California’s Billionaire-Backed City Pivots After Setback

  • Company behind the development will withdraw ballot measure
  • Solano County project will first face environmental review
Flannery Road at the site of a proposed development by California Forever in Solano County, California.Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
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A group of Silicon Valley billionaires is pushing the pause button on their ambitious — and controversial — plans to build a new city northeast of San Francisco.

The company behind the effort, California Forever, will withdraw a measure on the November ballot that would have asked voters to approve major zoning changes in Solano County. Instead, the project will be subject to an environmental review and development agreement over the next two years, the company and chair of the county’s Board of Supervisors said in a statement.