Overview and Study Session Purpose: The General Plan Update was launched in December 2020. The project, called Fairfield Forward 2050, will set the vision and goals for growth in Fairfield for the next 25+ years. The project is currently in the land use alternatives phase. This phase focuses on working with the community to prepare, evaluate, and ultimately develop a preferred land use plan that will communicate the community’s vision for future growth and development. The preferred plan identifies the vision for what the city will look like at build-out in 20 to 30 years. In a subsequent phase, the City will identify what improvements, facilities, and amenities are needed to serve the overall vision.

During the land use alternatives phase, the council has provided direction regarding the vision for most parts of the city. The purpose of this council study session is to request direction for the vision for long-term growth and development of the city’s Cordelia area. The study session will also review the direction provided by the council for the unincorporated Suisun Valley at the June 13, 2023, study session and determine if the council wishes any changes to that direction. Staff will also ask the council any other topics or questions they want to discuss. 

Following the establishment of the long-term land use vision for Cordelia, staff will return in a subsequent phase with recommendations for various facilities to serve Cordelia's development. These include recommendations for new roadways and other circulation improvements and potential sites for schools, parks, and other needs to support the overall vision for development. 

Cordelia Vision for Long-Term Growth and Community Engagement: Following various engagements with the council and community, in Fall 2021, planning consultants Dyett & Bhatia prepared three land use alternatives for consideration. Engagement included stakeholder interviews, public workshops, online surveys, community event pop-ups, Planning Commission, and City Council meetings. Following presentations from staff and consultants, the council directed that additional engagement be conducted prior to the final consideration of the alternatives. An overview of community input from this engagement is provided below. 

Community Input: Key comments from Cordelia residents include a desire for more grocery stores and shopping opportunities; concerns about school capacity, particularly at Nelda Mundy Elementary; the need for more parks on the north side of Interstate 80 (I-80); and traffic issues, with particular focus on congestion at the intersection of Business Center Drive and Green Valley Road. Residents also noted challenges traveling between North Cordelia and South Cordelia to access grocery stores on one side of I-80 and schools on the other. Finally, residents identified undesirable, piecemeal development along Business Center Drive, resulting in a mix of land uses seen as incompatible, such as large warehouses next to housing, offices, and hotels. Certain landowners expressed interest in building housing on non-residentially designated properties during community engagement. These properties and their desired land uses are described in Attachment 1: Description of Cordelia Land Use Requests and depicted in Attachment 2: Map of Cordelia Land Use Requests. 

Feedback from the council at the June 2023 study session highlighted the need to better understand the relationship between housing and grocery store demand in making decisions about the amount of residential development to include in the vision for Cordelia. The next section provides additional information on this topic. 

Grocery Store Demand in Cordelia: Staff engaged economic consultants BAE Urban Economics and Chabin Concepts to evaluate the demand for a new grocery store in the Cordelia area. A detailed analysis is provided in Attachment 3: Cordelia Area Grocery Store Demand Analysis. Cordelia currently includes two grocery retailers, Safeway and Costco; both retailers are on the north side of I-80. Current housing development demographics indicate that these two stores serve most of the demand, with a small excess of demand for a third store. The study concludes that currently planned or approved housing would result in demand for roughly 0.58 a new, full-size grocery stores such as Safeway or Raley’s. Planned and approved projects accounted for in this analysis are listed on page 6 of Attachment 3. 

This future demand may be sufficient to attract a smaller grocer such as Sprouts. The consultants found that a new Trader Joe’s is unlikely, as the company would not want to cannibalize its own sales given the existing Trader Joe’s in the Central Fairfield area. To support a new, full grocery store, approximately 2,100 additional housing units would be required beyond planned and approved units. Thus, the Cordelia area is likely only to attract one more grocery store long-term – either a smaller store if no additional housing is planned or a full-size store if a substantial increase in planned housing is accommodated in the upcoming General Plan. 

Staff recommends identifying one or two sites for a new grocery store South of I-80, as those residents lack access to a nearby grocery store and must travel north of I-80 to access fresh food. The consultants evaluated two potential sites for new grocery stores south of I-80, which are depicted in Figure 1 below. Both sites are large enough to support a new grocery store. The planned STA freeway improvements would improve automobile access to site #2, while site #1 would be largely unimpacted by the improvements. However, the improvements may reduce the portion of site #2 that can accommodate development. 

Key questions related to grocery stores for the council to consider at the September 12 study session include: 

• Does the City Council want to identify sufficient housing sites to support a full new grocery store or approximately 2,100 housing units?
  
  • Potential housing sites are discussed in the next sub-section.
• What site or sites should be identified and preserved for a new grocery store with other retail uses? Should the City leave it up to the market to decide whether the second grocery store would be north or south of I-80, or should the City focus General Plan efforts to facilitate a grocery store south of I-80, where none currently exist?

Figure 1. Potential Grocery Store Sites South of I-80

Housing 
Driving factors for new housing include the existing and future Housing Elements, the decision on whether to support a full new grocery store, and landowner requests. 

Table 1, below, provides estimates for the number of housing units certain properties could accommodate. 

Key questions related to new housing for the council to consider at the September 12 study session include: 

Should additional sites be designated for new housing?

• Which sites above requested by property owners should be designated for new housing?
• Should additional sites beyond those requested by property owners be designated for new housing? Considering this question, note that approximately 370 - 885 houses beyond those requested in Table 1 would be needed to support a full-size grocery store. Staff can review options at the study session if the council desires to design additional housing sites.

