Bringing Homes, Jobs, and Clean Energy to East Solano County

This voter initiative is proposing to build a new community that brings 15,000 local jobs paying over $88,000/year, $500 million in community benefits for downpayment assistance, scholarships, and small business grants for Solano residents, and a $200 million commitment to invest in revitalizing downtowns in existing Solano cities.

To learn more:

A neighborhood street in the new community in Solano County.

A safe and walkable street with homes and apartments for sale and for rent.

Location

The new community would be built on 17,500 acres (less than the area of each of Vacaville, Vallejo, and Fairfield) of pasture lands that were rated as being the worst for agriculture and least ecologically valuable in all of Solano County. The new community entirely avoids the county's most sensitive habitats, including Jepson Prairie, Suisun Marsh, and Cache Slough.

The initiative also creates a new Travis Security Zone, by nearly doubling the size of the current buffer from 7,971 acres in the 2008 General Plan to a new total of nearly 15,000 acres, where no residential or commercial community development is permitted. Click here to read the statement by Travis Air Force Base about the plan.

On the east edge of the new community, the initiative creates the Rio Vista Parkland, a 712-acre open space that preserves the unique character of both the new community and Rio Vista, while creating a shared open space resource with parks, sports facilities, and bike paths.

The new community protects the mission of Travis AFB while providing neighboring parkland for Rio Vista.

This proposal is the result of many months of deep engagement with all communities in Solano County. We worked with the community to design something wonderful. We now look forward to working with our friends and neighbors to turn this plan into new homes, jobs, and clean energy over the coming years and decades.

Parkland in the new community with space for family gathering and hiking trails.

Ten Guarantees

The East Solano Homes, Jobs, and Clean Energy Initiative includes an unprecedented set of ten guarantees.

#1 Solano Jobs Guarantee

We will bring 15,000 new jobs to the community that pay at least 125% of the average wage in Solano County. The community won't be able to grow beyond 50,000 residents until we've fulfilled that commitment.

#2 Solano Homes for All
We will provide $400 million in community benefits funding to help Solano County residents buy homes in the new community, and to build more affordable homes. If $300 million is allocated to the downpayment assistance, that's enough to provide 6,000 Solano families with $50,000 each towards their downpayment.
#3 Solano Scholarships
To ensure Solano County residents can take advantage of new jobs created by the new community, we will provide $70 million in community benefits funding to help Solano residents pay for college, vocational training, or to start or expand a small business.
#4 Green Solano
We are providing $30 million in community benefits funding for protecting open space and natural habitats, improving public parks and trails, and supporting Solano's agriculture economy, including family farms and agricultural workers. We are excited to work with the Solano community to help identify priorities for this funding, to nurture our county's strong connection to its lands.

#5 Solano Downtowns
In addition to the $500 million in community benefit funding, we'll guarantee to invest $200 million in renovating or building homes, offices, shops, and other mixed-use buildings in downtown areas of Benicia, Dixon, Fairfield, Rio Vista. Suisun City, Vacaville, and Vallejo. Through this guarantee, we'll become a part of invigorating buildings & businesses in the many wonderful downtowns of Solano cities.
#6 Smart Growth Guarantee
Our initial commitments are to provide $500 million in community benefits funding and $200 million for investments in Solano Downtowns over the build out towards 50,000 residents. But our commitment to Solano does not end there. If the new community grows beyond 50,000 residents, all of these financial commitments will continue to scale up in proportion to the growth of the new community. We are excited to grow with Solano, and be a good neighbor for generations to come.

#7 Water Guarantee
Before the first brick is laid, we guarantee to prove water availability through the highly regulated, state-mandated process of Water Supply Assessment and Water Supply Verification. This process is regulated by the state, and requires us to prove that we have actual water we can deliver to households and employers in the new community, for many decades going forward, including during drought periods.
#8 Transportation Guarantee
We'll provide right of way for upgrades to Highways 12 and 113, including the Rio Vista and Dixon bypass, and pay more than the new community's proportionate share of cost to do those upgrades.
#9 Schools Guarantee
We guarantee that we won't just pay developer impact fees that leave school districts in a tough place, with new students overcrowding facilities. Instead, we commit to build 100% of schools for the new community's residents, in the new community, from day one. The new community will still remain in the existing school districts – we just guarantee that we will build new schools by the time the first children move in.

#10 Solano Taxpayer Guarantee

The new community will pay its own way through the tax revenue it generates. We commit that the infrastructure, public facilities, and services required to serve the new community will be constructed and operated at no cost to Solano taxpayers, except for those who live in the new community. This guarantee is built into the initiative in multiple places, and as with all of the ten guarantees, it is legally binding.

Timeline

The new community will have vibrant, walkable neighborhoods with great open spaces, thriving retail, and housing of all kinds.

November 2024 - The Ballot Initiative

In November 2024, the ballot initiative will come up for approval by Solano County voters. They will have the chance to vote for thousands of good-paying local jobs, middle-class housing options, safe & walkable neighborhoods, and many other community benefits within the ballot initiative, all secured by the 10 Voter Guarantees.

The new community will bring at least 15,000 good-paying jobs in renewable energy, manufacturing, and more.

2025/2026 – Environmental Impact Report and Development Agreement

After ballot approval, the initiative requires us to complete a full Environmental Impact Report under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and negotiate and execute a development agreement with Solano County.

During this time, the initiative also requires us to conduct a full community engagement process with Solano residents to help create the allocation, eligibility criteria, and governance for the community benefits guarantees: Solano Homes for All, Solano Scholarships, and Green Solano.

During this phase, we would also begin design work on some of the initial neighborhoods. The initiative includes strong safeguards for ongoing community input, including requiring that we publish all plans for new developments in advance, and provide venues for the Solano community to provide input on each neighborhood as it's being built.