Here is another opportunity to use the channels of public participation to learn more about and register your concerns regarding Flannery aka California Forever’s bid to build a new city in eastern Solano.
On Thursday, November 9, at 6:30 pm, the Solano County Water Agency (SCWA) Board of Directors will meet to consider continuing water supply discussions with California Forever. The topic is slated for agenda item #12.
SCWA staff have apparently recommended continuing discussions to learn more about the proposed new city. Solano activists, meanwhile, are calling for Solano residents to join the meeting and urge the Board to not support the staff recommendation – and say “NO!” to Flannery.
Unlike the Nov. 16 public hearing, it looks like Solano residents will be able to Zoom in to listen and share any concerns. Follow the instructions below at the date and time indicated to participate.
SOLANO COUNTY WATER AGENCY BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
DATE: TIME: PLACE:
Thursday, November 9, 2023 6:30 P.M.
Berryessa Room
Solano County Water Agency Office
810 Vaca Valley Parkway, Suite 203
Vacaville, CA 95688
After posting Ashton Lyle’s provocative thinkpiece on tech’s utopia obsession earlier today, BenIndy received notice from the Solano County Planning Commission of a public hearing to consider Flannery Associates LLC’s bid to transfer about 18 acres of land between adjacent lots under its ownership.
In the grand scheme of things, the 18-or-so acres to be addressed by this public hearing represent a small chunk of the vast plans Flannery Associates/the California Forever group has for the area. However, this hearing still represents an early chance to take a peek behind the curtain and get a feel for a proposed project that will likely find itself in the subject line of many public hearings for years to come.
If you’re interested in the California Forever project, consider attending either in person or by phone on November 16 (there does not appear to be an option to teleconference).
DEPARTMENT OF RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Planning Services Division
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING (Planning Commission)
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Solano County Planning Commission will hold a PUBLIC HEARING to consider Lot Line Adjustment application No. LLA-23-03 by Flannery Associates LLC to transfer 17.71 acres of land between adjacent lots under their ownership, within the Exclusive Agriculture A-160 zoning district. Both properties are entered into an active Land Conservation Contract (Williamson Act Contract No. 724). Lot line adjustments are ministerial projects; therefore, are not held to the provisions and requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) per CEQA Section 21080 (b)(1). The property is located at 2154 Anderson Road, 2.5 miles southwest of the City of Rio Vista. APN’s: 0090-190-230, 240, 250, and 0048-130-240 (Project Planner: Eric Wilberg, 707-784-6765)
The hearing will be held on Thursday, November 16, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. in the Board of Supervisors Chambers, County Administration Center, 1st Floor, 675 Texas Street, Fairfield, California.
The County of Solano does not discriminate against persons with disabilities. If you wish to participate in this meeting and you will require assistance in order to do so, please contact the Department of Resource Management at 707-784-6765 at least 24 hours in advance of the event to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to this meeting.
PUBLIC COMMENTS:
In-Person:You may attend the public hearing at the time and location listed above and provide comments during the public speaking period.
Phone:You may provide comments verbally from your phone by dialing 1-415-655-0001 and entering Access Code 2632 666 6680. Once entered in the meeting, you will be able to hear the meeting and will be called upon to speak during the public speaking period.
Email/Mail:Written comments can be emailed toPlanningCommission@SolanoCounty.com or mailed to Resource Management, Planning Commission, 675 Texas Street, Suite 5500, Fairfield, CA 94533 and must be received by 10:00 a.m. the day of the meeting. Copies of written comments received will be provided to the Planning Commission and will become a part of the official record but will not be read aloud at the meeting.
Staff reports and associated materials will be available to the public approximately one week prior to the meeting at www.solanocounty.com under Departments; Resource Management; Boards, Commissions & Special Districts; Solano County Planning Commission.
If you challenge the proposed consideration in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing described in this notice, or in written correspondence delivered to the Planning Commission at, or prior to, the public hearing.
Much has been made of the Flannery Associates’ five-year-long, $1 billion purchase of a combined 50,000 acres in Solano County. The audacity of the investors’ stunt seems to have captured the imagination of many paying attention to the intersection of California’s housing problem, the tech barons who dominate California politics, and the convoluted state of America’s local democracy.
To the credit ofthe small group of “visionaries” who make up the Flannery Associates, they have correctly identified a lack of housing supply as one of the Bay Area’s primary problems. California’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation Plan found that the region needs187,990 additional affordable units to meet demand,of which only 15.7% are planned. Flannery Associates believe they have the solution, a city planned by elites and constructed from scratch, deep in Solano County’s golden hills.
There is a belief, propagated by Silicon Valley elites, that ingenuity and purposeful design are all that stand between us and a brighter future. The Flannery Associates represent this class of tech utopians whose infamous desire to “move fast and break things” continues to impact the lives of Bay Area residents while denying locals the opportunity to contribute to decision-making. In a state whereconservatism has struggled to become a relevant political force in recent decades, this strain of tech-libertarianism has emerged as one of the strongest challenges to local democracy and California’s liberal consensus.
These tech elite seem to believe that Californians cannot choose for themselves how to develop their communities; instead, they will design and build the future for us. Their utopian ambition is increasingly common amongst the tech-baron class and seems to have only intensified as growing wealth inequality transforms the state. Tech and its most prominent advocates promise to bypass political processes, enacting significant change at the expense of voters’ input. This approach of asking forgiveness rather than permission is a tech favorite (used most memorably by ride-sharing companies and AirBnb).
