Fighting California Forever Development Project in Solano.
Since 2024, Greenbelt Alliance has been a driving force in the Solano Together coalition to oppose the “California Forever” sprawl development project and create a vibrant alternative future for Solano residents.
As a coalition of local organizations and residents, Solano Together provides educational and informative resources to voters and raises awareness about the potential impacts of the “California Forever” project on Solano’s lands, communities, and ecosystems.
Silicon Valley Tech billionaires—known as Flannery Associates’ California Forever—are moving forward with a deal to build a new community over seven miles from Suisun City’s existing city limits that would be part of Suisun City, paving over historic farmland and putting our local water supply at risk. Learn more about this background.
This massive development proposal—a new community of up to 400,000 people over 16,000 acres—threatens to develop lands near Jepson Prairie and the Montezuma Hills in Eastern Solano County, building on productive farmland and habitat, far from transit, jobs, and existing infrastructure.
This part of Solano County’s incredible, irreplaceable biodiversity, groundwater recharge, carbon sequestration, vernal pools, clean energy, and agricultural abundance. It’s home to more than 100 rare plant and animal species. Once paved over, those benefits are gone forever.
This action bypasses Solano County’s planning processes and the Orderly Growth Initiative, a component of the General Plan that has been renewed by county voters 3 times over the 40 years it has been in place.
The proposed annexation would require extensive infrastructure investment and service extension that would increase costs for existing residents for years to come. Voters in Suisun City overwhelmingly reject this proposal, but the voters’ voice is being bypassed by not transparent agreements.
For nearly 70 years, Greenbelt Alliance has stood on the front lines whenever sprawl threatened the landscapes and communities that define this region. In the face of the threat in Solano, we are called to do it again. We’ve paired our advocacy for open space protection with strong support for new climate-smart development within our existing cities and towns.
In 2008, multiple groups around Solano County, including Greenbelt Alliance, organized to support an Orderly Growth Initiative update. Originally adopted in 1984, the Initiative affirms a strategy of city-centered growth and protects and supports Solano County’s agricultural lands by preventing certain developments. Over 70% of voters supported this measure, which signaled to outside developers such as Flannery Associates that this type of proposal is not appropriate for Solano County. The Orderly Growth is set to expire in 2028, so there will need to be action by the Solano County Board of Supervisors or voters to renew the measure.
Our engagement in the Solano Together coalition and in the strategic campaign to defeat project proposals such as California Forever comes from understanding that these “broader constituencies” are essential for county and regional land-use planning.
We are working with partners such as the Orderly Growth Committee, Solano County Farm Bureau, and many more. We provide strategic, backbone, and communications support and coordination for a group of diverse partners. Now, we’re continuing to support environmentally sustainable growth and mobilize against harmful developments over six decades later. And with “California Forever,” the fight is ongoing.
Header image credit: Solano landscape by Deborah O’Grady
As an organization that sees housing as one of our best climate solutions, We have the opportunity to come together to overcome barriers to building in our seven cities rather than count on this project to bring the solutions we need when they have continuously failed to work with community members and public agencies, still have no plans to deliver income-restricted affordable housing, and have produced an initiative that has very little substance when it comes to project delivery. We need climate-smart housing solutions now, and building a new city far from jobs and transit is not how we will get there.”
As a group of concerned residents, leaders, and organizations, our coalition envisions a better future for Solano, focusing development into existing cities and strengthening our agricultural industry. Join us for updates, events, and volunteering!
Donate today help us keep going! We need your help to stop this destructive proposal and protect our precious open spaces. Your contribution today allows us to invest time and resources to protect Solano County.
Sign the Petition to Demand People Vote on the Suisun Expansion Plan!
This blog provides a snapshot of our Resilient Roots Climate Leaders network curriculum, with highlights from the Coordinator Team who are designing and leading the program.
When Greenbelt Alliance and Sustainable Solano first imagined a climate literacy program in Solano County, we envisioned young and emerging climate leaders creating tangible change in their own backyards. But to build climate leadership skills, meaningful relationships need to be forged, with shared values and a commitment to create a more resilient Solano County. Fast
