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Los Angeles—JMBM’s Land Use Group is pleased to announce that three partners in the practice were recognized by Best Lawyers in America® for Land Use and Zoning Law. Department Chairman Benjamin M. Reznik was included on the Best Lawyers in America list for 2023, and partners Neill E. Brower and Daniel F. Freedman were recognized as “Ones to Watch.”

Best Lawyers in America is based on a comprehensive peer-review survey in which tens of thousands of top lawyers evaluate the legal abilities of other lawyers within their practice areas. The “Ones to Watch” list recognizes lawyers earlier in their careers who have achieved outstanding professional excellence. Continue reading

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LOS ANGELES–Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP (JMBM) is pleased to announce that the Firm’s Land Use & Zoning practice has again received the highest possible designation of National Tier 1 in the 2022 U.S. News and World Report – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” rankings. The report recognizes the top law firms in the country for professional excellence based on peer review.

“I’m proud of the level of service we offer, the expertise we have developed, and the results we achieve,” said Benjamin Reznik, Chair of the Government, Land Use, Environment & Energy Department. “This recognition emphasizes our team’s experience advocating for our clients’ success, and our commitment to their goals.”

The Best Law Firms designation is based on a rigorous process that includes client and lawyer evaluations, and peer review from leading lawyers.

About JMBM’s Government, Land Use, Environment and Energy Department
JMBM’s government, land use, environment, and energy lawyers represent a wide range of industries, businesses, trade groups and individuals before every level of government, and in litigation. We routinely advocate for our clients’ interests before the myriad of regulatory authorities, administrative agencies and elected bodies that govern business and development activities. We process zoning & land use entitlements from beginning to end, and if necessary, defend the project in court litigation.

About JMBM
Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP is a full-service law firm committed to providing clients with outstanding results. From our offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Orange County, we serve our clients’ needs worldwide. For more information about our attorneys and our services, visit jmbm.com.

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LOS ANGELES—Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP (JMBM) is pleased to announce that the firm’s Government, Land Use, Environment and Energy Department has once again been ranked as a National Tier 1 practice by U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” for 2021. The designation, which is the highest ranking given by the publication, reflects the practice’s commitment to legal excellence and achieving positive results for clients developing real estate projects throughout the country.

“It’s rewarding to have our work recognized by U.S. News again this year,” said Benjamin Reznik, Chair of the Government, Land Use, Environment & Energy Department. “Our Land Use attorneys have a deep understanding of the challenges our clients face in a complicated, ever-shifting zoning and regulatory landscape, and use that knowledge to help them achieve their goals.”

“Best Law Firms” rankings are based on a peer review process that incudes client and lawyer evaluations, and recognizes excellence at leading law firms in the U.S.

About JMBM
Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP is a full-service law firm committed to providing clients with outstanding results. From our offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Orange County, we serve our clients’ needs worldwide. For more information about our attorneys and our services, visit JMBM.com.

About JMBM’s Government, Land Use, Environment and Energy Department
JMBM’s government, land use, environment, and energy lawyers represent a wide range of industries, businesses, trade groups and individuals before every level of government, and in litigation. We routinely advocate for our clients’ interests before the myriad of regulatory authorities, administrative agencies and elected bodies that govern business and development activities. Our negotiation expertise and lobbying experience includes representing clients seeking to locate and develop new sites, relocate, expand operations, and all related permitting and compliance.

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As JMBM government and land use lawyer Sheri Bonstelle explains in the article, “Assembly Bill 1561 provides support for housing development projects,” published by the Daily Journal on September 10, 2020:

“AB 1561 will support housing development by allowing additional time for those with approved housing development projects to obtain financing and building permits and to commence construction during the pandemic, and will allow potential additional analysis in a city’s Housing Element to more specifically identify the housing needs of the community.”

She notes that even before the pandemic-induced recession, California was in the midst of a housing affordability crisis caused by a failure to supply enough new housing for all income levels.

You can read the full article here.

