About Us
Who are we?
The Solano County Orderly Growth Committee is a citizen watchdog group and local political action committee. It is run by long-serving local volunteers from various Solano cities. It is registered with the California Secretary of State.
What do we do?
- We support the Solano County Orderly Growth element of the county General Plan.
- We support city-centered urban growth and the protection of farm and grazing lands.
- We engage in political action.
- We support candidates for local office.
- We advocate for more public access to open space in Solano County and for a County Park District.
- We partner with local organizations to support our goals.
- We seek remedies by legal action when necessary.
Our History
The Solano County Orderly Growth Committee (OGC) was formed by citizens in 1984. John Scott Forster, Craig McNamara, and Al Medvetz, among others, were the original organizers. They were alarmed by the proposal to build a new city, to be called Manzanita, on agricultural land in eastern Solano County. Other developers were proposing another development to be called Rancho Solano on the western side of Fairfield, but not part of the city. The OGC challenged the proposals and collected enough signatures in 1984 to put an initiative on the county ballot. Measure A, the Orderly Growth Initiative, was approved by the voters. It ended both plans. (Rancho Solano was later developed as part of the city of Fairfield.)
This began the notion of orderly, city-centered growth.
The Solano County Orderly Growth Initiative has been reaffirmed by voters in two subsequent county elections. The 2007 update expires on Dec. 31, 2028. This update of the Solano County General Plan contains an Orderly Growth “element” that continues the policy of protecting county lands for agricultural and grazing uses and prohibiting urban uses there. Urban uses include city-density housing, office buildings, commercial buildings, restaurants, manufacturing, warehousing, schools and parks.
This is described in the Solano County General Plan, pages LU-31, 33 and 34. Some of the Land Use Policy highlights are:
GOALS: Promoting city-centered development consistent with longstanding County policy that “What is urban shall be municipal”; and sustaining diverse land uses that define the character and identity of Solano County.
Goal 1: Preserve and protect the current development pattern of distinct
and identifiable cities and communities.
- Policy 1: Collaborate with cities to guide development to the county’s urban centers and promote sustainable development patterns.
- Policy 2: A cornerstone principle of this General Plan is the direction of new urban development and growth toward municipal areas.
We strongly support these goals and policies.
In Conclusion
We support city-centered managed growth. We are not against growth. When cities need to grow we advocate for infill development. We support annexing land only when it is directly adjacent to cities and only when a strongly supported project cannot be built anywhere else. Generally, we believe that cities should grow up, not out.
