california foreverThe tech billionaire-backed project to create a new city on hundreds of acres in the Bay Area faces a number of challenges, including between the project’s backers and some of the developer’s long-time resident families in the area. legal disputes between. Want to build.
Last May, Flannery Associates, the parent company of California Forever, Prosecution of some of these families, accusing them of participating in a “price fixing” conspiracy and demanding $500 million in compensation. Farmers accuse California Forever of taking “strong tactics” to take away their land.
Now, a California judge appears to be siding with the tech billionaires. Mercury News, Sacramento Judge Troy Nalley denies landowner’s attempt to throw California Forever lawsuit out of court report on Monday. Nally claimed that messages exchanged between owners two years ago provided “direct evidence” of price-fixing practices.
The messages, which were shared in court, included text messages from one landowner to another saying they should not allow California Forever developers to engage in “bullying of the last owners.” The landowner claimed that “the remaining owners should come to an agreement on the properties we want to sell” so that California can’t “pit owner against owner.”
Nunnelli gave other examples. One email exchange involving a landowner described “overly aggressive behavior” [by California Forever] It seems to indicate that we are in a very good position and it is best not to engage with them at this time. “The owner also said: “No one suggested that we not sell, the question is when to sell and at what price. Several other major landowners in the area have largely taken their time and stayed out of the process. “
Nunelli’s refusal to dismiss the case does not necessarily mean Forever California will win the lawsuit. Allegations that California Forever sought to bully long-term residents into leaving their land set off a chain of events. Controversial town hall meeting Locals openly yelled at the project’s chief executive, Jan Sramek. Residents accuse the project developers of being untrustworthy and trying to profit from the local community.
Gizmodo reached out to California Forever for comment on the lawsuit update and will update this story if we hear back.
If the recent court ruling is good news for the project’s developers’ legal battles, it’s unclear whether it will actually help them achieve their long-term goal of creating a new city out of just hundreds of acres of Bay Area farmland. The CF Project is currently trying to convince Solano County residents Support a ballot initiative This will allow locals to vote in November. The project has been accused of tricking locals into signing a petition supporting the initiative, but the developers have denied the accusations.