Land Use – Enviro Updates

California Forever pushes Newsom to ease hurdles for proposed new city

June 25, 2026

Laura Waxman & Sophia Bollag, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

Backers of the plan to build a new city in Solano County say they are in talks with Gov. Gavin Newsom over legislation that would ease regulatory hurdles for the company’s planned development of a dense, walkable city and a shipbuilding facility along the county’s waterfront.

Newsom’s spokespeople did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the Chronicle about the talks, but the billionaire-backed California Forever project has hired two longtime Newsom allies, which appears to signal that the group is serious about seeking legislation to help circumvent local opposition and curtail CEQA opposition.

In recent months, former state legislative leaders Darrell Steinberg and Bob Hertzberg have been hired to continue rebranding California Forever’s proposal to build an urban enclave in rural Solano County as a conduit for economic growth by bringing new manufacturing and shipbuilding jobs to the region.

Land Useag land, California Forever, CEQA, Delta, development, wetlands

California Forever wants a CEQA exemption for their new city

June 25, 2026

Jim DeKloe, SIERRA CLUB SOLANO GROUP

As you likely know, a group of Silicon Valley billionaires now known as California Forever secretly bought up about 100 square miles of Solano County and also sued the family farmers who wouldn’t sell to them. They say that want to build a new city on this unincorporated farmland currently zoned for agriculture. This proposal is big – 175,000 new houses and 400,000 people – it would be an Oakland/ Minneapolis/ Tulsa/ Bakersfield sized bedroom community and bigger than Cleveland, Cincinnati, Honolulu, Anaheim – it’s big. If it existed today it would be the ninth largest city in California and would be larger than the largest city in nineteen states – it’s big. And a giant city has giant environmental impacts.

Last week it became clear that California Forever is using the influence that its money buys to try to gain special treatment from the California government – they are trying to have the Governor’s Office exempt the entire project from CEQA review. And Go-Biz, the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, seems willing to do it. It’s likely that they will accomplish this by adding a rider bill to the state budget like they did last year for the advanced manufacturing exemption.

The California Forever scheme has many moving parts and it isn’t clear which parts a special interest bill would cover. Besides the 175,000 houses, California Forever’s stated plans include an industrial area called “the Solano Foundry” and the proposed Collinsville 7,500 acre boat-building facility. A group out of Texas called Saronic that makes drone boats that deliver explosives to other ships shares investors with CF. It is likely that the “shipbuilding” facility will likely go to Brownsville TX – their Commission voted this week to give Saronic a 20 year 95% tax break. And the City of Rio Vista believes that their unstated plans include a massive data center. Each of these components would have a gigantic impact on the environment, on the quality of life of existing residents, and on the continued operation of Travis Air Force Base.

Land UseCalifornia Forever, CEQA, Delta, development, wetlands

State forestry board new rules for California’s new ‘Zone Zero’ fire-safety proposal

April 23, 2026

Noah Haggerty, LOS ANGELES TIMES

CalFire Defensible Space webpage

After years of heated debates among fire officials, scientists and local advocates, California’s Board of Forestry and Fire Protection released new proposed landscaping rules for fire-prone areas Friday that outline what residents can and can’t do within the first 5 feet of their homes.

Many of these proposed rules — designed to reduce the risk of a home burning down amid a wildfire — have wide support (or at least acceptance); however, the most contentious by far has been whether the state would allow healthy plants in the zone.

Many fire officials and safety advocates have essentially argued anything that can burn, will burn and have supported removing virtually anything capable of combustion from this zone within 5 feet of houses, dubbed “Zone Zero.” They point to the string of devastating urban wildfires in recent years as reason to move quickly.

Forests, Land UseCalifornia Board of Forestry, fire safety vegetation rules, Safety Zone, wildfires, Zone Zero

Cloverdale residents demand full environmental review of proposed mega development Esmeralda

April 9, 2026

Amie Windsor, PRESS DEMOCRAT

Cloverdale leaders faced intense criticism Wednesday, April 8, as a swarm of public commenters accused the city council of failing to ensure residents and resources are safeguarded from impacts associated with a proposed mega housing and resort development on the south end of town.

