In Silicon Valley, plans to transform 60,000 acres of farmland into a new city for 400,000 people have been shelved by California Forever, at least for now. Jan Sramek, founder and CEO of California Forever, opted to delay the East Solano Plan by at least two years to further evaluate its environmental impact and offer clarity on the development. The delay also means the lofty plan will be taken off the ballot come November.
Mitch Mashburn of the Solano County Board of Supervisors agreed with California Forever’s decision, saying that “while the need for more affordable housing and good-paying jobs has merit, the timing has been unrealistic.” Mashburn also said that “competing reports and studies” pertaining to the East Solano Plan’s feasibility and benefits complicated the process.
Democratic Congressman John Garamendi, a critic of Sramek’s, told local reporters California Forever is a “pipe dream” that is now in a “permanent deep freeze.”
The East Solano Plan was first unveiled in September 2023, although whispers about the megalomaniacal venture started six years earlier. It would pump almost $1 billion of investment to build a 15-minute city twice the size of San Francisco. New renderings of the proposed city were released in January, as reported by AN.
Today, the site where California Forever wants to build is remote and lacks access to transportation. The corporation has since requested tax-payer funded transit infrastructure to help connect the area.
Due to the East Solano Plan’s public nature, it needs to be approved by voters. On July 23, Solano County issued a report that said the plan would require billions of dollars in infrastructure spending, raising alarm bells for some. Jan Sramek chose to delay the project not long after the report came out. In a letter Mashburn questioned how the proposed development could be funded and fully realized without overburdening the county.
The plan was supposed to be voted upon at an upcoming election in November. But California Forever withdrew it from the ballot. It will spend the next year prepping an environmental impact report and further honing the proposal with stakeholders.
Sramek said his goal is to bring the East Solano Plan to voters in 2026.
