SMW Thwarts Developer Attempt to Circumvent General Plan Policies for Historic Town Center
On behalf of Save Our Historic Town Center, the firm successfully challenges a massive development in the heart of downtown San Juan Capistrano that is flatly inconsistent with the City’s general plan policies for that historic area. (Save Our Historic Town Center v. City of San Juan Capistrano (2016).)
SMW Advises Orinda Throughout Wilder Development Process
The Art & Garden Center opens at the Wilder playfields in Orinda in 2016 — a substantial community amenity resulting from a Development Agreement negotiated by the firm following its successful defense of a takings case brought by the developer against the City.
Court Overturns End-Run to Subdivision Map Act
The firm prevails in the court of appeal in a case of first impression challenging Contra Costa County’s approval of a subdivision on agricultural land adjacent to Marsh Creek State Park without Subdivision Map Act compliance. (Save Mount Diablo v. Contra Costa County, 240 Cal.App.4th 1368 (2015).)
SMW Advises Orinda With Senior Affordable Housing Development Process
The firm advises Orinda in its successful 2014 collaboration with the developer of a 67-unit, senior affordable apartment complex on the City’s former library site.
SMW Advises Alameda on Reuse of Naval Air Station
In 2014, advised by the firm, the City of Alameda approves a major project for reuse of the former Naval Air Station site (Alameda Point) as a mixed-use, transit-oriented community with affordable housing and hundreds of acres of parks and open space. The project is based on the firm’s work since 1996 regarding site cleanup, […]
SMW Advises on Adoption of State’s Delta Plan
Assisted by the firm, the Delta Stewardship Council (DSC) adopts the state’s Delta Plan in 2013 to further the coequal goals of a more reliable water supply for California and protecting and restoring the Delta ecosystem while preserving the Delta as a place, and adopts amendments in 2018. The firm defends the DSC’s actions in […]
SMW Advises Cupertino on New Apple Campus
Assisted by the firm, the City of Cupertino in 2013 approves Apple Campus 2 (Apple Park), the first AB 900 project approved in California, involving the redevelopment of a 1960s business park site.
Funds Secured for Rail, Parks, and Housing in San Francisco
Beginning in 2012, the firm represents the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA) in San Francisco’s adoption of the Transit Center District Plan and associated special tax and community benefits districts for rail, housing, parks, and improvements in the Transbay neighborhood.
Agreement Enables Redevelopment of Naval Air Station Treasure Island
The firm negotiates an exchange agreement with the state, and helps defend a development plan, adopted by the Treasure Island Development Authority in 2012. (Citizens for a Sustainable Treasure Island v. City and County of San Francisco.) The approvals, authorized by legislation drafted by the firm (SB 1873), enable the redevelopment of Yerba Buena Island […]
Local Land Use Rules Upheld
The firm obtains an appellate ruling upholding the City of Morgan Hill’s land use restrictions against a claim they unconstitutionally discriminated against an individual property owner. (Arcadia v. City of Morgan Hill, 197 Cal.App.4th 1526 (2011).)