California Forever Pulls Bid to Build New City From This Year’s Ballot

California Forever, the billionaire-backed company behind a controversial plan to build a city from scratch in eastern Solano County, announced Monday it will pull its proposal from the November ballot and bring it back to the voters in 2026.

CEO Jan Sramek said this new timeline allows the company to clarify the details surrounding neighbors’ biggest questions about the project: What will the new city really look like, and what impact will it have on the surrounding environment?

“We believe that with this process, we can build a shared vision that passes with a decisive majority and creates broad consensus for the future,” Sramek said in a statement. “We’re excited about working with the Board of Supervisors, its land use subcommittee, and county staff to make this happen.”

Since it was introduced last year, the proposal has been at the center of a heated debate over the future of Solano County.

Those in favor pointed to California Forever’s promises to add 15,000 new jobs to the county — where many residents commute outside the county for work — and vows that the new city would house 400,000 residents when fully built out. Opponents, however, feared those promises were merely a ploy to win over voters and noted the proposal did not include any legally binding guarantees.

The decision to pull the ballot measure comes ahead of the Board of Supervisors’ meeting on Tuesday, when officials were expected to submit the “East Solano Plan” to the voters this fall. 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.

“Announcing last year that California Forever would seek a vote on the November 2024 ballot, without a full environmental impact report and a fully negotiated development agreement, was a mistake,” Supervisor Mitch Mashburn said in a statement. “Delaying the vote gives everyone a chance to pause and work together, which is what is needed.”