Updates and Articles
SMW Becomes Saratoga City Attorney
In 1999 the firm is designated as the City Attorney of Saratoga, located in the “Valley of the Heart's Delight.”
Read MoreHeadwaters Forest Preserved
In 1999 the firm represents the State of California in negotiations over the purchase and protection of the Headwaters Forest in Humboldt County. The deal ends one of the most bitter environmental conflicts in California history.
Read MoreTahoe Jet Ski Ban Upheld
The firm defeats a federal court challenge to the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency's imposition of a ban on jet skis. As a result, U.S. manufacturers cease producing 2-stroke polluting engines. (Lake Tahoe Watercraft Recreation Assn. v. TRPA, 24 F.Supp.2d 1062 (1998).)
Read MoreProtected: Appellate Court Rejects Takings Challenge to Denial of Hillside Subdivision
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Read MoreLand Exchange Agreements Pave the Way for Creation of New Neighborhood at Mission Bay
The City of San Francisco and the San Francisco Port Commission in 1998 enter into land exchange agreements, negotiated with the assistance of the Firm, that enable the redevelopment of Mission Bay with housing, a medical center, and an array of other uses.
Read MorePreservation of Piazzoni Murals With Asian Art Museum’s Move to Civic Center’s Old Main Library
In 1998 the firm advises the Asian Art Museum Foundation regarding local, state, and federal historic preservation laws during its renovation of the Old Main Library and relocation of the Piazzoni murals to the De Young Museum.
Read MoreSettlement Protects Thousands of Acres of Viticulture and Open Space, Leading to Plan that Ensures City Centered Growth
The firm helps the City of Livermore negotiate a complex settlement agreement that results in 1998 in the award-winning South Livermore Valley Specific Plan. The Plan allows focused development, curbs urban sprawl, and protects over 5,000 acres of viticulture and open space.
Read MoreLegislation Empowers Treasure Island Development Authority
The firm and the Office of the San Francisco City Attorney draft and the legislature passes the 1997 Treasure Island Conversion Act (AB 699), the enabling statute for the Treasure Island Development Authority, giving TIDA the power to redevelop and administer the former military base.
Read MoreFirm Helps Giants Ballpark Get Off the Ground
The San Francisco Giants ballpark at China Basin breaks ground in 1997 after the Port of San Francisco, with the firm's help, successfully negotiates a design that the state finds consistent with the tidelands trust.
Read MorePort of San Francisco Adopts First Waterfront Land Use Plan
The Firm represents the Port of San Francisco in a negotiation with the State Lands Commission and BCDC that results in 1997 in adoption of the Port's first Waterfront Land Use Plan.
Read MoreMajor Report Advocates a Triple Bottom Line for Sierra Communities
The firm assists the Sierra Business Council in preparing its award-winning 1997 book, Planning for Prosperity, designed to help rural Sierra communities plan wisely and effectively for their future.
Read MoreSMW Defends Agricultural Preservation Initiative in City of Ventura
The firm successfully defeats a challenge to an agricultural preservation initiative passed by the voters of the City of Ventura. (FAIR v. City of San Buenaventura (1997).)
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