SMW Protects Stanford Foothills
Thanks to advocacy by the firm and its client Committee for Green Foothills, Santa Clara County in 2000 adopts an “Academic Growth Boundary,” limiting Stanford University’s ability to expand into the foothills for 25 years.
Successful Negotiations Protect American River Water Resources
The firm assists the Water Forum in its adoption in 2000 of a landmark agreement among multiple stakeholders that sets the allocation of water from the American River Watershed.
SMW Clients Prevent Development of Nuclear Waste Dump in the Mojave Desert
The firm represents the County of San Bernardino and Committee to Bridge the Gap, an anti-nuclear organization, in challenging the development of a dump for radioactive waste in Ward Valley in the Eastern Mojave Desert. The Ward Valley project was never built.
SMW Protects Historic District
The firm stops a developer from constructing an upscale high-rise in Oakland’s historic Waterfront Warehouse District. A court finds alternatives existed to provide the needed housing without harming the environment. (JLNA v. City of Oakland (1999).)
Preservation 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.
Legislation 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.
Point Reyes Water Quality Protected
The firm assists a coalition of conservation advocates in1996 in blocking expansion of the West Marin Sanitary Landfill in Point Reyes Station, which would have degraded water quality in the area.
SMW Advises Alameda on Cleanup and Reuse of Two Navy Bases
In 1996 the firm begins advising the City of Alameda on site cleanup of the former Naval Air Station and Fleet & Industrial Supply Center Navy bases and on environmental permitting and historical resources for site reuse. Large mixed-use projects come to fruition in 2006 and 2014.
IT Corporation Must Close Its Facility in Conformance With County Regulations
The firm advises the City of Benicia on the required environmental standards for closure of the Class I hazardous waste facility adjacent to the City, and files an amicus brief in the California Supreme Court arguing, as the Court rules, that the landfill operator is subject to County regulations. (IT Corporation v. Solano County, 1 […]
Environmental Review Required for Wetland Fill Permit
On behalf of Save the Bay and other environmental groups, the firm, together with the Attorney General’s office, prevails in a federal case holding that the Army Corps of Engineers must prepare an environmental impact statement for a permit to fill wetlands at the Oakland Airport site. (People of State of Calif. v. Marsh, 687 […]