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| Solano County, California (April, 2024) (c) Lisa R. Pruitt 2024 |
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| Rio Vista Youth and Community Hall (c) Lisa R. Pruitt 2024 |
The campaign submitted more than 20,000 signatures but would need only about 13,000 valid ones to qualify for the ballot. If verified by Solano County’s elections office, voters will decide in the fall whether to allow urban development on land currently zoned for agriculture. The land-use change would be necessary for the development to be built.
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| Child visitors to the sales office express their desires for the new community (c) Lisa R. Pruitt 2024 |
Jan Sramek, a former Goldman Sachs trader who heads the company behind the campaign, California Forever, said at a news conference Tuesday that he heard from thousands of people who want careers and homes in the county where they grew up but can no longer afford because of high housing costs and a lack of nearby work.
I had the opportunity in early April to travel to the parts of Solano County that will be most affected if this new development moves forward. Those areas include the town of Rio Vista (population 7,360), on the Sacramento River Delta, and along the Montezuma Hills. I found Rio Vista to be a charming town with one of the most appealing (and highly utilized) small public libraries I've ever visited, among other amenities. The town also has a pharmacy that isn't part of a national chain, which I thought was pretty cool. Plus, there are small eateries and an auto body shop with a prime location on the waterfront.
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| Poster in California Forever sales office, also featured in brochures (c) Lisa R. Pruitt 2024 |
Though it was not well publicized and not on my car's GPS, I did find the California Forever office in downtown Rio Vista--having taken up residence in the city's old Vista Cinema on Main Street. Two California Forever employees were there, one who self-identified as a salesman. They are collecting wish lists for community amenities, and I took a few photos of those lists--including one from what visiting children wanted. (I list some of these at the bottom of the post).
The salesman chatted me up about the project, noting that many residents of Rio Vista support it because, currently, there is "nothing" for their grandkids job-wise and in terms of activities. If the city is built, it will provide not only jobs, but also many amenities for Rio Vista residents. The salesman said some amenities are currently available to residents of Liberty and Trilogy, two nearby planned communities, but that the new city will make facilities and amenities available to those living in nearby Rio Vista.
I raised with the salesman the issue of the lawsuit California Forever brought against some area landowners who had refused to sell and been accused of price-fixing. He said those sued by California Forever were not family farmers but instead were large corporate farms--basically "BigAg." I disputed that based on my personal acquaintance with one of those land-owning families.
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| California Forever Sales Office in Rio vista in former Vista Theatre (c) Lisa R. Pruitt 2024 |
At the end of my visit, the salesman asked me if I was on board with the project, and I told him I was still undecided, but generally skeptical. I'd already explained to him that I didn't live in Solano County and so could not vote on the anticipated ballot initiative.
Here are some bullet points/highlights from the brochure I picked up at the California Forever sales office.
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| Windborn Church, Main Street (c) Lisa R. Pruitt |
The farmland in "East Solano County today" is "Rated among the worst for agriculture in all of Solano County." (I wonder about the quality of that farm land generally, in comparison to
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| Auto Repair in Rio Vista (c) Lisa R. Pruitt 2024 |
- The community California Forever wishes to build is a "new future for East Solano County, a new community for all of us."
- "Middle-class neighborhoods. Safe, walkable, and affordable. $400 million in downpayment assistance for Solano County residents."
- "Good local new jobs. 15,000 new local jobs in manufacturing, services and technology paying $88,000 a year or more"
- "Parks and green space. 4,000 acres of park, trails and habitats. The project affects less than 2% of Solano County's current agricultural production."
- "Rio Vista Parkland. A new 712-acre park between the new community and Rio Vista."
- "Downtowns. Major offices, entertainment, arts, shops, cafes, locally owned restaurants, apartment buildings and more"
- New Employers Zone. New Manufacturing jobs and technology research labs in defense and other important industries. A way to bring new employers and the good jobs of the future to Solan County."
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| Entrance to Marina (c) L.R. Pruitt 2024 |
- Maker zones. Workshops, art studios, and ohter light industrial spaces. Also restaurants and entertainment, and loft-style homes."
