The Sierra Club on Tuesday announced its opposition to a proposal for a new city in Solano County dubbed California Forever.
The organization characterized the project as a "clandestine possession" that ignores years of Smart Use planning and the voter approved Orderly Growth Initiative.
"They keep saying they're using the least productive agricultural land and I say well unfortunately, we're getting the least productive billionaires who are just coming up with an old style land grab," said Joe Fellar with the Sierra Club.
Flannery LLC is the corporation behind the proposal after the group of billionaires bought more than 60,000 acres of Solano County agricultural land surrounding Travis Air Force Base. Since the group disclosed its identity, the land-grab has seen harsh opposition from many.
"It's a little frightening knowing that our open space can be obliterated by the potential development with no checks and balances later," said Princess Washington, Solano County Sierra Club chair and Suisun City Mayor Pro Tem.
The Sierra Club also said Flanner's California Forever project would also impact endangered species, violate the county's smart growth plan, and harm needed agricultural production.
"We are a right-to-farm county," Fairfield Mayor Catherin Moy said. "That means a lot. Those farms and ranchers out in the area bring beef protein, not only to us, but around the country and the world. You cannot just wipe that off and think that's OK."
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California Forever CEO Jan Sramek said he is not letting critics sway him and insists the proposal will be environmentally friendly.
"According to the official Solano County conservation plan this is the least ecologically diverse area in all of Solano County," Sramek said. "This is exactly the type of project we need in California because it is minimizing human footprint and is putting people in communities that have low carbon emissions where they can walk where they have jobs close to homes."
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Meanwhile, critics said they will continue to stand together to oppose the plan.
