Billionaires deploy brazen tactic to force through massive utopian city in California

Tech billionaires behind California Forever are attempting an end run around years of local resistance by asking Sacramento to slash environmental reviews and potentially sidestep county voter restrictions in a bid to force through their planned utopian city.The billionaire-backed development group is lobbying Gov.Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers to fast-track approvals for a massive shipyard and manufacturing hub that it says would kick-start the long-stalled project and help lure a major defense contractor before it chooses Texas instead, according to CalMatters.At the center of the push is a package of proposed legislative changes that would allow California Forever to rely on an 18-year-old environmental impact report for the shipyard, limit legal challenges to 270 days, and, if necessary, allow neighboring Suisun City to annex the land if local governments cannot move quickly enough.The company has enlisted former California Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and former Senate Majority Leader Bob Hertzberg — two Democratic architects of California’s environmental laws — to help make its case in Sacramento.Supporters argue the legislation is necessary to secure a deal with defense company Saronic Technologies, which builds autonomous vessels for national security and is deciding between California and Texas for its next manufacturing facility.In a letter sent to Newsom and legislative leaders this week, supporters warned that without legislative approval California could lose billions of dollars in investment and tens of thousands of jobs this summer to Texas and other states.California Forever has spent nearly a decade trying to transform farmland in Solano County into a new city.

Originally marketed as a walkable community featuring cottages, bike lanes and even a water park, the vision has since expanded to include a major shipyard and manufacturing center that supporters say could eventually generate an estimated 500,000 jobs across the state....