotes neighborhood associations. The Community Partnership program was formed in 1998 to assist in the development of neighborhood associations to empower neighborhoods and provide community-based services. Based on experiences nationwide, neighborhood associations make for better and safer neighborhoods.

The City currently has 17 neighborhood associations. Links to some of these groups can be found on Daviswiki. Each group has come together for different reasons. Neighborhood associations form to address various issues, such as:

• Future land development proposals
• Park improvements
• Owner occupancy vs. absentee landlords/renters
• Code enforcement issues, such as abandoned vehicles, visual blight, etc.
• Traffic/safety issues
• Social activities

A Neighborhood Association is any group of area property owners and residents working together to open lines of communication in an inclusive and collaborative manner to address issues affecting their neighborhood. A neighborhood association can be whatever the neighborhood needs. The City requires associations to be inclusive of all property owners and residents within their boundaries. A neighborhood association is not a Home Owners' Association. They have no legal powers or CC&R enforcement capabilities. They can collect dues as an option. However, dues cannot be a condition of membership.

What is the City’s role in Neighborhood Associations?

The City’s goal is to develop a partnership relationship between the City and neighborhoods to help create strong neighborhoods which reflect their needs and values. The City believes that the associations need to be formed by the residents within the neighborhood. It should not be City staff telling residents what’s important to them. The associations are expected to provide all leadership and direction to the neighborhood.

City assistance is in providing education, supporting documentation, accurate information regarding city programs and services, information on City decision making processes, assistance in finding meeting places and distributing agendas. The City will assist in coordinating City Department responses to neighborhood problems and requests in a positive and efficient manner. Davis Community Network (DCN) provides neighborhoods with assistance creating web pages and listserve at no charge.

The City’s Neighborhood Services program helps to insure that the lines of communication between the city and neighborhoods are always open. Leaders within the neighborhood will be notified of project or issues that may affect the neighborhood. A recognized Neighborhood Association will have a much stronger voice with decision-makers.

The City will provide administrative support by producing and mailing meeting agendas, and reserving city faculties for meetings at no charge.

How do I get Started?

The City will provide you with basic information about neighborhood associations and helpful guidelines for approaching and working with neighbors.

Process:

• Hold an informal neighborhood meeting to talk about organizing a neighborhood association. If there is sufficient interest to proceed, establish a core group of neighbors to discuss potential boundaries and issues to focus on. Boundaries may change over time by mutual agreement of the entire group. These meetings are generally held at one of the resident’s homes. This group needs to respect the needs of the neighborhood and the importance of being an inclusive group and listen to the whole neighborhood.
   
• Schedule a meeting with entire neighborhood, based on the availability of the group and allowing sufficient time to copy and mail flyers about the meeting. The City can assist with this process. The purpose of the meeting is to inform the whole neighborhood that a core group is interested in establishing a Neighborhood Association. At this meeting, brainstorm issues the neighborhood association would like to address.
   
• Recommend, based on comments and opinions collected at the whole neighborhood meeting, that a survey be conducted to collect information on whether neighbors want an association and what topics/issues they would like to see the association focus on. The meetings tend to be an open forum about what residents like about their neighborhood and concerns that they have that they would like to see addressed.
   
• Survey the entire neighborhood, via mailed survey, asking if they are interested in forming a Neighborhood Association and to prioritize topics/issues for the neighborhood. The City can assist with this process. The City will collect and tally the survey results and share them with the entire neighborhood . A copy of the survey results will be provided to the City Manger to share with the City Council. Based on the survey results, the core neighborhood group and City will determine if a neighborhood association is viable.
   
• Neighborhood representatives draft their own bylaws. The City will assist if requested. In some cases, one neighbor develops a draft; in other cases a committee develops a draft. At the meeting, the group should be decided who is writing the draft.
   
• Schedule and notice a meeting of the whole neighborhood to vote on establishing a Neighborhood Association, Bylaws and elect a Board of Directors to represent the neighborhoods interests. The election of officers needs to be at a noticed meeting open to all property owners and residents. A majority of the neighborhood needs to be in attendance. Those in attendance shall vote on the Bylaws and Board. There needs to be majority support for the Bylaws and Board to pass. The vote results will be reported out to the entire neighborhood. If approved, the Board will follow priorities set by the survey results.
   
• The Board of Directors can take advantage of the free web site and Listserves offered by Davis Community Network (DCN) to Neighborhood Associations.
   
• Once formed, the Neighborhood Association shall meet at least once per year. All affected residents within the association’s boundary shall be notified of the neighborhood meetings. The City can assist with this process.
   
• Some Neighborhood Associations collects membership dues to fund newsletters, social events, etc. Membership dues are optional.

For more information and assistance or if you are interested in forming a Neighborhood Association, please contact the City of Davis City Manager's Office at 530-757-5602, or cmoweb@cityofdavis.org