A new city has been proposed in California, and I’ve never been more captivated by a vision for the future of my home state in my lifetime. This post is part of a series I’m writing about this bold proposal.

Up until recently, the new city’s potential impact on Travis Air Force Base had been a source of questions about the project. California Forever’s holdings extend to land that borders Travis, and although the city itself will be on the opposite side of this assemblage, officials raised concerns about whether building a city in the area would interfere with the base’s operations.

To address these concerns, California Forever updated its plan to give the base more room for flight operations. These changes satisfied the base, and on February 15, Travis Air Force Base came out in support of the proposal.

I think it’s instructive to understand the background of this episode, because to make this plan a reality, over time California Forever will need to develop many more productive relationships like the one they’ve cultivated with Travis.

According to California Forever’s website, they had made the original plans in a way that "fully complied with the Air Installation Compatible Use Study published by Travis, and the Land Use Compatibility Plan published by Solano County". In a post titled Our partnership with Travis Air Force Base, California Forever walks through the considerations they took into account to protect and support Travis AFB. Here are some highlights pulled directly from that post:
  • "The New Community is located entirely outside of Accident Potential Zones."
  • "The New Community is located entirely outside of 50 dB CNEL noise contours."
  • "The Initiative nearly doubles the security buffer around Travis AFB where no residential or commercial community development is permitted." (And that's even before the changes announced on February 14.)
  • "There are fewer flights going over the New Community than over the cities of Suisun City, Fairfield, and Vacaville."
"The New Community is located entirely outside of Accident Potential Zones."
"The New Community is located entirely outside of 50 dB CNEL noise contours."
"The Initiative nearly doubles the security buffer around Travis AFB where no residential or commercial community development is permitted." (And that's even before the changes announced on February 14.)
"There are fewer flights going over the New Community than over the cities of Suisun City, Fairfield, and Vacaville."
But after the details were unveiled in January, Travis still had some remaining legitimate concerns. As a result, California Forever updated the plan to remove those remaining impacts.

The adjustments included changing the zoning to create a buffer between the base and residential zones, which included relocating industrial uses to the area closer to the base in order to separate the residential areas from the base. They also zoned the westernmost portion of the new city to only permit solar farms, battery storage, and other infrastructure such as wastewater and water treatment plants. As a further protection for Travis, the new initiative also requires Travis to accept the siting, technology, and design of these facilities.

It appears that after Travis AFB reviewed these changes, they determined that the revised proposal addressed all of their concerns, and on February 15, Travis Air Force Base came out in support of California Forever’s proposal. Their press release said "Travis AFB will be able to continue flying its full mission, including all of our operational, exercise, and local training flights consisting of multiple patterns and landings to all runways", and added that California Forever’s plan has the potential "to improve the wellbeing of our Airmen and families into the future"
Here is the old map from California Forever's original proposal published in January
Here is the new map reflecting the February 14 changes, which addressed Travis' concerns
I’m very encouraged by the constructive relationship that Travis AFB and California Forever appear to have cultivated with each other. It’s a great example of how win-win solutions can happen if both sides get creative about what’s possible. I hope California Forever is able to develop similar productive relationships with other stakeholders as it moves forward.


If you’re interested in understanding more about the new city that California Forever has proposed, here are the other posts in the series: