SMW Attorney Teaches Land Use Law at Stanford Law School
SMW partner Andrew Schwartz is once again teaching Land Use Law at Stanford Law School for the fall quarter 2021-2022. The course focuses on the pragmatic (more than theoretical) aspects of contemporary land use law and policy, including the tools and historical/legal foundation of modern land use law; zoning and General Plans; the process of land development; affordable housing; growth […]
Trail Improvement and Joint Use Agreement
On behalf of the City of Cupertino, the firm negotiated an agreement between the City and the Santa Clara Valley Water District for the improvement and joint use of a pedestrian and bike path along Regnart Creek.
SMW Aids in the Acquisition of Land Planned for New Park
SMW attorneys supported the City of Cupertino in its acquisition of more than 7 acres of land planned for a park. Cupertino’s purchase of the property is a critical step in a more than 10-year effort to provide additional parks and recreation areas on the east side of the City.
SMW Serves as General Counsel to Pleasant Hill Recreation and Park District
The firm begins serving as General Counsel to the Pleasant Hill Recreation and Park District in 2019.
Property Purchase, Bridge Provide Needed Link Between State and Regional Parks In Alameda County
Photo Credit: SelfieCity, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons The firm assists the Tri-Valley Conservancy (TVC) in 2009 to acquire the Bobba property, a key linkage in Livermore between Del Valle State Park and Sycamore Grove Park. The firm then helps TVC in 2019 with funding, contracting, and construction of a bridge crossing to connect […]
Legislation Passes Authorizing Mission Rock Project on Giants Parking Lot Site
In 2016 the state legislature enacts legislation (AB 2797), drafted by the firm for the Port of San Francisco, authorizing the development of the Mission Rock project on the site of a surface parking lot. The project includes 40% affordable housing and a five-acre waterfront park on China Basin Park.
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.
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, […]
Historic Settlement Saves Open Space in Solano County
In response to litigation challenging an estate subdivision in rural Solano County, in 2012 a developer sells the 1,500-acre “Rockville Trails” property to the Solano Land Trust, preserving some of the most precious open space in the County. (Green Valley Landowners Assn. v. Solano County.)
Quarry Transformed into Park
The firm advises the City of Saratoga in acquiring a former quarry to be redeveloped as a park subject to a conservation easement and in subsequent park planning and operations. The park opens in 2015 and in 2020 the City opens a trail providing access to Sanborn County Park and, from there, to open space […]