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Land Use & Zoning

Contacts

Ronald E. Van Buskirk
General Counsel Emeritus, San Francisco
T: +1.415.983.1496
Rachel B. Horsch
Partner, San Francisco
T: +1.415.983.1193
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Pillsbury’s multidisciplinary team, including environmental, real estate, insurance, and project finance lawyers, helps clients navigate land use, zoning, and related hurdles that arise when acquiring, developing, or disposing of property.

Composed of lawyers with industry-specific knowledge and extensive experience in all relevant areas of law, Pillsbury’s Land Use & Zoning team advises on property use and environmental requirements/restrictions. It also assists with permits, approvals, risk management and dispute resolution. With longstanding, effective working relationships with local government officials and community/civic groups, we are particularly effective in streamlining the approvals process.

Pillsbury has decades of experience providing guidance to real property owners, purchasers, developers, lenders, investors, and public authorities on federal, state and local land use-related laws and restrictions, project planning, and regulatory compliance. We assist clients at every stage—from sifting through due diligence, actively assisting with environmental impact reviews, and permitting and development through dispute resolution and litigation, if needed. We have handled diverse projects including pipelines, transmission lines, mines and quarries, commercial and residential properties, high-rises, subdivisions, college campuses, public transit, roads, bridges, ports, airports, water and sewer systems, and many other infrastructure projects. Additionally, we have resolved issues related to landfills and resource recovery and waste facilities, offshore and onshore oil and gas developments, oil refineries, and power plants.

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Our lawyers negotiate agreements and insurance coverage; advise on risk allocation; and represent clients before regulatory bodies, in court and at the negotiating table.

  • Areas of Focus
    • Environmental impact review under federal and state law
    • Zoning ordinance amendments and rezoning
    • Discretionary approvals and variances
    • Facility siting and permitting
    • Due diligence Permits, habitat conservation plans and conservation easements under federal and state endangered species acts
    • Watershed planning and total maximum daily loads for large watersheds, bays and estuaries under the federal Clean Water Act
    • Historic preservation
    • Development exactions and conditions
  • Property-Type Specialized Issues
    • Brownfields development/redevelopment
    • Contaminated properties
    • Coastal zones
    • Wetlands
    • Timber lands
    • Urban infill, high-rise and mixed-use developments
    • Energy projects
  • Related Practice Areas and Industries
    • Environmental Construction
    • Insurance
    • Real estate
    • Tax

Our Land Use & Zoning practice is an active participant in a wider Real Estate and Construction Industry team—a comprehensive cross-disciplinary team with broad and in-depth experience in a broad array of industry sectors.

Representative Experience

  • Represented Shorenstein in connection with the acquisition, entitlement and rehabilitation of the former San Francisco furniture mart known as Market Square, which now serves as Twitter’s headquarters.
  • Represented Barrett Block Partners L.P. in optioning property to a developer and in the subsequent entitlement process for an approximately one million-square-foot office/mixed-use project as part of San Francisco’s proposed Central SoMa area.
  • Advised San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) on major infrastructure projects including extensions to San Francisco and Oakland airports, Warm Springs, Antioch and Livermore, and other improvement projects.

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  • Represented Western States Petroleum Association and other producer trade associations in developing a zoning ordinance and comprehensive environmental impact report for streamlined oil and gas permitting in Kern County (source of 80 percent of California’s production).
  • Represented SKS Investments, and currently representing Jay Paul Co., regarding land use entitlement for and subsequent development of a 700-foot-tall, 400,000-square-foot office and 69 luxury condominiums tower in San Francisco’s Transbay Terminal District.
  • Represented the client in a quiet title lawsuit against the California State Lands Commission regarding complex issues of sovereign ownership in certain reaches of the Colorado River that have altered over time.
  • Represented Pacific Coast Homes in developing a mixed-use residential and commercial project on former oil and gas production property in Fullerton, CA.
  • Represented Shorenstein in its acquisition, expansion and redevelopment of 188 Spear Street, a 218,239-square-foot, 12-story office building located along the Spear Street Corridor in San Francisco’s South Financial District.
  • Represented the Asian Art Commission in obtaining entitlements for the rehabilitation and reuse of the Old Main Library in San Francisco, including successful representation during litigation following city approval.
  • Served as lead counsel to a Southwestern U.S. major water district for over 20 years and securing a landmark permit from the California State Water Resources Control Board.
  • Represented ClubCorp and Emerald Ventures Group Inc. to successfully obtain re-entitlement to develop more than 500 homes and an 18-hole Nicklaus golf course, which is now subject to an Audubon Society easement.
  • Served as Shorenstein’s land use counsel in its successful bid to develop a 500,000-square-foot, 23-story office tower at 601 City Center in Oakland, CA.
  • Successfully defended a California State Lands Commission lease renewal in a case raising novel public trust and environmental baseline issues regarding the Richmond, CA, Long Wharf.
  • Represented Carpenter & Co., Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide and St. Regis Museum Tower regarding entitlement, development and construction of $350 million, 40-story, mixed-use hotel/residential condominium high-rise development in San Francisco.

Practice Area Highlights

  • Achieved Best Lawyers Tier 1 for Environmental Litigation and Land Use and Zoning Law rankings; nationally ranked for Environmental Law; and nationally ranked for Natural Resources Law (2025).
  • Pillsbury’s Environmental practice ranked by Chambers USA in the National (2009-2024), California and Washington, DC, categories (2004-2024); ranked nationally in Climate Change (2024).
  • Recognized by The Legal 500 U.S. for excellence in Environmental Litigation (2016-2024), Environmental Regulatory (2019-2024) and Environmental Transactional (2024).

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  • Pillsbury’s Real Estate, Real Estate: Finance and Construction practices all recognized by Legal 500 U.S. (2024).

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