Big Tech-backed plan for new California city gets pulled from local ballot

OAKLAND, California — The organizers of California Forever, a tech billionaire-backed plan to build a new city outside San Francisco, pulled their initiative from the local Solano County ballot in a surprise move on Monday.

The plan is supported by Bay Area tech investors and venture capitalists, including the co-founders of LinkedIn and Netscape, seeking to transform the wheat fields 50 miles north of San Francisco into a futuristic city.

Organizers hoped to use the ballot measure process to win approval in Solano County more quickly, bypassing much of the red tape and planning requirements typically involved in such projects. The California Forever campaign said it will continue to work on the project and return to the ballot for zoning approval in 2026.

But the withdrawal nevertheless marks a setback for a campaign that has already spent over $2 million to bypass the typical county planning process and rezone nearly 20,000 acres of wheat fields for urban development. It also shows how even campaigns with major resources can run aground in the face of local resistance, with farmers, small-town mayors and recent college graduates banding together in recent months to lobby against it.

Jan Sramek, the CEO and founder of California Forever, said pulling the ballot measure would not impact their “ambitious timeline” to build the new city. He said in a statement they were simply reordering the steps needed to complete the project to allow for more community input, while also arguing California no longer offers the same “opportunity and optimism” that it used to.

His group will now try to push the plans forward through the normal county planning process, which includes negotiating environmental impact reports and development agreements. Solano County Supervisor Mitch Mashburn said California Forever has agreed to reimburse the county for these costs.

“Delaying the vote gives everyone a chance to pause and work together,” Mashburn said in a statement. “With the ballot measure off the table, it will be far easier.”

California politicians skeptical of the project quickly applauded the move and said the county process would allow it to be properly scrutinized. Democratic Rep. John Garamendi , whose district contains Solano County, called the original plan a “pipedream” and said in a statement California Forever’s decision would ensure the community was “sustainable, transparent, and beneficial for all residents.”

State Assemblymember Lori Wilson, also a Democrat representing the area, said the plan for a new city could offer benefits to the county, but only after careful consideration.

“The initiative being pulled is the best outcome for Solano County,” Wilson said. “Now we can properly vet the full impact of the development without lingering ballot deadlines.”

California Forever organizers had tried to soften their approach to the project over the past year, including by rebranding it as the East Solano Plan, amid local resistance and skepticism. They shifted from suing farmers who refused to sell their land for the project to promising to build a state-of-the-art sports complex and new urgent care facilities in the county, among other sweeteners.

That approach seemed to be showing early returns after their plan won the support of the Bay Area Council, a business-backed public policy and advocacy organization, last week.

But local opposition groups argued Monday’s decision showed the project still had an uphill battle to win broader support.

“You can paint it a lot of different ways, as they obviously have, but they pulled their initiative because they knew they weren’t going to win,” said Sadie Wilson, whose regional Greenbelt Alliance nonprofit had led the main opposition group to the plan. “This is a major victory.”