Density Bonuses & Inclusionary Ordinances

Related Practices

› CEQA and NEPA Compliance
› Density Bonuses & Inclusionary Ordinances
› Entitlement Support
› Housing Elements
› New State Housing Laws

Goldfarb & Lipman has drafted density bonus ordinances consistent with 2005 and later revisions to State law with the intent of preserving local discretion to the extent possible. We work to make density bonus ordinances consistent with local inclusionary ordinances and redevelopment agency project area affordable housing production requirements and have drafted combined inclusionary and density bonus ordinances. We have also represented clients regarding density bonus issues involving specific development projects.

Goldfarb & Lipman is in the forefront of creating mixed-income and inclusionary housing programs throughout the State of California. We work with communities throughout the State to draft inclusionary ordinances and provide advice on the legality, establishment and implementation of inclusionary housing programs. We have drafted inclusionary ordinances with many innovative provisions that have included use of inclusionary housing to meet redevelopment production requirements; tiers of affordability and incentives to encourage developers to provide higher levels of affordability; and combined inclusionary and density bonus ordinances. We have often provided guidance on the required CEQA review for inclusionary ordinances and have developed administrative guidelines and the legal documents needed to implement mixed-income programs. We also submitted an amicus brief on behalf of the California League of Cities and others in Home Builders Assn. v. City of Napa, the first reported inclusionary zoning case in California. As part of our services to cities, we regularly work with staff and citizens’ groups and appear at Planning Commission and City Council hearings.

Goldfarb & Lipman has completed a handbook on implementation of mixed-income ordinances, entitled Ensuring Continued Affordability in Homeownership Programs, for the Institute for Local Government (the League of Cities’ nonprofit educational arm). Goldfarb & Lipman attorneys have been frequent speakers on topics related to inclusionary housing, including presentations at the ABA Affordable Housing Conference; League of California Cities City Attorneys sessions and Planners Institute; California Chapter, American Planning Association; Community Redevelopment Association conferences; and Housing California. In addition, Barbara Kautz, one of the firm’s partners, has written a well-recognized law review article entitled “In Defense of Inclusionary Zoning: Successfully Creating Affordable Housing,” 36 U.S.F. L. Rev. 971 (2002).

Related Attorneys

Barbara E. Kautz

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Barbara E. Kautz Attorney bkautz@goldfarblipman.com 510-836-6336

Barbara E. Kautz practices in the areas of land use (especially housing-related land use), CEQA compliance, real estate, economic development, fair housing, and affordable housing. She has assisted public agency clients in a wide variety of matters including compliance with planning and zoning law, real estate transactions, redevelopment dissolution issues, loan and homebuyer documents for affordable housing, CEQA disputes, and compliance with the Fair Housing Act and Fair Employment and Housing Act. She represents nonprofit and for-profit developers regarding land use entitlements and real estate transactions.

Before becoming an attorney, Ms. Kautz worked for 30 years as a planner, planning director, community development director and assistant city manager, concluding her career as Community Development Director and Assistant City Manager for the City of San Mateo. During that period she served on the Board of Directors for the League of California Cities and on the Board of Directors for the American Planning Association, California Chapter.

Ms. Kautz is a frequent speaker at conferences, including those sponsored by the League of California Cities, American Planning Association, Housing California, and Nonprofit Housing Association for Northern California. She is the co-author of Local Government Financing Powers and Sources of Funding in the ABA Legal Guide to Affordable Housing(2005, update 2011) and author of In Defense of Inclusionary Zoning: Successfully Creating Affordable Housing, 36 U.S.F. Law Review 971 (2002).

