Updates and Articles
SMW Secures Historic Land Sale to Fund Critical Public Transit
The firm leads the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA) team in the 2013 sale of land for the Salesforce Tower, the tallest building in San Francisco, bringing in record revenues to fund development of the transit center.
Read MoreAudubon Society Leverages Project Implementation for Conservation Funding
Assisted by the firm, the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society negotiates a 2013 agreement with San Jose developers during project implementation that provides significant funding to permanently preserve burrowing owl habitat and conduct surveys to support regional conservation efforts.
Read MoreFirm Prevails In Commercial Lease Litigation on Alameda Waterfront
The firm successfully defends the City of Alameda's decision to not renew a commercial lease of its waterfront property, allowing the City to retain the largest ship repair facility in the Bay Area. (Alameda Gateway, Ltd. v. City of Alameda (2013).) On behalf of the City, the firm negotiates a new direct lease with the facility operator.
Read MoreHousehold Hazardous Waste Fee Upheld
The firm advises the Alameda County Waste Management Authority in its 2013 adoption of a fee to recover the costs of administering the Countywide Household Hazardous Waste program. The firm successfully defends the fee in subsequent litigation. (Crawley v. Alameda Cty. Waste Mgmt. Auth., 243 Cal. App. 4th 396, 196 Cal. Rptr. 3d 365 (2015).)
Read MoreCritical Wildlife Corridor Established
The firm advises Laguna Greenbelt in successful negotiations leading to the 2019 opening of the Orange County Great Park Wildlife Corridor in Irvine to connect the Cleveland National Forest to the coast.
Read MoreSMW Advises Orinda With Affordable Housing Administration
With the firm's assistance, the City of Orinda in 2013 develops a program for the purchase of below-market-rate homes that are part of a new residential subdivision in the City.
Read MoreSMW Advises on Adoption of State’s Delta Plan
Assisted by the firm, the Delta Stewardship Council (DSC) adopts the state's Delta Plan in 2013 to further the coequal goals of a more reliable water supply for California and protecting and restoring the Delta ecosystem while preserving the Delta as a place, and adopts amendments in 2018. The firm defends the DSC's actions in successive sets of coordinated lawsuits. (Delta Stewardship Council Cases; North Coast Rivers...
Read MoreSMW Advises Cupertino on New Apple Campus
Assisted by the firm, the City of Cupertino in 2013 approves Apple Campus 2 (Apple Park), the first AB 900 project approved in California, involving the redevelopment of a 1960s business park site.
Read MoreWater Rights for Fish and Wildlife
The firm represents The Nature Conservancy in a petition to dedicate water rights for the Big Springs Ranch in Siskiyou County to instream use for the protection of fish and wildlife in the Shasta River. The project becomes a model for sustainable ranch management to protect endangered coho salmon. The firm later represents private ranch owners along the Shasta River in similar efforts to dedicate more water to fish and...
Read MoreCalifornia Supreme Court Upholds Significant Regulation of Emissions from Paints
The California Supreme Court upholds the South Coast Air Quality Management District's authority to adopt “technology-forcing” rules in a challenge to the District's regulation of paints, the second largest source of smog-forming emissions after motor vehicles. Dan Selmi and firm partner Matt Zinn receive the California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY) Award for this achievement. (American Coatings Assn. v. SCAQMD, 54...
Read MoreFunds Secured for Rail, Parks, and Housing in San Francisco
Beginning in 2012, the firm represents the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA) in San Francisco's adoption of the Transit Center District Plan and associated special tax and community benefits districts for rail, housing, parks, and improvements in the Transbay neighborhood.
Read MoreAgreement Enables Redevelopment of Naval Air Station Treasure Island
The firm negotiates an exchange agreement with the state, and helps defend a development plan, adopted by the Treasure Island Development Authority in 2012. (Citizens for a Sustainable Treasure Island v. City and County of San Francisco.) The approvals, authorized by legislation drafted by the firm (SB 1873), enable the redevelopment of Yerba Buena Island and Treasure Island with over 300 acres of parks, a new ferry...
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