JMBM’s government and land use lawyers represent developers of multi-family housing as well as many other types of projects. Our particular strength is handling all permitting and compliance issues for clients seeking to locate and develop new sites, relocate or expand operations. Please contact us if you would like to discuss how AB 1561 impacts your project. Continue reading

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On June 12th, the California Court of Appeal, Fourth District, filed its decision in Golden Door Properties LLC v. County of San Diego, __ Cal.App. 5th __ (2020) (WL 3119041). In doing so, the Court extended the now decade-long effort of San Diego County to craft an adequate Climate Action Plan (“CAP”): as the Court itself noted, this is its third decision in that effort. The County’s greenhouse gas (“GHG”) reduction plan within the CAP, particularly the use of offsets, provided perhaps the highest and most broad-reaching issues of interest; however, the Court also addressed a number of other alleged shortfalls of the environmental impact report (“EIR”) for the CAP, including the cumulative impacts analysis, alternatives analysis, consistency with applicable plans, and the adequacy of responses to comments. Although the County prevailed on the issue of the consistency of the CAP with the County’s General Plan, and on the sufficiency of responses to comments on the EIR, Petitioners prevailed on the sufficiency of the CAP and overall sufficiency of the EIR under the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”).

Substantial analysis concerned a single mitigation measure (M-GHG-1) proposed to reduce GHG emissions from General Plan amendments to net-zero. This is significant because the CAP considered—and applied only to—developments consistent with the County’s 2011 General Plan Update. Measure M-GHG-1 first required projects with increased density above the approved 2011 levels to employ “all feasible” GHG reduction measures, including VMT reductions such as promotion of alternative transportation measures. If on-site measures fail to reduce GHG emissions to CAP-approved levels, a project may then employ off-site measures, including credits from GHG reduction programs worldwide. Continue reading

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by Daniel Freedman and Justin Anderson

Substantial changes to state and local laws governing accessory dwelling units (“ADUs”) went into effect on January 1, 2020, and they have significant implications for single-family and multi-family property owners. ADUs are additional living quarters built within, or on the same lot as, the primary residence. New state laws, including Assembly Bills 68 (Ting) and 881 (Bloom), among others, have placed new restrictions on how local governments and Homeowners Associations can condition and limit new ADUs. They have also created new categories of ADUs, expressly permitted under state law, which require local agencies to provide streamlined approval and permitting procedures. An analysis of the new laws and recent amendments can be found in the State of California’s Department of Housing and Community Development’s (“HCD”) ADU Technical Assistance Memorandum.

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LOS ANGELES—The Government, Land Use, Environment and Energy Department at Jeffer Mangels Butler and Mitchell (JMBM) is pleased to announce its inclusion in the 2020 Edition of U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms.” The Department received a ranking of National Tier 1 – the highest possible ranking – in Land Use & Zoning Law.

“We are honored to have been listed once again as a National Tier 1 practice,” said Benjamin Reznik, Chair of the Government, Land Use, Environment & Energy Department. “This recognition reflects the dedication and creativity of JMBM’s Land Use attorneys, who provide outstanding results to our clients, including winning lawsuits with complex issues and unusual circumstances.”

The “Best Law Firms” rankings recognize the top law firms in the country for professional excellence based on peer review. The National Tier 1 designation is based on a rigorous process that includes client and lawyer evaluations, and peer review from leading lawyers.

About JMBM
Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP is a full-service law firm committed to providing clients with outstanding results. From our offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Orange County, we serve our clients’ needs worldwide. For more information about our attorneys and our services, visit JMBM.com.

About JMBM’s Government, Land Use, Environment and Energy Department
JMBM’s government, land use, environment, and energy lawyers represent a wide range of industries, businesses, trade groups and individuals before every level of government, and in litigation. We routinely advocate for our clients’ interests before the myriad of regulatory authorities, administrative agencies and elected bodies that govern business and development activities. Our negotiation expertise and lobbying experience includes representing clients seeking to locate and develop new sites, relocate, expand operations, and all related permitting and compliance.

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LOS ANGELES—The 2020 edition of “Best Lawyers in America” in the U.S. News & World Report lists Benjamin M. Reznik, Chair of the Government, Land Use, Environment & Energy Department at Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP (JMBM), as “Lawyer of the Year” in the area of Land Use and Zoning in Los Angeles. Only a single lawyer in a specific practice area and designated region are honored each year.

Best Lawyers in America® is based on a comprehensive peer-review survey in which tens of thousands of top lawyers evaluate the legal abilities of other lawyers within their practice areas.

“It’s an honor to be recognized by my peers, and an honor to work with such talented lawyers at JMBM,” said Reznik. “This recognition reflects the work of our entire team of land use attorneys.”

A total of 17 attorneys from JMBM’s three offices – Los Angeles, San Francisco and Orange County – were included on the list of 2020 Best Lawyers in America®.

