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Press Release
June 26, 2024
For more information, contact:
Daniela Ades, dades@greenbelt.org
Solano Together Welcomes Board of Supervisors' Unanimous Decision To Call For Impact Study on East Solano Plan’s Initiative
FAIRFIELD - Solano Together is pleased with the Board of Supervisors’ unanimous decision to call for additional studies (CA EC 9111) into the impacts of California Forever’s East Solano Plan on Tuesday.
After almost three hours of presentations, public comments, and deliberation, where approximately 100 people shared 1-minute comments, the Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 for option #3 to “order a report on the initiative petition to be submitted within 30 days.”
“The Supervisors made the right decision, as there are still more questions than answers when it comes to California Forever’s plans to build an entirely new community in the middle of our unincorporated, agricultural lands,” celebrated former supervisor and Solano Together’s member, Duane Kromm. “Solano residents deserve to understand the exact environmental, economic, and social impacts of a development of this magnitude if this will appear before voters in November.”
The Solano community showed up in strong numbers ahead of the Board of Supervisors meeting in Fairfield to discuss the East Solano Plan. Dozens of Solano Together members and supporters denounced their concerns over the project, highlighting threats to the Travis Air Force Base, lack of information about costs of infrastructure needs, concerns about water resources and supply, potential gridlocks to local highways, and Flannery Associate’s manipulative and deceiving process in acquiring land.
“I am not what Jan Sramek, CEO of California Forever, calls the ‘70-year old Sierra Club type’ who only cares about ‘the open space behind their house.’ I am just a regular person who does not want to see Solano County be taken advantage of by technocrats who will, for the worse, irrevocably alter our farmlands, environment, water supply, and traffic and ultimately create a Solano County where young people like me will find it increasingly expensive to live where we grew up,” said Aiden Mayhood, a 7th-generation Rio Vista resident and vocal critic of California Forever, in his public comment.
Tuesday’s decision means Solano County staff will prepare an impact report of the “East Solano Homes, Jobs, and Clean Energy Initiative"—which seeks voter approval to rezone 17,500 acres of agricultural land to incorporate a new community—and present it to the Board on July 23. This impact report will provide the first information voters will see from a nonpartisan source on topics such as the impact of this project on agricultural lands, open space, traffic congestion, existing business districts, and the fiscal impact of this project, including infrastructure costs.
While the Board’s decision was crucial for transparency and information for voters, many in the room recognized that this 30-day study was not enough to understand the deep implications of a project of this size, which could double the population size in the County and was dubbed by the County Administrator as potentially “one of the largest initial entitlement requests in California’s history.”
“A project proposal the size of what California Forever is proposing should take years of community engagement and proper environmental, economic, and social impacts reports before even considering making it to the ballot,” said Rio Vista resident Sarah Soroken.
About Solano Together: A group of concerned residents, leaders, and organizations who came together to form a coalition that envisions a better future for Solano County, focuses development into existing cities and strengthens our agricultural industry. Our work is driven by an alternative vision for Solano in the face of Flannery Associates’ claims about California Forever’s benefits—our vision is guided by local voices and perspectives. Learn more, volunteer, or join the coalition by visiting solanotogether.org
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