Representative Experience
- Represented a city in California over several decades in connection with its oil drilling regulations, defeating CEQA and other challenges to its authority by a series of operators of the country’s largest urbanized oil field. Recently, the operators threatened litigation objecting to the City's adoption of a first-of-its-kind ordinance for the phased termination of all oil drilling activities, and a categorical exemption under CEQA was settled. Under that settlement, the closure of all wells is proceeding under a slightly extended time frame, and is now the only municipality in California to have achieved such a closure.
- Represented a temple in obtaining land use and CEQA review approvals for many projects, including the renovation of its historic main campus. Currently in the final stages of processing a project for the restoration of its camp properties in the Santa Monica Mountains, which were decimated a few years ago by wildfires and mudslides, including the proposed CEQA mitigated negative declaration.
- Represented the key dairy industry interest group in the Central Valley as the stakeholders impacted by Tulare County’s proposed set of new regulations addressing climate change and other aspects of dairy operations. We were instrumental in representing those interests during the legislative process, devising innovative means to address proposed standards. Several environmental groups challenged the regulations and the CEQA documents. We negotiated clarifications of the regulations and the CEQA documents that satisfied both the County and the environmental groups and fulfilled our dairy clients' objectives.
- Represented industrial property owners and operators in protecting existing operations in the face of the trend by multiple communities to rezone industrial land to accommodate housing. Logistics facilities have been a particular target of these actions. In a recent instance, we sidetracked a staff version of an update to its non-conforming use regulations that was unfavorable to the industrial sector and spearheaded a rewrite of the proposed ordinance adopted by the City Council, which provides flexibility for ongoing operations and tenant/operator turnover.
- Frequently advise industrial facility owners and operators in navigating and participating in reformulating the proposed adoption or application of existing or proposed policies and regulations to their operations.
- Represented an international boutique hotel chain in challenging a competitor’s proposed project, filing litigation asserting CEQA deficiencies and the failure to meet other procedural and substantive zoning requirements. The case was settled on favorable terms for our client.
- Represented a flower market in opposing a neighboring competitor’s mixed-use project incorporating residential elements that would have undermined its operations. By utilizing air quality, traffic, and other consultants to demonstrate the deficiencies in the CEQA documents and the CEQA findings, we prevailed in obtaining substantial revisions to the project through a settlement of our CEQA claims.
- Served as special counsel to the Los Angeles Coliseum Commission as to CEQA and related regulatory matters in its negotiations with the National Football League.
- Advised and represented Costco Wholesale Corporation in preparation of EIRs for its projects in La Quinta and National City, CA. Obtained approval from the respective city councils, and the projects were not legally challenged. This favorable outcome saved our client millions of dollars by avoiding potential traffic, wetlands, sensitive species, replacement of natural resources mitigation, and other requirements.
- Counseled the developer of mixed-use, 336-acre project in Chino Hills, CA in preparation of EIR, which was approved by the city council and not legally challenged. Helped the client avoid additional, costly mitigation measures or reduced density project alternatives. In addition, we persuaded the California Dept. Fish & Game (Streambed Alteration Agreement), the Regional Water Quality Control Board, Santa Ana Division (Section 401 Water Quality requirements) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Section 404 Permit) to issue the required permits. This saved the client many thousands of dollars in mitigation and project delay expenses.
- Represented the developers of the Montage Hotel site, a public-private partnership between the developer and the City of Beverly Hills, in preparation of the EIR. We addressed complex urban in-fill issues including traffic, air quality and historic resources and the EIR successfully withstood legal attack by project opponents at the trial court and appellate levels.
- Served as special CEQA counsel to the City Attorney of Huntington Beach and the city on protecting the 1,600-acre Bolsa Chica Wetlands from a substantial residential development.
- Served as special CEQA counsel to the City Attorney of the City of Industry and the city on its proposal to construct a massive waste materials transfer facility using long-haul rail to remote disposal locations.
- Advised a private developer of an approximately 600,000-square-foot industrial warehouse and distribution facility on how to address greenhouse gas emissions individually and cumulatively in the project.
- Represented the developer of a mixed-use development located on former industrial land against challenges that the development and its uses would pose a health risk to the community. Successfully worked with community groups and the local authorities to remove opposition to the project on these grounds.
- Achieved client goals in our representation of the developer of a golf course community opposed to a large-scale biosolid composting facility proposed by Waste Management. Our opposition efforts on local, regional and statewide fronts led Waste Management to abandon the project.
