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East
Dublin Property Owners (Dublin)
Represent group
of owners seeking annexation to City of Dublin and the development
of their properties. Critical legal tasks involving Supplemental
EIR, Williamson Act, New LAFCO law and Measure D. (Slow-growth initiative
adopted by Alameda County electorate).
Tracy
Allocation Group (Tracy)
Represent group
of over 35 developers (Surland Companies, KB Home, Pulte, Westco,
Warmington, etc.) (also represent several of developer members)
regarding several issues, including the interplay of a growth- control
initiative and their vesting tentative maps, existing and projected
wastewater and water capacity, and the City's priority system for
new development. Prosecuting several lawsuits against the City.
Carl
Berg (San Jose, Fremont)
Represent Carl
Berg regarding several development projects in San Jose and Fremont.
Work in San Jose included litigation against City regarding excessive
development conditions. We secured agreement resolving all outstanding
issues.
IKEA
of North America (Store in Emeryville/Oakland; Pleasanton)
Secured approval
of the first Northern California IKEA store in the cities of Emeryville
and Oakland (old Barbary Coast Steel site). This joint planning
and redevelopment process involved extensive CEQA, planning and
Map Act work. Negotiations over the scope of store design and traffic
improvements with both cities were involved and lengthy. Now processing
entitlements for new store in Pleasanton.
Despa
Deutsche Sparkassen-Immobilien-Anlage-Gesellshaft mbH
Represent this
German investment fund regarding the land use due diligence aspects
of its recent acquisitions of the 600 California Street, One Stockton
Street and One Union Square properties in San Francisco.
Golf
Trust (Santa Barbara)
Represent this
golf course owner regarding their Sandpiper Golf Course and Clubhouse
renovation project in Santa Barbara.
Environmental
Golf (Santa Barbara)
Represent this
golf course owner/operator regarding their Glenn Annie course and
clubhouse inGoleta (Santa Barbara County), including litigation
and administrative processes involving the scope of their clubhouse
use.
Shea
Homes/Blackhawk Rio Vista Venture Group (Rio Vista)
Represent this
4,500 residential unit/golf course project in Rio Vista. Currently
negotiating an oil and gas accommodation agreement and renegotiating
certain entitlements, including the Development Agreement I originally
secured for their predecessor in 1991.
Roddy
Ranch (Contra Costa)
Represent this
Ranch in its challenge to Contra Costa County's recent amendment
to its Urban Limit Line regulations
Last
Resorts (Napa)
Represent developer
seeking to restore and redevelop the historic Aetna Springs Golf
Course and Resort in Pope Valley, Napa County. Assisted in preparation
and qualification of local initiative to allow project, and now
assisting with litigation regarding "timing" of special election.
City
of Tracy
Represented
the City related to Development Agreement negotiations and drafting
regarding Tracy Hills development.
Black
Point Golf Links (Novato)
Represent this
Speiker Properties partnership (Black Point Partnership) in their
"re-approval" efforts regarding this very controversial project
in Marin. I provide legal counsel and strategic advice regarding
the project's very controversial CEQA, general plan, zoning, mapping,
electoral (initiative and referendum), and railroad issues. I drafted
the pro-project initiative adopted by the voters.
Buck
Center For Research in Aging (Marin County)
Special land
use legal counsel to BCRA on their research center (Alzheimer's
disease) in Marin County since late 1980's. This remarkably controversial
project (it involves animal testing) was in the planning stages
for more than five years, the CEQA process for more than four years
and the electoral/litigation processes for more than two years.
I provided extensive legal and strategic counsel regarding the drafting
and structuring of its County and City entitlements, I continue
to be the key negotiator with County, City and regional agency staff
(regarding its structuring, documentation, conditions of approval,
etc.) and I have made presentations to all of the public bodies
involved. In the process, I became a registered state lobbyist and
moved a statewide bill to assist the project. The project has involved
issues of general plan consistency, zoning, vested rights, OPR extensions,
and was the subject of a successful anti-project referendum in the
County and a successful pro-project initiative in the City of Novato
(that I drafted).
