Land Use

More restrictive planning and zoning measures and a corresponding emphasis on environmental review have led to an increase in the need for skilled legal counsel to navigate laws affecting development and land use.  Harding Larmore Kutcher & Kozal, LLP, assists clients through all phases of the project approval process (from the early stages of zoning due diligence and strategic planning through later stages of building permits and certificates of occupancy). Our attorneys have experience dealing with city councils, planning commissions, landmarks commissions, architectural review boards, redevelopment agencies, zoning administrators, zoning appeals boards, state and county governments, rent control boards, school districts, code enforcement officers, the California Coastal Commission, the California Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, the Department of Real Estate and other agencies throughout Southern California, as well as in Sacramento.

The land use practice involves analyzing how the myriad federal, state and local laws, regulations and policies affect land use and development.  A major part of the practice focuses on obtaining necessary government approvals including:

• Development permits
• Conditional use permits
• Variances
• Development agreements
• Rent control permits and exemptions
• Subdivision reports
• CEQA compliance (EIRs, MNDs, negative declarations and exemption determinations)
• Coastal development permits
• Ellis Act withdrawals
• Subdivision maps
• Zoning map amendments
• Landmark & historic resource determinations
• Alcoholic beverage licenses
• Zoning ordinance amendments

HLKK also represents clients in connection with a wide variety of land use litigation issues, including:

• Lawsuits against government agencies to challenge illegal land use regulations, unjustified denials of land use applications and unlawful conditions of approval.
• Litigation to defend land use approvals against judicial challenges including disputes involving CEQA review and project approvals.
• Litigation challenging the actions of rent control boards regarding the validity of various actions.

HLKK's attorneys have successfully handled numerous cases in the trial and appellate courts resulting in published and unpublished decisions in favor of our clients.

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