The growth of Davis is probably the biggest issue in the 2006 Davis City Council election, and the five candidates have fielded questions about growth hundreds of times at forums, on precinct walks and while campaigning at the Farmers' Market.

With the ghost of Measure X making appearances at almost every public event, candidates are explicit about where they would like to see growth, how much they'd like to see and what it was about Covell Village , the 1,864 housing-unit project that failed at the polls in November, that made it such a contentious development.

When asked, the candidates - incumbent Ruth Asmundson, farmer/bookseller Stan Forbes, university lecturer Lamar Heystek, environmental lawyer Mike Levy and student Rob Roy - all refer to two sites within the city and infill growth possibilities, but differ on how to approach growth.

Slow and steady? Absolutely nothing on the periphery? A mixture of infill and growth along the edges? Build up instead of out?

No matter the method, all agree that Davis' character and small-town feel should be preserved.

Asmundson and Levy favor a balance of growth inside and outside of the city, preserving the character of neighborhoods and providing enough houses for people who will come regardless of development. Both also wanted to see caution in any development, avoiding problems with water, traffic and potential flood hazards.

"In any desirable town, some growth is inevitable," Levy said. "The only question is on whose terms it happens. Refusing to build doesn't prevent growth, people still come. That causes unaffordable housing through scarcity, an aging population, and school closures because young families are outpriced, declining infrastructure because property taxes aren't available for maintenance and/or higher taxes.

"Davis is starting to see these effects."

Asmundson also said growth is inevitable, but she favors a slow, steady rate.

"In the past, Davis has gone through spurts of rapid growth and no growth," she said. "Neither are sustainable for a healthy community. I support small increments of growth with the broadest range of housing types available.

"Infill should be the priority, but may not meet all housing-type needs of the community. Non-infill development should be considered very carefully and only if a good, long-range plan is in place to limit sprawl."

But not all non-infill growth would be subject to a Measure J vote, as was the case with Covell Village last year when voters rejected Measure X. Some sites - such as the Hunt-Wesson property on Covell Boulevard, now owned by Lewis Planned Communities, and the PG&E corporation yard on Fifth Street, still owned by PG&E - could be developed in accordance with the city's General Plan.

Heystek and Forbes, who was on the City Council when the last General Plan was completed, said the city should grow according to the General Plan until it expires in 2010.

"Rather than focusing on any one area at the start, the location and amount of future growth should be determined by the next General Plan," Forbes said. "That plan should be based on what the public wants Davis to become.

"Growth for the remaining period of the General Plan should focus on the Hunt-Wesson site. That should be developed as a mixed-use project with the housing priced to be affordable to middle-income families, $400,000 and under."

Heystek also mentioned the Hunt-Wesson site, but said he'd like to see a "clean, high-tech business park, per the current zoning," as well as market-rate housing such as townhouses and condominiums.

"When the voters defeated the Covell Village proposal, they were saying no to the kind of urban sprawl that peripheral subdivisions represent," Heystek said. "I prefer to focus on meeting our housing needs in the next four years through smart infill housing, particularly in the downtown area."

The PG&E property, Heystek said, could be the site of affordable, small housing close to downtown, stimulating retail activity there.

Roy said he'd also like to see growth at Hunt-Wesson as well as a fourth fire station built by developers, but his main focus for growth was on the downtown and how high it could go.

"Downtown must continue to be the center of Davis , and that means revitalizing it even more," Roy said. "Only mixed-use buildings should be built downtown. Retail on the bottom, office space on the second floor, housing on the third and fourth, and then a few floors of parking with solar panels on the roof.

"We need to raise the story cap on buildings. There is no limit to the sky. If we build up, we will have more room for community gardens and parks."

Roy, like the other candidates, also said providing affordable housing for families is the highest priority.

"Davis must not become a miniature Los Angeles , or resemble our messily arranged neighbor city of Woodland ," Roy said. "We need to curb the declining enrollment of elementary schools by catering to families with kids.

"But above all, the people who work in Davis must be able to live in Davis ."