A development group backed by Silicon Valley billionaires is changing tactics in its long-running effort to build a new city in Solano County, turning to two of California’s most experienced political dealmakers as it seeks a faster path through Sacramento.
California Forever, the company behind the controversial proposal, has hired former state Senate President Darrell Steinberg and former Senate Majority Leader Bob Hertzberg, both Democrats with deep experience in state government and environmental law. The move comes as the group presses state lawmakers for expedited review of plans tied to thousands of acres it has acquired in the outer Bay Area.
The proposal has drawn statewide attention because of its scale and its potential implications for land use, housing, environmental review and economic development policy across California. The project is envisioned for an underdeveloped stretch of Solano County between Travis Air Force Base and Rio Vista, where backers have promoted the idea of a new city that could eventually rival Cleveland in size.
The latest strategy focuses less immediately on building an entire city from scratch and more on creating a manufacturing hub near Suisun City. Under the plan, Suisun City could annex land already purchased by California Forever, allowing the project to move through existing industrial planning channels and potentially shorten the approval process.
Supporters say the proposal could bring billions of dollars in investment and tens of thousands of jobs to the region. Steinberg has argued that California and Solano County must be able to respond quickly to major economic opportunities rather than let them be delayed for years by lengthy review processes.
“The state and county need the ability to say yes now to these numerous opportunities,” Steinberg said, according to CalMatters.
But the effort remains sharply contested. Environmental advocates and some local officials warn that accelerating approvals could weaken protections for open space and farmland in a region long viewed as a greenbelt between Bay Area communities and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Suisun City Councilmember Princess Washington questioned the pace sought by the developers, saying it is highly unusual for a project of this size to move as quickly as California Forever wants.
“It’s unheard of for a project to be done as quickly as they want it to be done,” Washington said.
The debate places California Forever at the center of a broader statewide conflict familiar in Southern California and the Inland Empire: how to balance the need for housing, jobs and industrial growth with environmental review, local control and preservation of undeveloped land.
For now, the project’s future depends in part on whether its political team can persuade state lawmakers to give the Solano County plan a faster route forward — and whether opponents can slow or block changes they say would come at too high a cost.
Original source: CalMatters
