Rio Vista City Manager expresses California Forever concerns

California Forever officials have denied concerns raised by Rio Vista City Manager Kristina Miller that the Suisun Expansion Specific Plan could become the nation's largest data center.

"Key details of the Suisun Expansion Plan are not being outwardly communicated to the public," Miller wrote in a Monday letter. "Specifically, the Suisun Expansion Plan as drafted could potentially provide zero housing and virtually no jobs, despite significant marketing of the project as a large-scale housing and commercial development project."

Miller's letter claims the Suisun Expansion Specific Plan would allow data centers in all zoning designations other than Open Space and Civic Open Space by-right without discretionary review. A table on page 58 of the Suisun Expansion Specific Plan does indicate that data centers would be allowed by right in areas zoned for Commercial Mixed Use, Neighborhood Mixed Use, Maker and Manufacturing, Industry and Technology, and Open Space Industrial. These zoning designations cover 13,410 acres, approximately 85.2 percent of the entire area of the specific plan.

A statement posted to California Forever's website on Monday disputes Miller's claims. It said the entitlement documents and Environmental Impact Report will include binding power and water consumption limits, which the company said will be "fundamentally incompatible" with the requirements of data centers.

"The idea that the Suisun Expansion could be a data center project is inaccurate," the statement reads. "We have repeatedly committed in writing and in the Suisun Expansion Specific Plan to bring tens of thousands of local manufacturing jobs and tens of thousands of attainably-priced homes to Suisun City, and we'll continue to do so through the Environmental Impact Report and Development Agreement."

The statement further notes that Miller sent a letter to California Forever on December 23, 2025, asking the company to allow Rio Vista to annex 22,873 acres of their land and move towards the LAFCO process rather than with Suisun City. Miller's letter gave California Forever a two-week ultimatum over the holidays to decide.

"Politically and fiscally, Rio Vista is stable," Miller argued in December. "There is not a recall effort in Rio Vista. Suisun City has had five different city managers in the past few years. We are politically astute."

California Forever declined Rio Vista's request in that letter on December 26, arguing that Suisun City was first to initiate discussion and that it has no other area to expand into, unlike Rio Vista, which could use the remaining land south of Highway 12.

"As a company, we are motivated to plan and execute a project with you that's as small or as large as you, the council, and the community are interested in, and we are eager to get started," California Forever CEO Jan Sramek wrote to Miller. Once you have confirmed with the landowners near Rio Vista, we discussed in my email from December 11th what their interests are. Perhaps we can schedule a meeting with you, the mayor, and our team for early January to discuss, so we can get started on planning a great Rio Vista Expansion?"

California Forever called Miller's emails in December, and this letter "attempts by a rogue City Manager to damage the legitimate exploration process of the Suisun Expansion Plan, without public approvals for such actions by the Rio Vista City Council."

"After signing a reimbursement agreement with Rio Vista earlier this year to explore expansion, in which no such concerns were raised, we had hoped to work together collaboratively," the statement reads.

Miller did not respond to a request for comment from The Reporter before this story's print deadline.

On Tuesday, California Forever announced that it has started investing in property on the Historic Suisun City Waterfront, following up on commitments made in an offer letter last June. The company will purchase 701, 707, 711, 713, and 717 Main St, Suisun City, as well as parking lots on two parcels across the street. The company made an offer and is under contract for a parcel at 721 Main St. The company will discuss these purchases with the Suisun City Council in closed session on Tuesday evening.

"If we ultimately reach an agreement with Suisun City and purchase these parcels, we look forward to planning what comes next alongside Suisun community members, city staff, and elected officials," a statement posted to the company's website read. "We hope to bring more foot traffic, homes, and local businesses to the Historic Waterfront District - a place we all know and love."

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