Braddock
& Logan (San Ramon; Pittsburg)
Represent developer
on several residential projects in Contra Costa County.
The
Henry Luce Foundation (Palo Alto)
Assisted The
Henry Luce Foundation with the parcelization of St. Ann's Chapel
from the historic Norris House property in Palo Alto.
Santa
Margarita Ranch (San Luis Obispo County)
Assisted Texas-based
property owner in securing first Development Agreement ever entered
into with San Luis Obispo County
ADT
Automotive (Livermore)
Represented
ADT Automotive on appeal before the Livermore City Council regarding
their highly controversial private auto auction proposal. Representation
included coordination of several community outreach meetings and
overall appeal strategy.
DivcoWest
(San Jose)
Provided land
use due diligence work to this institutional property owner/developer/manager
regarding its purchase of over 1,400 acres in San Jose's North Coyote
Valley. Also assisting with land use due diligence on several Downtown
San Jose projects.
KSL
Claremont Resort (Oakland)
Provided land
use due diligence relating to KSL's purchase of the historic Claremont
Hotel in the Berkeley Hills.
City
of Lathrop
Represented
the City of Lathrop in the drafting and negotiation of the Specific
Plan and Development Agreement relating to Califia's "Gold Rush
City," a 5,800-acre, mixed-use project proposed on the Stewart Tract
in the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta. The project will involve several
major "theme" parks, resorts, commercial, residential and recreational
uses over a 30-year buildout. Now representing City on Riverwalk
and Mossdale Landing projects.
Stanly
Ranch (Napa)
Represented
WCI, the successor to Westinghouse Communities, regarding this mixed
use project (golf course/resort/residential/commercial) on the Napa
River. The plan currently under process will allow a unique balance
of open space, wetlands preservation, resort, residential and commercial
uses.
City
of Manteca
Special counsel
to the City of Manteca on land use issues. I drafted their growth,
development agreement and sewer allotment programs, and served as
their negotiator and draftsman on several development agreements.
South
MarketPlace (Napa)
On behalf of
the Gasser Foundation and later FHK Companies, structured a phasing
approach using vesting tentative and final maps that allowed a commercial
shopping center to go forward in the face of local opposition and
a project-killing referendum and initiative. The approach secured
City Council support and was itself an adjudicatory act not subject
to referendum.
Blackhawk
(Danville)
Provide land
use counsel to Blackhawk and its many joint venture projects in
Contra Costa, Stanislaus and Solano Counties.
Hacienda
Business Park (Pleasanton)
On behalf of
Prudential Insurance Company of America, drafted the first ever
initiative proposing to adopt a development agreement by the electoral
process. With that threat, the City Council acquiesced to land use
approvals we sought on behalf of Prudential (making more marketable
their Business Park).
San
Francisco Giants' San Jose Ballpark Proposal (San Jose)
Headed up the
land use team in charge of structuring and documenting the necessary
entitlements for the San Jose Ballpark, including a special general
plan designation, zoning and vested rights approvals. The failure
of the proposed utility tax at the polls (to help fund the Ballpark)
killed this project.
American
Canyon Incorporation (Napa County)
Acted as legal
counsel to the Incorporating Committee of the now City of American
Canyon in Napa County on all aspects of the incorporation process
(LAFCO, CEQA, fiscal, etc.). Point person for entire legal and political
process.
Map
Act Advisory Group (State Assembly)
Because of my
extensive teachings on the Subdivision Map Act, I serve on a special
committee to the Assembly, proposing new legislation, and providing
recommendations on pending legislation.
Citizens
of Goleta v. Valley Santa Barbara County, 52 Cal.3d. 553 (1990)
Amici Curiae
counsel to League of California cities on now-famous CEQA case regarding
"alternative sites" analysis in EIRs.
Davidon
Homes v. City of San Jose, 54 Cal.App.4th 106 (1997)
Co-counsel in
successful CEQA lawsuit brought by developer client against City
regarding need for substantial evidence in record.
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