SOLANO COUNTY, Calif. — California Forever is proposing a land swap with Solano County to protect nearby Travis Air Force Base and preserve and habitats land in the area.
It's another controversial idea with the California Forever project, leaving some residents in support while others want Flannery Associates out of the county altogether.
"I wanted (to name the city) ‘sprawlburg,’ but my name for it is 'oligarch city,'" said resident Jim DeKloe. "This is the best protected farmland in the state of California and it’s no longer protected because the hyper-mega-uber-rich from outside are coming in to threaten it."
The offer comes after California Forever says they recently learned the land they own was supposed to be part of the Department of Defense's Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration program and the Solano County Habitat Conservation Plan. Sramek says they acquired the land before these plans were finalized.
If approved as currently written, 1,403 acres from public agencies would be swapped in exchange for 1,573 acres California Forever already owns. The deal also promises $1 million to the completion of the Solano County Habitat Conservation Plan.
Though their requests have been rejected by the Solano County Water Agency, the Rio Vista City Council and residents through social media, surveys and online petitions, California Forever says this land swap is in the best interest of everyone.
"We proposed this land exchange which would have been protecting Travis (Air Force Base) and protecting Jepson Prairie (Preserve), which is the highest value ecological area here," said Jan Sramek, CEO and founder of California Forever.
The proposed swap would need approval from voters in November 2024. California Forever says if the voters or officials who need to approve the swap reject the plan somewhere along the line, they will cover the legal and other costs associated with negotiations and the land ownership would stay as it currently is.
Some residents are left with a bad taste in their mouth about the project as a whole.
"Why use land surrounding an extremely important military base as a bargaining chip for California Forever’s project?" said Aiden Mayhood, a seventh generation Rio Vista resident.
A 20 year Air Force veteran with 12 years spent at Travis Air Force Base, who is also a volunteer with the Solano Land Trust and a docent at Jackson Preserve, spoke up at the county water agency meeting Thursday saying neither option is good and California Forever saying they can protect the base is “absurd.”
The Solano County Water Agency created a special group to look into the proposal. They will decide what to do during a closed door session in their Dec. 9 meeting. You can read the entire proposal they're considering HERE.
Keep up with ABC10’s coverage of the proposed new city HERE.