Vision for Employment and Other Retail 

The land use alternatives prepared in 2021 propose options to facilitate new employment centers and retail along Business Center Drive. The options include 1) a knowledge hub with medical, research, and technology-oriented jobs; 2) a jobs corridor with flexible office, light industrial, and research and development; and 3) advanced manufacturing jobs; and a mixed-use corridor. These three land use alternatives are depicted in Figure 2. 

Figure 2. Business Center Drive Land Use Alternatives

Both alternatives 1 and 3 consider housing and retail for an approximately 44-acre parcel owned by the Garaventa Family at the southeast corner of Suisun Valley Road and Business Center Drive. Discovery Homes is interested in developing the property in a manner generally consistent with alternatives 1 and 3. Attachment 4: Suisun Valley Place Conceptual Site Plan provides a preliminary conceptual plan submitted by Seeno, which proposes a mix of housing and various commercial sites, including small shop and restaurant buildings, hotel, larger space that could accommodate a smaller hardware/landscape store, gas station, and multiple drive-through restaurants.

Key questions related to employment and other retail uses for the council to consider at the September 12 study session include: 

• What kinds of employment uses would you like to see along Business Center Drive? How much land would you like to reserve for those activities?
  • Should warehousing and distribution uses be allowed or not allowed along Business Center Drive? 
• Should additional land be available for warehousing and distribution uses south of I-80 near existing warehouse and distribution uses along Lopes Road?
• Should the 44-acre parcel be retained for employment and retail uses, or for mixed use including housing?
• What kinds of retail should be developed on the 44-acre parcel?  Are gas stations and fast food appropriate for this area, or should they be concentrated on the south side of I-80 in their existing locations generally along Central Way? Note that, with growing tourist interest in the Suisun Valley, the site could be considered as “gateway” for visitors to the area. A higher-end center with strong sense as a gathering place and destination that serves the local community as well as Suisun Valley visitors could be desirable, with emphasis on sit-down restaurants, brewpubs, wine-tasting facilities and entertainment as well as integrating mixed-use and/or more dense housing types. 

Review of Suisun Valley Direction
At the June 13, 2023, study session, the council identified four study areas in the unincorporated Suisun Valley to include in the General Plan Update. These study areas are depicted in Figure 3 below. 

Figure 3. Suisun Valley Study Areas Identified at the June 13, 2023 Study Session 

As directed by the council, the General Plan would reserve these areas for future study as to the City’s future role in their development. Council noted that sites on the north side of I-80 would not be annexed to the city but would potentially be served by city water in a way that supports the community’s vision for Suisun Valley. Sites on the south side could be annexed to the city to access better infrastructure needed for larger wine, food, and other beverage manufacturing.

After the June study session, Solano County staff submitted a letter to the City explaining its formal response to the four study areas; Attachment 6: August 2023 Solano County Letter. The letter highlights the County’s opposition to City annexation within Suisun Valley due to the County’s need for economic development and revenue generation for the County. The County is concerned about the four study areas and the city annexation of Nelson Hill, which could ultimately lead to “intrusion” into Suisun Valley and present issues relating to infrastructure and services. However, The County indicates in the letter that it would like to see partnerships regarding City services and infrastructure serving Suisun Valley.

Following the June study session, staff also met with representatives of the Suisun Valley Vintners & Growers Association (SVVGA). The representatives expressed a desire for future industrial-scale winemaking operations to be located on the south side of I-80. They indicated, however, a strong disinterest in the city specifying any of the four areas for inclusion in the General Plan. Rather, they prefer the City to include policy language in the General Plan directing the City to work with the County and other Valley interests to plan for the needs of the Valley, but without the City’s direct annexation of land within the Valley. 

In response to County opposition, staff will ask the council if they would like to revise their direction regarding the Suisun Valley study areas. Options include 1) keeping previous direction to identify the four areas for future study and potential City involvement; 2) following SVVGA’s suggestion to eliminating all four and including policy language in the General Plan for the City to work with Valley stakeholders as described above; 3) eliminating all four and including no language in the General Plan regarding support for City involvement in Suisun Valley; 4) eliminating one or more of the four study areas; and 5) eliminating one or more of the four study areas, and direct that specific land use designations be given in the General Plan for the rest rather than continuing to study the sites for appropriate uses. 

In reviewing the above options, the staff is comfortable removing study areas #1 and #2 north of I-80 and #4 adjacent to Nelson Hill. Staff recommends that area #3, approximately 200 acres adjacent to the Anheuser Busch Brewery, be included in the General Plan, with specific land use designation identified that provides direction as to the uses it for which it should be developed. Appropriate uses could include winemaking and related production activities and food and beverage manufacturing, with a prohibition on warehousing and distribution uses. This choice would allow the city to capitalize on existing strengths such as water supply and adjacent infrastructure and growing food production technology expertise in the region. Staff is concerned that the city will run out of industrial capacity early in the life of the General Plan. Site #3 would allow the city to continue high-value industrial development well into the life of the General Plan. 

Next Steps: In a subsequent meeting later this year, staff and consultants will return to the council with a draft preferred land use plan for final approval. The draft plan would reflect all of the direction provided by the council during study sessions in 2022 and 2023. Staff will also return with recommendations for new roadways and circulation improvements and potential sites for schools, parks, and other needs to support the overall vision for development. Following the selection of a preferred plan, staff will begin working on the Environmental Impact Report and Climate Action Plan and collaborate with Departments and Divisions across the City to update the General Plan Elements. These Elements will consist of goals, objectives, and detailed policies to address needs and achieve the community’s shared vision.