SMW Helps Residents Reduce Orange County Airport Impacts
In 1985 the firm negotiates an innovative settlement of litigation on behalf of Stop Polluting Our Newport and the Airport Working Group, challenging the expansion of John Wayne Airport in Orange County. The settlement establishes strict limits on the number of commercial flights, aircraft noise levels, and terminal size at John Wayne, considered to be […]
Court Halts Development of Odello Ranch in Monterey County
The firm succeeds in litigation challenging the Coastal Commission’s approval of sprawl development on Odello Ranch, a stunning rural area south of the Carmel River. (City of Carmel By-the-Sea v. California Coastal Commission (1985).)
Ninth Circuit Halts Development at Lake Tahoe
On behalf of the League to Save Lake Tahoe, the firm, together with the state Attorney General’s office, obtains a federal court injunction, affirmed by the Ninth Circuit, prohibiting the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) from issuing development permits. As a result, TRPA enters a public process to prepare a new regional plan protecting Lake […]
Bay Conservation and Development Commission Authority Affirmed
The firm represents Save the Bay as an intervenor in an appellate case affirming the authority of the Bay Conservation & Development Commission (BCDC) to hold a landowner responsible for unauthorized bay fill on its property. (Leslie Salt Co. v. BCDC, 153 Cal.App.3d 605 (1984).)
Decades After Hard Fought Battle with Developer, Park Visitors Are Beneficiaries of Settlement Agreement
With the firm’s assistance, residents of Coldwater Canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains successfully scale back a large development project, resulting in the creation of Coldwater Canyon Park. The Park is home to TreePeople’s headquarters, a nursery, conference center, amphitheater and miles of trails.
Solano County Voters Pass Initiative to Protect Agricultural Land
In 1984 the firm drafts a farmland protection initiative for Solano County, and successfully defends it in court. Measure A becomes a model for land use initiatives throughout the state.
San Francisco Releases Its Downtown Plan
The firm represents the City of San Francisco in connection with the environmental review for the much anticipated Downtown Plan, released to the public in 1983. Later, the Firm assists the City in the creation of a transferable development rights ordinance to protect its historic structures.
Protection of Open Space and Groundwater
The firm obtains an appellate ruling rejecting a constitutional challenge to Santa Cruz County’s denial of landowners’ request for rezoning, protecting open space and groundwater. (Blodgett v. Santa Cruz County, 698 F.2d 368 (9th Cir. 1982).)
SMW Helps Redevelopment Agency Complete Yerba Buena Center EIR
In 1982 the firm represents the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency in connection with the environmental impact report for the Yerba Buena Center redevelopment, including the Yerba Buena Gardens and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
SMW Becomes General Counsel to the Alameda County Waste Management Authority
In 1982 the firm is retained as General Counsel to the Alameda County Waste Management Authority, an agency devoted to sustainability and waste reduction.