CA Housing shortage sparks smart growth talk

March 19, 2003

Calif. planners, lawyers to discuss state's population challenges


Inman News Features

Golden State leaders and legal and planning experts will debate the impact of California's continued housing shortage and what can be done about it at a conference slated for March 21-22 at the University of California in Berkeley, Calif.

The conference, "Smart Growth: Whither Though Goest California," will engage a dialogue that seeks solutions to the challenges of implementing smart growth in the state.

The first seminar discussion will include Sen. Tom Torlakson and Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, and attorneys from Cox, Castle & Nicholson LLP, a California law firm that specializes in the real estate industry, will participate in two key panels discussing the "nuts and bolts" of implementing smart growth.

Deborah Rosenthal will participate in a panel discussing the legal impediments to smart growth, including California Environmental Policy Act review, brownfields liability, regulatory and other issues. Rosenthal, senior counsel in the firm's Orange County office, devotes her practice to land use and environmental law and litigation.

In addition, Robert Doty, a partner in the firm's San Francisco office, will moderate a panel addressing the planning and greenspace preservation aspects of smart growth.

Other panelists include Peter Calthorpe of the Calthorpe Association; Jeff Lambert, director of planning and builder services with the city of Santa Clarita, Calif., and immediate past president, California chapter of the American Planning Association; and Tom Steinbach, executive director of the Greenbelt Alliance.

Copyright: Inman News Service


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