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Tamara S. Galanter
Tamara joined Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger in 1989, and is a partner with the firm. Tamara received her law degree from Yale Law School and graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science from the University of California at Berkeley.
Tamara counsels and litigates on behalf of public entities, non-profits, community groups and environmental organizations concerning environmental and land use matters, including the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), general plan law, public agency administration, conservation easements, the Williamson Act, development agreements, real estate transactions, and historic preservation.
Tamara represents the East Bay Regional Park District in legal actions and negotiations to protect habitat in existing and future parklands. She is general counsel to the Alameda County Waste Management Authority, advising the agency on solid waste and recycling issues. She also advises the City of Pacifica on a variety of land use issues, and has advised the San Francisco Community College District (City College) and Butte-Glenn Community College District on CEQA and land use issues relating to their campuses.
Tamara litigates on behalf of a broad range of private and public entities. She was lead counsel in Save Round Valley Alliance v. County of Inyo, 70 Cal.Rptr.3d 59 (2007), a CEQA case in which on behalf of the Save Round Valley Alliance, Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger convinced the appellate court to set aside the County’s approval of a subdivision at the base of Mount Whitney. Tamara also served as lead counsel in a CEQA lawsuit on behalf of the Marin Audubon Society that ultimately resulted in the purchase and preservation of 630 acres of oak forest and marshland in northeastern Marin County.
Tamara was lead counsel on behalf of the City of Pleasanton in Merritt v. City of Pleasanton, 89 Cal.App.4th 1032 (2001), successfully defending a referendum that repealed a controversial ordinance. She was also lead counsel in the trial and appellate court in the City of Saratoga’s successful challenge to the West Valley-Mission Community College District’s attempt to exempt from City review its planned construction of a 5,000-seat athletic stadium in a residential neighborhood.
Tamara enjoys working with various parties and interests to identify mutually acceptable solutions to complex problems. After bringing litigation on behalf of the City of Livermore challenging the approval of major development in the unincorporated area south of Livermore, Tamara, together with others in the firm, negotiated a multifaceted settlement agreement among the City, Alameda County and private landowners that launched a cooperative planning process resulting in permanent protection of a substantial portion of the South Livermore Valley for agricultural use.
On behalf of the City of Livermore and other public entities, Tamara has drafted, negotiated and implemented development agreements and conservation easements, working closely with environmentalists, planning and engineering staff, landowners, lenders and developers. She currently provides legal services to several land trusts, including the Tri-Valley Conservancy, the Peninsula Open Space Trust and the Sierra County Land Trust.
Tamara is a contributor to Matthew Bender’s California Environmental Law Reporter regarding developments in land use and environmental law. She speaks on environmental and land use law for continuing education of the Bar conferences, and at workshops for community activists. She was a speaker at two Planning and Conservation League conferences, the University Extension Advanced CEQA Seminar and the State Bar Environmental Law Section Roundtable Conference.
portraits by Liza Heider