California Forever submits signatures for November ballot initiative

A campaign backed by Silicon Valley billionaires to build a utopian city of 400,000 people on farmland in Solano County has turned in signatures to put it before local voters this fall.

Folsom-based Flannery Associates, doing business as California Forever, has submitted more than 20,000 signatures, of which 13,000 valid signatures would qualify the initiative for the November ballot, the Associated Press reported.

If verified by Solano County’s elections office, voters will decide whether to allow urban development on land now zoned for agriculture. 

The land-use change would be necessary for the master-planned development between Travis Air Force Base and the city of Rio Vista..

Jan Sramek, CEO of California Forever, said he heard from thousands of residents who want homes and jobs where they grew up, but can no longer afford because of high housing costs and a lack of nearby work.

“They are fed up with this malaise that’s plagued California for the last 20 years with this culture of saying no to everything that has made it increasingly impossible for working families to reach the California dream,” he said at a local news conference.

The unnamed development would create a walkable downtown with thousands of homes punctuated by green space. Sramek said he expects to start with 50,000 residents within the next decade, with homes starting at $400,000. 

The median sale price of a home in March was closer to $600,000, according to Redfin.  

The controversial project is backed by such moguls as Marc Andreessen, Michael Moritz and Laurene Powell Jobs. California Forever declined to disclose how much it spent to gather the signatures.

The proposed city faces strong opposition by elected officials and environmental groups who say Sramek’s plan is a speculative money grab that’s light on details. Sramek outraged locals by quietly buying more than $800 million in farmland, then suing farmers who refused to sell.

Reps. John Garamendi and Mike Thompson, who oppose the project, were initially alarmed that foreign adversaries or investors might be buying up land because of its proximity to the Air Force base.

“What people are really upset about are the tactics being used to obtain the goal at the end. The promise of jobs and affordable housing, that’s not a guarantee,” Princess Washington, mayor pro tem of Suisun City, told AP.  “What we’re looking at is a policy change, and overturning of our stance against sprawl development.” 

Sramek unveiled plans for the city in January, but had to amend the land-use change ballot initiative twice to address county and Air Force concerns. The delays haven’t slowed the project’s timeline.

The proposal includes an initial $400 million to help residents and Air Force base families buy homes in the community or for new affordable housing, as well as an initial guarantee of 15,000 local jobs paying a salary of at least $88,000 a year.

While California is desperate for more housing, critics of the project say it would be more environmentally sound to build within existing cities than to pave over designated farms. 

— Dana Bartholomew

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