The City carries out its open space protection goals by setting policy and acquiring conservation easements and ownership of land from willing sellers.  The City is committed to an approach that maximizes preservation and enhancement of open space lands and resources.  An effective, direct, and equitable method for doing so is to purchase protection (easements and fee-title) at a fair market price from willing sellers.  Several fundamental principles will guide all acquisitions by the City:

1. Acquire Land From Willing Sellers Only. Acquire open space from willing sellers only.
    
2. Acquire Land Within Davis Planning Area Only. Lands or resources must be located within the Davis Planning Area to qualify for acquisition or management by the City.
    
3. Stretch the Dollar. Acquire and hold the least interest in a property necessary to carry out the City’s General Plan goals for open space protection. This means the City will be limiting its fee title acquisitions and focusing on conservation easements.
    
4. Favor Conservation Easements. Use conservation easements as the primary method of open space protection.  Purchasing only part of a property’s rights (such as development rights) protects land at a fraction of the cost of purchasing all the rights (fee title interest), thereby maximizing the acreage that can be brought into the City’s Open Space Program. Easements shall be held in perpetuity. The City co-owns 21 conservation easements with the Yolo Land Trust and three conservation easements with the Solano Land Trust.
    
5. Make Strategic Fee-Title Acquisitions. Acquire and hold fee-title to properties where protection of unique resources, restoration, or public access is desired.
    
6. Pay Fair Market Value. Acquire land at no more than fair market value, based on a professional appraisal.
    
7. Take a Balanced Approach. Balance efforts to protect natural resources with efforts to maintain agricultural production in the Davis Planning Area.
    
8. Seek Multiple Benefits. Seek protection of open space lands that overlap multiple acquisition categories.

The City seeks to protect the greatest amount of high quality open space land and resources as possible within its funding constraints.  However, despite remarkable community willingness to pay for open space protection, all undeveloped land and sensitive resources in the Davis Planning Area cannot be protected due to high land costs and multiple competing uses for the land.  In order to maximize the effectiveness of available funding, the City will use the most cost-effective open space protection tools (e.g., conservation easements) and seek to acquire open space that serves to buffer other lands from threat of conversion.

Priority Acquisition Areas

Acquisition categories identify the various types of open space lands and resources identified by the City for protection.  These categories help organize the City’s acquisition priorities by identifying the land and resource values that are desirable to the community.  They are (in no order of importance):

• Urban Fringe
  Protect land near the city limits to help define the urban limits of Davis and provide an adequate buffer between urban and rural land uses.  The conservation purpose is to protect select lands and resources at greatest risk of conversion from urban expansion pressures.  These lands are generally located in the historic path of development on the north and west edges of the City.  This priority area is linked with the City’s growth management policies encouraging infill development and coordination of university housing needs.
   
• Community Separator
  Protect land between Davis and neighboring cities to preserve the unique character of each community.  The conservation purpose is to protect lands between cities to provide a functional limit to urban expansion pressures from adjoining cities/counties.  Davis, Woodland, Dixon, and Yolo County have signed general agreements identifying separator areas and supporting land protection within the boundaries of these areas.
   
• Agriculture
  Protect prime agricultural lands and sustainable farming practices (e.g., organic agriculture) to maintain the long-term viability of agriculture in the Davis Planning Area. The conservation purpose is to protect the highest quality agricultural lands facing the greatest risk of conversion. These lands are generally located in the historic path of development to the north and west of the City.
   
• Biological and Natural Resources
  Protect important wildlife habitat, sensitive species, and other significant natural resources. The conservation purpose is to protect and enhance biologically unique areas that contribute to the viability and stability of natural communities. These lands generally contain riparian corridors, remnant oak woodlands, wetlands, or remnant grasslands.  This category includes lands that can be enhanced/restored to provide additional wildlife habitat.
   
• Scenic Resources
  Protect land providing views and scenic vistas of significant landmarks, such as nearby and distant mountain ranges. The conservation purpose is to preserve community identity through the protection of views of significant local and regional landmarks. These lands generally overlap the Urban Fringe and Community Separator areas.
   

A map showing the City’s priority acquisition areas can be found below.  If you want to learn more about the City’s decision-making process when it comes to open space land acquisitions, please read Decision-Making Process for Land Acquisitions.