A common complaint registered at this point is that our government, with its overly complicated processes and regulations, is simply too inefficient and cumbersome to enact the wishes of any group of citizens. Bold action is needed to fix the housing crisis, and Flannery Associates is certainly a group with the power to do so.
California faces a number of existential problems, including wealth inequality, the effects of climate change (especially wildfires), and a housing crisis that leavesat least 20% of our Bay Area neighbors in poverty and30,000 unhoused. The answer, however, is not to be found in the designs of any one group or individual. It is the process of democracy itself which allows the community to make its own decisions, and to build the future we decide together.
While old institutions undoubtedly suffer from bloat and stagnation, new ones, especially those championed by tech elites, are at risk of capture by moneyed interests. The hubris of a few rich men cannot be allowed to outweigh the needs of the Bay Area’s communities. Flannery Associates is just another in a long line of companies that have avoided the input of everyday people, a failure that indicates that they don’t believe they can convince a majority. If the tech barons truly believe they have the best ideas, they should face the judgment of the democratic process.
Tech continues to look for the easy way out, and they should face ridicule for doing so. These CEOs, venture capitalists, and Wall Street investors are not brave disruptors of broken institutions, but dreamers who don’t have the backbone to converse with the people they claim to champion. The democratic process is not an obstacle to progress but how we decide the best path forward, and those who aim to circumnavigate it are only concerned that their vision of the future won’t be realized exactly as they see fit.
If you go to https://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/strategicplan, or simply search for “Benicia Strategic Plan,” you’ll find a short but important online survey that the City has commissioned to help set priorities for years to come. The survey is one stage in a strategic planning process, stretching into early next year, by which we can all weigh in on where Benicia goes from here in terms of building on our strengths and tackling our challenges.
An online meeting this past Tuesday, attended by about 80 Benicians, provided a chance to discuss the planning process. We’ll have several more opportunities in the months to come. Watch for emails from and other announcements by City Manager Mario Guiliani for updates and future forums. The survey is a key component of this initiative.
But be aware:
The deadline for survey responses is November 3.
(Given the amount of time it can take for word about something like this to percolate, I’d suggest that the deadline should be extended. But let’s assume it’s set at November 3.)
The exercise takes maybe five or ten minutes to complete. It’s well worth the slight but interesting effort involved.
In taking the survey, I found myself wanting to endorse all fifteen potential answers for the “What are the things that make our community a great place to live?” question. We can only select up to five, however.
Nonetheless, there’s an opportunity to go beyond that list, under the “Other” option. I discussed the City’s waterfront setting as a significant asset that sets us apart from so many other communities.
Conversely, I wanted some more specificity regarding potential answers to the survey’s “What do you think are the top opportunities for improvement that the City of Benicia should focus on?” question. But thankfully, again, there is an “Other” option by which you can add and explain your own preferred answer(s).
Two things came to mind regarding that “Other” option:
First, I realize that we rely on Valero to some degree for jobs and other benefits, I appreciate the many fine Benicians who are its employees or retirees, and I respect the perspectives of our fellow community members who fully support it. But…
A truck drives into the Valero refinery in Benicia in July. | Rich Pedroncelli / AP.
There’s a major need to better address the massive, hazardous, longstanding air pollution violations Valero has committed, and which it didn’t tell us about for many years, while our kids, older adults and many other citizens possibly suffered health effects from potentially toxic emissions hundreds of times government limits. There are too many incidents and ongoing issues to detail here. But I’ll note that two examples of such repeated violations – at least one stretching back well over a decade – only came to light in 2022 and 2023.
Moreover, there’s nothing about Valero’s positive contributions that make them mutually exclusive with it being a better, safer neighbor. It’s the only refinery in the Bay Area that operates without a city or county ordinance geared to protecting citizen health and safety. The Texas-based corporation could do much better in partnering with the City, making its refinery here a less hazardous operation and sharing information vital to our safety and health.
The second thing that the survey brought to mind – even without specifically offering this as a potential answer – is that Benicia has the opportunity to diversify and strengthen its economy by taking advantage of potential private sector, federal and state funding to encourage manufacturing, servicing or otherwise profiting regarding wind, solar and other emerging technologies. Such initiatives would be great for local jobs and businesses, as well as our overall economic growth and health.
In a related vein, and even as we’re wary of the hazards the Valero refinery imposes or grateful for the economic benefits it brings, the facility won’t be here forever – or conceivably could be sold or altered in ways that make the need for alternative economic opportunities much more urgent. The strategic planning process, including the survey, gives us a chance to start considering such alternatives.
But those are just my quick reactions. And to be clear, the survey is about far more than such specific concerns, as it touches on parks, infrastructure, community engagement, arts and culture, festivals, policing, fire protection and a host of other matters.
So what are your thoughts? If you want to weigh in, the survey provides a great chance to offer your own goals and concerns. Yet another of its questions asks us to rank priorities; it’s a pretty thought-provoking exercise to engage in.
And again, it only takes five to ten minutes, at most.
And again, the deadline is November 3. Check it out!
Benicia resident Stephen Golub offers excellent perspective on his blog, A Promised Land: Politics. Policy. America as a Developing Country.
To access his other posts or subscribe, please go to his blog site, A Promised Land.
Here is another opportunity to use the channels of public participation to learn more about and register your concerns regarding Flannery aka California Forever’s bid to build a new city in eastern Solano.
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