The man who is spearheading plans for a Utopian city in Solano County recently met with local leaders. He is trying to ease fears and gain support for the massive and bold project.
Jan Sramek, the CEO of California Forever, says he’s slowly but surely gaining ground with local officials. He spoke to NBC Bay Area on Friday about his plans for the more than 50,000 acres of land he recently bought.
Sramek's plan to build a new Solano County city took on new meaning after he recently bought a home in the area. Now, what impacts the region will impact him too.
“As I’ve told many of the elected leaders, it’s going to be personal," he said. "I know there’s concerns about traffic. But if we caused traffic, I will be sitting in that traffic. So, it’s not going to be someone from New York or somewhere else."
Sramek said that he has been holding nearly nonstop meetings with politicians over the past week, trying to win them over and quell fears.
“I would say we’ve been delighted at the meetings. I think people are glad that we are no longer quiet about it. I’d say there’s a little more support for the idea in the community than the press makes it sound like,” he said.
Fairfield Mayor Catherine Moy met with Sramek on Friday morning. She says that he did provide more details about his plans and the obstacles he will need to overcome, including getting water to the new city.
“They are going to make things, so environmentally sound out there that they are going to use 45% less water than a normal city. So, that’s what they’re betting on and also capturing rainwater,” Moy said.
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Sramek also spoke in detail about the water use in the planned city.
“We do have both surface and ground water rights in the area. And the most important part of this is, we would be designing the community in a very sustainable way,” he said.
Among the land the group is acquiring with water rights are 2,200 acres of almond orchards they are in the process of buying.
The land is located right near the Travis Air Force Base runway. That move is raising eyebrows, but Sramek insists his project will not disrupt base operations.
“We are not looking to do anything in the Travis reserve area that would be incompatible with the mission of the base. And we are definitely not looking to put any homes or community anywhere closer to Travis, than Fairfield and Vacaville are today,” he said.
Moy says she’s going to keep close tabs on the project. She said while it was charming, she says Sramek has got a long way go to build trust. The Fairfield mayor added that Sramek did confirm he plans to be the first to live in the new city if and when it becomes a reality.
“I asked him if he was going to live in that area and he said: 'Yes, I’m going to move into the first house,'” she said.
Sramek told NBC Bay Area that he has more meeting planned with local leaders and he’s in the process of forming a community advisory board. This includes opening a Fairfield office and Sramek will be reaching out to everyone in the county with a survey in the coming weeks.
