SOLANO COUNTY, Calif — Flannery Associates, the company aiming to build a city in Solano County, released the data it compiled from residents on their thoughts about the county’s growth and satisfaction.
Surveys were sent out to Solano County residents in July, asking them to weigh in on forming a new city in Solano County. Flannery Associates says it would have “tens of thousands of new homes, a large solar farm, orchards with over a million trees and over 10,000 acres of new parks and open space.”
A total of 1,400 people responded to the survey through polls online, in person and over the phone. Residents consisted of people age 18 and older who speak Spanish or English. There are over 450,000 people in the county.
Results from a poll conducted July 10-16 and Aug. 20-27 show 29% of the 1,400 people polled think Solano County is going in the "wrong direction" while 39% replied "mixed."
Other data gathered through the poll shows 70% believe most kids in Solano County will not be able to afford to live in their current neighborhood when they grow up. Find the entire survey results document HERE.
The project is funded in part by a group of Silicon Valley billionaires like Linkedin co-founder Reid Hoffman, entrepreneur Marc Andreessen and Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, among others.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday he would be speaking with the group in the near future to learn more.
“I’ll be candid with you. They started a little behind in my book because of the fact that they left so much intrigue and so many questions, so there’s a lot more doubt now and a lot less trust,” he said.
Jan Sramek, California Forever’s CEO, has met with local legislators and city officials to explain the potential future of the more than 50,000 acres of land bought near Travis Air Force Base and throughout Solano County.
Representative Mike Thompson from California's Fourth Congressional District and Senator Bill Dodd met with him in August.
“Simply put, [the meeting] entailed an apology about not being transparent,” said Dodd. “I think they wish they had done things differently, but we are where we are and they've got a long way to go.”
Thompson doesn’t think there’s structure to their idea yet.
“As we talked and as I asked questions, they stated that it may be one city, that may be two, it may be three, all depending upon what they find as they move forward in the process,” he said. “I think it's safe to say they don't have a plan. They have an idea. They have a dream and maybe a vision, but they don't have a plan.”
A website has since been created with a frequently asked questions section and concept photos of the California Forever plan.
To make this a reality, the land would have to be rezoned from agricultural land to commercial/housing development zoning. The Solano County registrar says California Forever and/or Flannery Associates has not filed any paperwork to get it on the 2024 ballot.
For the change to be put on the ballot, 13,000 signatures would need to be gathered in 180 days before the Dec. 8 deadline.
ABC10 confirmed Flannery Associates LLC purchased land in other counties. We are still going through the documents to find out how much and where it's located. That information is forthcoming in another report.
