Travis AFB Sustainability Study Report Final Sustainability Study Report | Page 21
This section provides a profile of the local jurisdictions and
institutions within the Travis Air Force Base (AFB) Sustainability Study
(TSS) Study Area. This information can help to provide a baseline
context from which informed decisions can be made when developing
compatibility strategies. The goal is to provide information that
enables stakeholders to gain an understanding of population and
development trends that have the potential to affect the future of
Travis AFB. Further, this chapter is designed to foster an
understanding by the military about the types of activities occurring
“outside the fence” when considering future missions and operations.
Local Jurisdictions in the Study Area
The study area for the TSS focused on Travis AFB, the unincorporated
portions of Solano County near the Base, and the communities of
Solano County and the cities of Fairfield, Suisun City, Vacaville, and Vallejo.
Solano County covers over 900 square miles of land and is one of the
nine counties that make up the San Francisco Bay Area region.
Approximately 128 square miles of the county, or 14 percent of the total
land area, lies within seven incorporated cities: Benicia, Dixon, Fairfield,
Rio Vista, Suisun City, Vacaville, and Vallejo.
The City of Fairfield is located in central Solano County and the home of
Travis AFB. It is generally considered the midpoint between the cities of
Sacramento and San Francisco and is accessible via Interstate 80. It serves as
Solano County’s county seat. The city is surrounded by undeveloped or
lightly developed hills on its western and northern borders and grazing and
prairie grasslands to the east and northeast.
Travis AFB Sustainability Study Report
The City of Suisun City is in Solano County, southeast of the City of Fairfield
and west of Travis AFB. The land is characterized by relatively level
topography throughout the city. Suisun City is directly north of the
Suisun Marsh, the largest contiguous brackish marsh in the western US.
The City of Vacaville is located in Solano County, approximately six miles
north of Travis AFB. Vacaville is located on the edge of the Coastal Range
that separates California’s Central Valley from the San Francisco Bay Area.
The City of Vallejo is in Solano County, approximately 4 miles southwest of
Travis AFB. Vallejo abuts the San Pablo Bay on the northeastern edge of the
San Francisco Bay area.
Study Area Growth Trends
Population growth and related development trends in the study area remain
a significant concern to local jurisdictions seeking to balance the demand for
new housing and economic growth with natural resource and agricultural
land preservation. As development pressure continues to build due to
outward growth from San Francisco and Sacramento, Solano County has
taken active measures to protect open space through local land use, zoning,
and preservation techniques. The County’s Orderly Growth Measure
requires a citizen’s vote to approve any change on the County’s General Plan
Land use map that would change a property designated agriculture to a
non‐agricultural land use. Because of Solano County’s commitment to focus
development within urban areas, about 95 percent of the county’s
population lives in its cities Benicia, Vallejo, Fairfield, Suisun City, Vacaville,
Dixon, Rio Vista. The majority of land use in the unincorporated land area is
undeveloped natural resource land and agricultural use.
Page 7