Updates and Articles
Recent Housing Legislation and the Initiative Power: What You Need to Know
The State Legislature’s burst of new housing legislation has significant implications for use of the initiative power. Find out more about SB10’s explicit shift of power to local legislatures and other ways in which the new laws may complicate planning and zoning initiatives.
Read MoreTribes Look to Expand Cultural Burning to Restore Traditional Practices and Address Catastrophic Wildfire Threats
People indigenous to California have proactively ignited the landscape to manage plants and wildlife, provide community protection, control insects and disease, and engage in cultural and religious practices since time immemorial. Experts estimate that before 1800, between 4.5 million and 12 million acres of the state burned annually, through some combination of lightening and cultural burning.
Read MoreBlack Lives Matter as Government Speech
In June 2020, communities across California and the world protested and mourned the nationally recognized acts of violence against Black lives.
Read MoreKaruk Tribe Releases “Good Fire” Report, Addressing Barriers and Solutions to Increasing Cultural Burning
SMW Attorneys Sara Clark and Andrew Miller, together with cultural fire practitioner Don Hankins, authored Good Fire: Current Barriers to the Expansion of Cultural Burning and Prescribed Fire in California and Recommended Solutions for the Karuk Tribe. The report, which has been extensively cited in the media and by policymakers, examines the specific challenges faced by Native American Tribes in their efforts to restore...
Read MoreThe Public Trust – What Local Decisionmakers Should Know
The ancient public trust doctrine is as relevant as ever in today’s California, with implications for how local governments make decisions that could directly or indirectly affect water resources.
Read MoreSMW Attorney on Faculty of Land Trust Alliance Advanced Legal Symposium
On June 10, 2021, Tamara Galanter spoke on amendments to conservation easements and the use of building areas in conservation easements at the Eighth Symposium on Advanced Legal Topics in Land Conservation sponsored by the Land Trust Alliance. As a faculty member, Tamara joined seven other leading legal experts and practitioners to educate more than 200 attendees throughout the United States on emerging issues in land...
Read MoreDaily Journal Article: Restoring California’s Leadership in Setting Tailpipe Emissions Standards
Firm members Lauren Tarpey and Matthew Zinn outlined the historic rationale for California’s Clean Air Act waiver from federal preemption in a recent article for the Daily Journal: Restoring California’s leadership in setting tailpipe emission standards (paywall). Following the EPA’s announcement that it will reconsider a Trump era decision to revoke California’s waiver, the article outlines the history behind California’s...
Read MoreSMW Attorneys Lead Negotiation to Acquire Property for Bus Operations and Maintenance Facility
SMW guided the Marin County Transit District in its successful negotiation to purchase property for a bus operations and maintenance facility. The public agency provides public transit and paratransit services throughout Marin County. The new District-controlled facility will incentivize competition for service operations contracts, reduce cost uncertainty, and reduce or minimize overall growth in operating costs for the...
Read MoreFirm Supports Half Moon Bay’s Successful Financing for Corporation Yard Project
In 2021, SMW attorneys assisted the City of Half Moon Bay with successfully securing more than $3 million in financing from California’s Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (IBank). The lease-leaseback transaction allows the City to realize significant annual savings on lease costs. The financing allows the City to acquire land for its Corporation Yard, and modernize existing improvements for City use.
Read MoreCertification of Half Moon Bay’s 2020 Local Coastal Land Use Plan Update
The firm advised the City of Half Moon Bay on its 2020 Local Coastal Land Use Plan Update, which was unanimously certified by the California Coastal Commission in April 2021.
Read MoreVerdict in Chauvin Trial is “First Step Towards Justice”
We breathed a sigh of relief on hearing the results of the Derek Chauvin trial in which he was found guilty of murdering George Floyd. But this verdict underscores the work that remains to be done to dismantle the systemic racism that perpetuates violence on Black and Brown people in this country. We agree with Minnesota Attorney General Ellison: "I would not call today's verdict justice, however, because justice implies...
Read MoreDesigning Cities with Birds and Stargazers in Mind
Cities across California are adopting measures to ensure buildings do not pose threats to bird safety, often pairing these measures with those that reduce sources of nighttime light pollution.
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