About JMBM’s Government, Land Use, Environment and Energy Department
JMBM’s government, land use, environment, and energy lawyers represent a wide range of industries, businesses, trade groups and individuals before every level of government, and in litigation. We routinely advocate for our clients’ interests before the myriad of regulatory authorities, administrative agencies and elected bodies that govern business and development activities. Our negotiation expertise and lobbying experience includes representing clients seeking to locate and develop new sites, relocate, expand operations, and all related permitting and compliance.

Contact:
Ben Reznik
BMR@jmbm.com

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LOS ANGELES — On behalf of the Ventura County Coalition of Labor, Agriculture and Business (CoLAB), Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP (JMBM) filed a lawsuit in Superior Court against the County of Ventura challenging a Wildlife Corridor Ordinance that rezones more than 160,000 acres and imposes complex new rules and restrictions on businesses and landowners of thousands of parcels.

“I’ve never seen regulations affecting over 160,000 acres of land go into effect without any environmental review,” said Benjamin M. Reznik, Chair of JMBM’s Government, Land Use, Environment & Energy Group. “Relying on obscure exemptions to California’s environmental laws in a regulation of this magnitude is highly unusual.”

The lawsuit states: “Despite the laudable purpose—and CoLAB supports reasonable efforts to minimize impacts to wildlife movement within the County—many of the Ordinance’s regulations are legally flawed and scientifically unsupportable.” The lawsuit also states that the Ordinance is in conflict with the County’s own General Plan.

“The restrictions this ordinance imposes on property owners are likely to have a serious negative impact on property owners’ ability to use their land, which will also effect property values” said Reznik.

JMBM has also filed a lawsuit on behalf of the California Construction and Industrial Materials Association (CalCIMA) against the County of Ventura, challenging the Wildlife Corridor.

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Ben Reznik is the Chair of JMBM’s Government, Land Use, Environment and Energy Department. His practice emphasizes real estate development entitlements, zoning and environment issues, including frequent appearances before city planning commissions, city councils and other governmental boards and agencies on behalf of real estate development firms and various industries. Reach him at BMR@JMBM.com or 310. 201.3572.

About JMBM’s Government, Land Use, Environment and Energy Department
JMBM’s government, land use, environment, and energy lawyers represent a wide range of industries, businesses, trade groups and individuals before every level of government, and in litigation. We routinely advocate for our clients’ interests before the myriad of regulatory authorities, administrative agencies and elected bodies that govern business and development activities. Our negotiation expertise and lobbying experience includes representing clients seeking to locate and develop new sites, relocate, expand operations, and all related permitting and compliance.

About Ventura County Coalition of Labor, Agriculture and Business (CoLAB)
CoLAB is a 501(c)6 non-profit membership organization formed in 2010 to support land-based and industrial businesses including farming, ranching, oil, mining, and service, and to promote sensible and rational local government.

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By Martin Stratte for Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP

In August 2018, the California Court of Appeal decided Citizens Coalition Los Angeles v. City of Los Angeles, 26 Cal.App.5th 561 (2018), commonly referred to as “Target II,” which arose from a years-long challenge by citizen activist organizations to the development of a Super Target in Hollywood, California.

As discussed below, the court was asked to resolve the following issue of first impression: what level of environmental review is required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for a legislative action that re-designates a project site for the purpose of mooting pending litigation that was filed in opposition to an already approved project?

In essence, what the City of Los Angeles did was re-zone the site of a previously approved Super Target to remove the need for the variances that were adopted in support of the project, which the trial court had struck down in the litigation commonly referred to as “Target I.”

Background

Target applied to the City of Los Angeles (City) for land use entitlements to develop an approximately 75-foot high, three-story Super Target at the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Western Avenue in Hollywood, California, the top floor of which would contain the 163,862 square foot “Superstore.”

The City certified an EIR for the Target project and granted eight exceptions (variances) so that the project could exceed height and parking-space restrictions, among others.  Thereafter, two citizen activist organizations filed a petition for writ of mandate alleging: 1) the project violated CEQA; and 2) the variances violated the City’s Municipal Code because they were not supported by substantial evidence.  Target proceeded with construction while the litigation was pending; that litigation is commonly referred to as “Target I.”

The trial court denied the petitioners’ CEQA claim in Target I, but found that six of the eight variances were not supported by substantial evidence.  Accordingly, the court ordered Target to stop construction.  Target filed an appeal and the petitioners filed a cross-appeal. Continue reading