- Open Space. The plan requires at least 4,000 acres of parks and open spaces aligned with natural features, distributed across the new community, programmed with a variety of playgrounds, parks, and shared spaces for all ages and activities.
- Solar sheep are happy sheep. Solar panels and grazing sheep make for great friends. The sheep happily eat the grass, greatly reducing wildfire hazards and keeping weeks off the solar panels, as well as creating income for sheep farmers so they to rely less on meat sales. The shade from the panels help the sheep stay cooler, rest more and experience less heat stress. (This one incudes a reference: New Scientist Magazine 2/1/2023)
- Solano Jobs Guarantee. All new community growth beyond 50K residents is frozen, unless the new community creates at least 15K new jobs. And each new job must be a good job, paying at least 125% of the average wage in Solano County (about $88K a year today).
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| Sign at Montezuma Hills area along Highway 12 (c) Lisa R. Pruitt 2024 |
- Solano Homes for All. We will provide $400 million to help Solano residents buy home sin the new community, and to build more affordable homes. If $300 million is allocated to down payment assistance, that's enough to help 6K Solano families buy homes with a $50K each down payment grant.
- Solano Scholarships. The new community will bring good new jobs. To prepare, we will provide $70 million in funing to help Solano residents pay for vocational training, college, or to start or expand a small business.
Riverview Middle School
Rio Vista, California
Lisa R. Pruitt 2024 - Green Solano. We are providing $80 million in community-benefits funding for public parks and trails, open space and natural habitats. This funding will also help support Solano's agriculture economy, including family farms and workers. We are exciting to work with the Solano community to help identify priorities for this funding, to nurture our county's strong connections to its lands.
- Solano Downtowns. We believe in investing in all areas of Solano--both in the new community in East Solano and in Solano's existing cities. Why not just invest in existing cities? We need more room for homes families can afford and for new industries. We will provide $200 million in new investment in building and renovating homes, offices, shops, and other mixed use projects in the downtown areas of Benicia, Dixon, Fairfield, Rio Vista, Suisun City, Vacaville, and Vallejo.
- Smart Growth Guarantee. Our initial commitments are to provide $500 million in community-benefits funding and $200 million for investments in Solano Downtowns over the build-out towards $50,000 residents. But our commitment to Solano does not end there. If our community grow beyond 50,000 residents, all of these financial commitments will continue to scale up in proportion to the growth of our community. We are excited to grow with Solano, and be a good neighbor for generations to come.
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| Downtown Rio Vista (c) Lisa R. Pruitt 2024 |
- Transportation Guarantee. We will provide right of way for upgrades for Highway 12 and 113, including the Rio Vista and Dixon bypass, and we will pay above our proportionate share to fund these upgrades.
- Schools Guarantee. We are required to ensure that new schools are ready in our new community when first residents move in. That way parens and teachers an be sure that existing schools are not overly burdened with new students. Our schools remain in the existing school districts, but we will ensure that new schools are ready by the time the first children move in. We want the new community to be a big win for public education in Solano County.
- Solano Taxpayer Guarantee. We will pay our own way through the significant tax revenue we will generate as the new city gains residents. The initiative guarantees no new cost to Solano taxpayers, except to those new residents who live in the new community.
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| Wind turbines and gravel road running South from Highway 12 between I-80 & Rio Vista area known as Montezuma Hills (c) Lisa R. Pruitt 2024 |
Among the items on the crowd-sourced list of amenities folks had written on giant note pads in the sales office
- Music events, dining destinations, emphasis on nature in the community
- Affordable housing--not market rate
- Smart growth
- Movie theatres (good for teens)
- Let's re-create our normal!
- Medical Center
- Big Box retailers
- Preserve wetlands
- Widen Highway 12 from Suisun
- Satellite junior college campus
- Archeological recognition (Native Americans)
- Nightclub!!!
- Chain Hotel (Nice!)
- Elderly/Alzheimers dementia care facility (home) with 24/7 nurse on site
- Quality restaurants on the water front
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| Crowd-sourced list of desired amenities (c) Lisa R. Pruitt 2024 |
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