Recent Accomplishments -- Acquisitions

Gill Orchard Agricultural Conservation Easements

In March 2024, the City purchased an agricultural conservation easement on 120 acres of farmland located about a half-mile from the City limits, northeast of the Mace Boulevard curve, as a permanent preserve for farmland and open space. The property is currently planted with almond trees. The City co-owns this $960,000 agricultural conservation easement with the Yolo Land Trust that will monitor the easement in perpetuity on behalf of the City. The City and the Yolo Land Trust were both interested in protecting this land because of its proximity to the City limits, its location near other protected farmland and its prime agricultural soils.

This is the second collaboration with the property owner, the Gill family, who previously sold an agricultural conservation easement on 124 acres northeast of Wildhorse to the City and the Yolo Land Trust in May 2022. The Yolo Land Trust also co-owns this easement with the City and will monitor it for the City in perpetuity.  This acquisition cost $925,000 and included a limited public trail easement along a drainage channel that abuts the property, the same channel that goes through the Wildhorse golf course.  The public access easement will be activated when the City secures legal public access from the Wildhorse agricultural buffer. 

A quarter of the purchase price for these easements was paid with funds from the City’s special open space protection parcel tax (Measure O) and open space development impact fees. The remainder was paid with grant funds from the State of California. The State's funds come from the California Strategic Growth Council’s Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation program (SALC), in collaboration with the Department of Conservation. SALC is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide initiative that puts billions of cap-and-trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy and improving public health and the environment – particularly in disadvantaged communities. 

Two maps showing where both of these conservation easements are located can be found below:

 Martin Agricultural Conservation Easement (Bretton Woods Ag Mitigation Land)

In October 2021, the City purchased the second of two agricultural conservation easements related to the agriculture mitigation requirements for the Bretton Woods project. The “Martin Easement” is 27.5 acres and is located just east of County Road 104. The City co-holds this easement with the Yolo Land Trust, and the Bretton Woods developer paid for it as required under the City's agriculture mitigation ordinance.  Bretton Woods was required to provide 135 acres of agriculture mitigation land to the City.  In addition to the Martin Easement, Bretton Woods also purchased an agricultural conservation easement on 135 acres west of the City, known as the Schuler Easement.  Some of those acres also satisfied Yolo County’s agriculture mitigation requirements, since some of the Bretton Woods project is located outside the City limits.

The Martin Easement is completely within the “agriculture” priority acquisition area, as identified in the City’s Strategic Plan for the Open Space Program.  The soil in the entire easement area is classified as Class 1, prime farmland if irrigated.

Schuler Agricultural Conservation Easement (Bretton Woods Ag Mitigation Land)

In December 2020, the City and the Yolo Land Trust completed the purchase of an agricultural conservation easement related to the agriculture mitigation requirements for the Bretton Woods residential development.  The developer of Bretton Woods paid for the easement as required by the City’s agricultural mitigation ordinance.  The easement is about 135 acres and is located west of Davis on property owned by the Schuler and Wantz families.  It currently is planted in nut trees.  About 15 acres directly adjacent to the City’s western edge is not part of the easement, along with a five-acre homestead area.  The Bretton Woods developer was required to provide a total of 169.12 mitigation acres.  The balance of the developer’s requirement will be satisfied by a second agricultural conservation easement on another property south of Davis (the Martin Easement) and in-lieu fees to Yolo County.

The Schuler Easement satisfies two of the City’s priority acquisition areas identified in the City’s Strategic Plan for the Open Space Program.  It is completely within the “urban fringe” priority acquisition area and the “agriculture” priority acquisition area.  The soil in the entire easement area is classified as Class 2, prime farmland if irrigated.

Western Addition to South Fork Preserve

In January 2017, the City purchased a 9.5-acre property west of South Fork Preserve as an expansion of the City’s open space land holdings.  The open space area is directly adjacent to the City’s existing nature preserve (South Fork Preserve), and includes about a half mile of dense riparian forest.  It is an excellent addition to the City’s open space land holdings.  A trail system has been installed so that the public can better enjoy the riparian habitat.

The property cost a total of $419,000.  About 67% of the purchase price was paid with the City’s special open space protection parcel taxes (Measure O) and 33% was paid with open space development impact fees. 

This land satisfied the “biological and natural resources” priority acquisition area, as identified in the City’s Strategic Plan for the Open Space Program.  The property’s location along the South Fork of Putah Creek provides high riparian habitat value for several sensitive species.  In addition, the land is publicly accessible and provides recreational opportunities for Davis residents.

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