Halting Sprawl on the Suburban Fringe
The firm’s lawsuit stops the City of Highland’s Harmony Specific Plan, which would have scattered development across a floodplain and required a bridge over — and in — a sensitive creek at the edge of the San Bernardino Mountains. (Greenspot Residents Association v. City of Highland (2018).)
Land Exchange Agreement Allows Pier 70 Project to Move Forward
Representing the Port of San Francisco, SMW in 2018 successfully negotiates an agreement with the state for a trust land exchange to allow for the rehabilitation of historic industrial buildings and the development of a new urban neighborhood on the city’s waterfront. The firm drafted the state legislation authorizing the exchange (AB 418).
Affordable Housing Project Opens at Candlestick Point
Residents move into 306 units of affordable housing at the Alice Griffith Community at Candlestick Point, on land the Firm helps acquire and entitle, including the prosecution of quiet title litigation that successfully defends the public ownership of the site. (Successor Agency v. All Persons (2017).)
Appellate Court Strikes Down Development Agreement Initiative
The firm and Earthjustice prevail in challenging an initiative that purported to approve a development agreement for the World Logistics Center, a massive warehouse project near low-income communities in Riverside County. The court of appeal holds that local initiatives may not be used to adopt development agreements. (Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice v. […]
Voting Rights Protected in Arizona
Following litigation by the firm, the Campaign Legal Center, and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, the State of Arizona agrees to change its overly burdensome and illegal requirement that voters provide documentary proof of citizenship to register for federal elections. (League of United Latin American Citizens v. Arizona Secretary of State.)
Protecting Ag Land from Development
The firm successfully represented the Cleveland National Forest Foundation in challenging San Diego County’s approval of a residential subdivision on ranchland protected under the Williamson Act. The Court of Appeal held that such projects are permissible only where homes would support the land’s agricultural use.
Stopping A Fire Trap at the Wildland-Urban Interface
Pressing claims under CEQA and the city’s own Code, the firm obtains an appellate victory in its challenge to the City of Brea’s approval of a residential subdivision in a fire-prone canyon abutting Chino Hills State Park. (Hills For Everyone v. OSLIC Holdings LLC (2017).)
SMW Defends Cap and Trade Auction
The firm represents the Environmental Defense Fund and Natural Resources Defense Council as intervenors in successfully defending the state’s auction of greenhouse gas emission allowances under AB 32’s cap and trade program. (California Chamber of Commerce v. State Air Resources Board, 10 Cal. App. 5th 604 (2017).)
San Onofre State Beach Permanently Saved From Toll Road
After years of challenging the 16-mile Foothill-South Toll Road in court and administrative proceedings, including the largest public hearing in the Coastal Commission’s history, the firm helps a dozen environmental groups negotiate a settlement that permanently protects San Onofre State Beach and adjoining open space. (Calif. State Parks Fdn. v. Transportation Corridor Agency, 150 Cal.App.4th […]
California Supreme Court Victory
The firm wins a landmark case before the California Supreme Court holding that the North Coast Rail Authority must comply with CEQA when reopening tracks running from Novato to Humboldt County. Subsequently, the state passes legislation to convert the rail line to the Great Redwood Trail. (Friends of the Eel River v. NCRA, 3 Cal.5th […]