By BenIndy, July 19, 2024

On June 25, 2024, the Solano County Board of Supervisors directed County staff to prepare a report on the proposed “Rezoning of 17,500 acres of Land in East Solano County to Allow the Development of a New Community” Initiative, aka California Forever’s East Solano Plan.

The report, as outlined in Elections Code section 9111, was to address several specific impacts, including “fiscal impacts, consistency with county plans, effects on land use and infrastructure, and impacts on the community’s ability to attract business,” among other topics requested by the Board of Supervisors.

The report landed today. It’s 98 pages long. And it’s a beast.

Here it is, stored on our server for your review: Rezoning of 17,500 acres of Land in East Solano County to Allow the Development of a New Community Elections Code 9111 Report. Read it, print it, study it. There’s a lot to look at.

But before we start reading, let’s first acknowledge the tremendous volume of time, energy, expertise, and resources that went into this stunningly robust report. Given the circumstances, County Staff and consultants appear to have considered a wide variety of concerns as fully as they could given the time constraints, and done a phenomenal job trying to fit a year (at least) of work into less than a month. (CA Forever’s own impact report, which produced a far rosier outlook on the development’s impacts on Solano, apparently took 6 months to put together.)

We’re astounded and grateful. Solano should be astounded and grateful. This is a level of service that speaks not just to the importance of the issue, and how high the stakes are for our collective future, but also to the qualities that demonstrate that in Solano, local governance is built on the foundation of transparency, accountability, and respect for its constituents.

Transparency, accountability, and respect. Kudos are owed to County Staff and leaders.

However, given the length and complexity of the beast, it is unlikely it will be widely read, at least in its entirety.

For that reason, the BenIndy is publishing the report’s executive summary in full, without commentary. It’s just below.

We will also be posting a few more takeaways in the coming days, which will most definitely include plenty of commentary. We’re soliciting commentary from various folks and welcome commentary from Solano residents. (benindy @ mngl . ca).

We will also be  looking at how Benicia City Staff chose to answer questions the County put to them about anticipated impacts, so we can consider how Benicia City Staff and leadership are choosing to tackle the issue. We hope to share some of  the responses produced by other cities as well.

Once more, you can view the full report here: Rezoning of 17,500 acres of Land in East Solano County to Allow the Development of a New Community Elections Code 9111 Report.

This summary has been modified for formatting purposes only. Items that were bolded in the report are bolded in this post.

Buckle in.

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

Continue reading Executive Summary of the Solano County Impact Report for East Solano Plan →

[BenIndy: Save next Tues. at 2pm to hear more about this report and share a comment before Solano’s Board of Supervisors. We are sharing more information about this and more soon.]

The initiative may lead to as much as 94,000 temporary and permanent jobs during the first and build-out phases, the county report says.

Solano NewsNet, by Matthew Keys, July 19, 2024

The Solano County Board of Supervisors will soon receive a preliminary economic impact report on the California Forever growth project known as the East Solano Plan, county officials confirmed to Solano NewsNet this week.

The impact report, set to be discussed during the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, says the plan put forward by California Forever will “create significant fiscal deficits” that will impact Solano County, including the Montezuma Fire Protection District, which provides fire services to unincorporated parts of the county between Fairfield and Rio Vista.

The first phase of the development project would create an estimated annual fiscal deficit of $5.9 million for Solano County and $6.5 million for the fire protection district, the county says in the report. The build-out phase will see the annual deficit rise to $103.1 million for Solano County and $88.8 million for the fire district.

To offset those deficits, Solano County would need to impose a tax of just under $2,000 per single-family home within the new development area, which it calls a “communities facility district.” For multifamily dwellings, the tax would be slightly under $1,000, the report projects.

Infrastructure costs associated with the East Solano Plan would top $6.4 billion for the first phase of the project and over $49 billion for the build-out phase if California Forever and its associates are not able to identify funding sources for that part of the East Solano Plan.

At least six new K-8 schools and two high schools will be needed in the development area, which will cost around $743 million to fund. During the build-out phase, the county estimates the cost of the eight schools will be $5.9 billion.

Read more at Solano NewsNet…

MORE . . .

> Get involved… Solano Together is another local organization opposing California Forever. Between now and November, you can get a yard sign from Solano Together and send Solano Together a much needed donation.

>> Join California ForNever’s Facebook Group to chat with likeminded folks, share news stories, updates, and more – and don’t forget to visit the California ForNever website to see what’s coming up, donate, purchase signs and merchandise, and more!

>> Read more… BenIndy coverage of the billionaire land grab, California Forever / East Solano Plan.