Updates and Articles
Shifting Coastlines: Managed Retreat Strategies for Cities Addressing Coastal Erosion
As climate change and sea-level rise accelerate erosion, cities and counties along the California coast must act to protect coastal resources and property from the landward march of the sea. To buffer these interests against the effects of coastal erosion, local agencies have adopted a wide variety of management strategies. Where landowners are reluctant to abandon economic investments and resources on the coast, planners...
Read MoreSMW Solidarity Statement
Black people have built America since before it was a country, often driven to the task by systematic oppression and racism. Recently, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, Oscar Grant, Mario Woods, Kayla Moore, and countless others suffered deadly violence, with all of us as witnesses. The brazenness and impunity of these acts—the inevitable result of systemic racism in the country that Black people...
Read MoreNew Organic Waste Processing and Food Waste Recovery Rules Moving Forward
On April 20th CalRecycle released what it expects to be the final regulations implementing SB 1383, California’s groundbreaking law to reduce disposal of organic waste at landfills by 75 percent from 2014 levels by 2025. The law is an important part of the State’s strategy to reduce methane and greenhouse gas emissions. Instead of focusing on emissions at landfills, SB 1383 directed CalRecycle to develop regulations...
Read MoreProcessing Housing Construction Projects Under State and Local Shelter-in-Place Orders
Governor Issues Statewide Shelter-in-Place Order After declaring a State of Emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 4, 2020, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-33-20 on March 19, 2020. The statewide Order directed all California residents to stay home, except for workers in 16 “critical infrastructure sectors.” Construction was not included in these original 16 sectors. However, on March 22, 2020 the...
Read MoreCourt Overturns Sprawl Development in Wildfire Risk Zone
The firm successfully challenges San Diego County's 2019 approval of the Harmony Grove Village South Project, which would have brought sprawl development to a fire-prone, rural area of the County. Photo by ClassicallyPrinted, Pixabay.
Read MoreSMW Attorneys Recognized with Amicus Service Award
Three SMW attorneys received the Amicus Service Award from the International Municipal Lawyers Association (IMLA). Attorneys (L to R) Laura Beaton, Andrew Schwartz, and Matthew D. Zinn were recognized for their work drafting the SCOTUS amicus brief for Knick v. Township of Scott.
Read MoreBuilding Decarbonization Update: California Energy Commission Approves First Set of Electric Reach Codes
Following up on the October 2019 edition of In the Public Interest, this article provides an update on the California Energy Commission's approval of ordinances passed by several cities and counties to encourage or require buildings to go all-electric. As reported in the October 2019 edition of “In the Public Interest,” local jurisdictions throughout California have been seizing the opportunity presented by the triannual...
Read MoreComing to a Backyard Near You: What’s New With ADUs in 2020
Public Agency Update: New state legislation that took effect on January 1, 2020 imposes additional limits on the ability of local jurisdictions to restrict Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). This article describes what's changed and how cities and counties might react. For the last few years, the state has explored ways to encourage cities and counties to allow property owners to build more Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)....
Read MoreColorado River Indian Tribes Secure Crucial Revisions to New Transmission Line Project
In order to serve urban customers with solar energy generated in the Southwest desert, DCR Transmission LLC proposed building a 125-mile transmission line across parts of Arizona and California. The Firm assisted the Colorado River Indian Tribes in participating before state and federal agencies in multi-year approval proceedings. Ultimately, the Tribes secured a revised route in 2020 that avoids sensitive cultural sites...
Read MoreSMW 40th Anniversary
Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger turns 40 this year! Over the course of the year, we will be celebrating our four decades of lawyering in the public interest as California's preeminent public agency, environmental, land use, and renewable energy law firm. The firm was founded in 1980 by three former members of the state Attorney General's office. Our first case culminated in a unanimous decision from the U.S. Supreme Court...
Read MoreConservation Easement Enforced in Sonoma County
The firm prevails in a landmark case to enforce a conservation easement protecting sensitive lands in Bennett Valley (Sonoma County) on behalf of the Sonoma Land Trust. After a 19-day trial, the court orders the violators to pay to restore the property. (Sonoma Land Trust v. Thompson.) Image by SMW
Read MoreSuccessful Construction Defect Litigation Settlement
On behalf of the City of Half Moon Bay, the firm successfully settled a construction defect litigation case regarding a cracked pedestrian trail/bike path. The City recovered close to $500,000 from its public works and construction management contractor and its construction contractor’s surety to fund repair and reconstruction of the trail.
Read More