Takings Challenge to Mobile Home Rent Control Defeated
The firm obtains a landmark ruling from the Ninth Circuit, en banc, rejecting constitutional challenges to Goleta’s mobile home rent control ordinance, protecting an important source of affordable housing and preventing displacement. (Guggenheim v. City of Goleta, 638 F.3d 1111 (2010).)
SMW and California Trout Secure Greater Flows for Endangered Steelhead
As a result of litigation filed by the firm on behalf of California Trout, the owner of the Vern Freeman Diversion Dam agrees to allow greater water flows into the Santa Clara River to protect steelhead, an endangered migratory fish species. (California Trout, Inc. v. Bureau of Reclamation (2009).)
Stockton General Plan Litigation Leads to Adoption of Landmark Climate Action Plan
Photo credit: Eric Sonstroem, Flickr, CC BY 2.0 As a result of litigation filed by the firm challenging the City of Stockton’s General Plan update, and pressure from the state Attorney General’s office, the City agrees to prepare a Climate Action Plan, one of the earliest such plans in California. (Sierra Club v. City of Stockton […]
SMW Enforces Agricultural Conservation Easement
After years of litigation, the firm negotiates a groundbreaking settlement to enforce a conservation easement and preserve and enhance the agricultural productivity of Sonoma County’s Lower Ranch. (Sonoma Land Trust v. BBRRBR LLC (2008).)
SMW Successfully Challenges Sprawl Development on Agricultural Lands
The firm prevails in litigation challenging a sprawl development project in the San Joaquin/Sacramento Delta city of Oakley and enters into a settlement generating substantial mitigation fees for protection of agricultural land. (Greenbelt Alliance v. City of Oakley (2008).)
San Mateo County Coastal Open Space Protected
The firm advises on a master parks plan for the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District’s annexation of the entire San Mateo Coast in 2004. It then successfully defends the annexation in court. (Citizens for Responsible Open Space v. San Mateo County LAFCO, 159 Cal.App.4th 717 (2008).)
Flood and Habitat Protection for the Natomas Basin
From 2008 to the present, the firm represents the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency in more than 30 eminent domain actions to acquire property for the nation’s largest flood control and habitat mitigation project in the Natomas Basin, encompassing parts of the City of Sacramento. Habitat mitigation includes the Giant Garter Snake and Swainson’s Hawk.
A Vote to Protect Open Space in San Clemente
Voters in San Clemente pass a referendum in 2008 against the Pacific Golf Club project, which was to be located in one of the City’s largest open space areas. The firm drafts the referendum and successfully defends its sponsor’s ballot argument in court.
SMW Stops Massive Port of Stockton Expansion Project and Mitigates Environmental Impacts
The firm secures a federal injunction stopping the Port of Stockton’s hastily started expansion. After a second victory in state court, the firm in 2007 negotiates dramatic reductions in the project’s air and water pollution. (Deltakeeper v. Port of Stockton.)
SMW Defends Initiative and Stops Developer From Harassing its Sponsors
The firm secures an emergency appellate ruling to stop what the court called a developer’s “absurd and somewhat frightening” attempt to depose initiative proponents. The firm also successfully defends the initiative. (Save Loma Linda v. Superior Court (2007)).