The company will delay taking its high-tech planned community proposal to Solano County voters to conduct an environmental impact report and work with the city on zoning changes.
The company hoping to build a tech-oriented development in Solano County, California has withdrawn a ballot measure that would have put the plan for California Forever before county voters in November, reports Adhiti Bandlamudi for KQED. “Instead, the company has agreed to work with the county on zoning changes and an environmental impact report before re-submitting the proposal to voters.”
Critics of the project question its plan to reply in part on imported water, and a county report found that the development could have a significant negative impact on the Jepson Prairie and vernal pools in the area. “Company spokespeople said those questions could only be answered after voters approved the initiative. Now, the company will have to find those answers within the next two years when it conducts its environmental impact report.”
While California Forever said the community would have no impact on other local taxpayers, a fiscal impact report by the county found that the project could lead the county into a $103.1 million deficit and require over $88 million in firefighting services from the local district.
FULL STORY: California Forever Pulls Bid to Build New City From This Year’s Ballot
Two and a Half Cheers for the Tech Billionaires
For all of California Forever's flaws, it is a litmus test: are California’s public officials and housing advocates really serious about trying to meet the Bay Area’s housing needs, or is housing for them just another series of performative gestures?
An AI-Generated Vision of a Silicon Valley Utopia
A proposed plan to build a new city in the Bay Area is light on details and heavy on idyllic renderings.
Retro-silient?: America’s First “Eco-burb,” The Woodlands Turns 50
A master-planned community north of Houston offers lessons on green infrastructure and resilient design, but falls short of its founder’s lofty affordability and walkability goals.
Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?
In Both Crashes and Crime, Public Transportation is Far Safer than Driving
Contrary to popular assumptions, public transportation has far lower crash and crime rates than automobile travel. For safer communities, improve and encourage transit travel.
Report: Zoning Reforms Should Complement Nashville’s Ambitious Transit Plan
Without reform, restrictive zoning codes will limit the impact of the city’s planned transit expansion and could exclude some of the residents who depend on transit the most.
Judge Orders Release of Frozen IRA, IIJA Funding
The decision is a victory for environmental groups who charged that freezing funds for critical infrastructure and disaster response programs caused “real and irreparable harm” to communities.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Clanton & Associates, Inc.
Jessamine County Fiscal Court
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service