More than a dozen residents demanded the council require a new environmental impact report for the proposed Esmeralda project, slated for 266 acres of vacant former industrial land.

The project, one of the largest in northern Sonoma County in decades, has been inching toward formal consideration by the planning commission and city council. But proponents with the San Francisco-based developer, Esmeralda Land Company, have advanced their vision while relying in large part on an environmental report completed 18 years ago for the Alexander Valley Resort, a different, now defunct development on the same land.

Merely amending and adding to that report is not enough, residents told the five-member council in what made for a chorus of concern Wednesday.

Land UseCloverdale, development, Esmeralda

Tracks blocked from trail takeover

April 3, 2026

Austin Murphy, PRESS DEMOCRAT

A minor legal defeat suffered by the Great Redwood Trail Agency is being hailed as a major cause for celebration among some North Bay railroad enthusiasts.

A February ruling by Surface Transportation Board, an obscure but powerful federal agency tasked with regulating the nation’s freight rail network, has, in an indirect way, breathed new life into train buffs’ hopes for a return, someday, of rail service to communities along the Highway 101 corridor from Cloverdale to Willits.

The ruling is the upshot of a legal move that began two years ago when the public agency spearheading the planning and construction of most of the 320-mile Great Redwood Trail between San Francisco and Humboldt bays filed a petition with the Surface Transportation Board. The filing related to a different section of North Coast railroad — the Mendocino Railway line, popularly known as the Skunk Train, which runs 40 miles west to east, from Fort Bragg to Willits.

The petition sought the board’s authorization for what is called a third-party, “adverse” abandonment, part of a formal step that’s been used to convert mothballed segments of the nation’s vast network of commercial rail lines into trails over the past several decades.

Land Use, TransportationGreat Redwood Trail, railroad, Skunk Train, trains

Neighbors voice concerns with planned senior housing development on Highway 12

March 25, 2026

Paulina Pineda, PRESS DEMOCRAT

The latest proposal for housing on a 69-acre expanse off Highway 12 in eastern Santa Rosa faced close scrutiny and even outright opposition from some neighbors who packed a Monday meeting to get a first look at the project.

For about an hour, the new developers and city staffers were hit with comments from concerned residents who worry adding hundreds of new residents there would worsen congestion on the narrow, two-lane highway, particularly during an emergency.

Critics also raised concerns about the project’s impact on wildlife and water resources.

The discussion held at the Oakmont Village East Recreation Center served as a first public test for affordable housing developer Burbank Housing, which purchased the property three years ago.

Burbank’s proposal calls for 275 apartments and single-family homes in a 55-and-older mixed-income neighborhood.

Land UseBurbank Housing, Elnoka/SESR, Highway 12, Oakmont, traffic, wildfire evacuation, wildlife corridor

Residents to get look at new senior development planned on long-contested Highway 12 site

March 21, 2026

Paulina Pineda, PRESS DEMOCRAT

Residents will get a first public look at the proposal during a neighborhood meeting Monday, March 23 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Oakmont Village East Recreation Center, 7902 Oakmont Dr.

Revived plans for a long-contested housing proposal on Santa Rosa’s eastern edges are wending their way through the city development pipeline three years after the property changed hands.

The new owners, affordable housing developer Burbank Housing, envision transforming the 69-acre expanse off Highway 12 and Elnoka Lane into an age-restricted, mixed-income neighborhood.

The proposal calls for 275 apartments and single-family homes and about half the property would be preserved as open space.

Burbank officials say the project would add high-quality senior housing in eastern Santa Rosa, including much needed affordable housing, to meet the needs of a growing segment of the population that is increasingly being edged out of the market by rising prices, spokesperson Stefanie Bagala said.

Land Useaffordable housing, Burbank Housing, Elnoka/SESR, Highway 12, Oakmont, senior housing, traffic, wildfire evacuation