Education

A.B., Stanford University, cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa
Masters in City Planning, University of California, Berkeley, Mellon Fellow
J.D., University of San Francisco School of Law, summa cum laude, Articles Editor, USF Law Review

Professional and Volunteer Affiliations

Fellow, American Institute of Certified Planners
Municipal Law Handbook Committee, League of California Cities
Urban Land Institute
Association of Environmental Professionals

Published Appellate Opinions

Latino Unidos del Valle de Napa y Solano v. County of Napa (2013) 217 Cal.App.4th 1160
Haro v. City of Solana Beach (2011) 195 Cal.App.4th 542
Trinity Park L.P. v. City of Sunnyvale (2011) 193 Cal.App.4th 1014
St. Vincent’s School for Boys v. City of San Rafael (2008) 161 Cal.App.4th 989

Colleen Wisel

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Dolores Bastian Dalton

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Erin Lapeyrolerie

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Estrella Lucero

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Gabrielle Janssens

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Heather Gould

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Jocelyn Portales

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Karen M. Tiedemann

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Karen M. Tiedemann Attorney ktiedemann@goldfarblipman.com 510-836-6336

Karen Tiedemann practices in the areas of real estate transactions, affordable housing, nonprofit organization, and environmental law.

Ms. Tiedemann advises public agencies and nonprofit housing developers on affordable housing matters. She represents numerous agencies and nonprofit corporations on the development, financing and management of low- and moderate-income projects and programs. Her affordable housing work includes advising clients on compliance with fair housing laws. Ms. Tiedemann is a frequent speaker on relocation and fair housing issues. She is also a co-author of Between the Lines, a Question and Answer Guide on Fair Housing in Supportive Housing, which was updated in 2010.

Ms. Tiedemann represents numerous housing cooperatives, providing advice on compliance with Davis-Stirling, the limited equity cooperative law, HUD financing, Department of Real Estate regulations, and other laws and regulations impacting cooperatives. She has also formed numerous limited equity cooperatives. Ms. Tiedemann is a frequent speaker on the formation and management of cooperatives.

Ms. Tiedemann has negotiated and drafted transaction documents for complex developments involving multiple uses, including transactions that involved the acquisition of numerous properties and the relocation of business and residential tenants. She also advises clients on compliance with environmental laws, including shepherding developments through CEQA.

Additionally, as general or special counsel to several public agencies, Ms. Tiedemann provides advice on compliance with the Brown Act, the Fair Political Practices Act and Public Records Act, as well as general law questions.

Education

A.B., University of California, Berkeley
Masters in City Planning, University of California, Berkeley
J.D., University of California, Berkeley School of Law, Order of the Coif honors
Associate Editor, Ecology Law Quarterly

Professional and Volunteer Affiliations

State Bar of California
California Center for Cooperative Development, Board Member

Lynn Hutchins

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M David Kroot

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M. Hickey

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Nazanin Salehi

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Rye P. Murphy

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Thomas H. Webber

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Thomas H. Webber Attorney twebber@goldfarblipman.com 213-627-6336

Thomas Webber’s practice is focused on community economic development, real estate, affordable housing, nonprofit and municipal law.

Mr. Webber represents numerous public agencies and nonprofit developers on mixed-use and commercial projects. He has negotiated and drafted disposition and development agreements, loan documents, and ground leases for complex mixed-use developments, including finance documents for new markets tax credit transactions. Mr. Webber’s work in this area involves structuring complex development transactions involving public and private partnerships, advising clients on public and private financing structures and all aspects of development issues, including CEQA-related and real property security issues.

Mr. Webber represented the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles on various aspects in the development of Staples Center, the Marriott Convention Center Hotel, and the new Broad Museum. He represents the City of Santa Clara in development of the new stadium to be home to the San Francisco 49ers, providing advice on financing, construction and operation issues related to the stadium.

He also represents public agencies and nonprofit organizations on the development, financing and management of affordable housing and mixed-use projects and programs that utilize state assistance, including MHP and MHSA financing, and federal assistance, including, tax credits and CDBG, NSP and HOME financing.

Mr. Webber also works with a wide variety of nonprofit entities, including school districts, affordable housing developers, and other charitable organizations providing legal guidance regarding nonprofit operations and administration, tax issues, as well as matters related to property, real estate, and other corporate and organizational matters.

Education

B.A., University of Massachusetts, Amherst
J.D., Golden Gate University School of Law

Previous Employment

Assistant to the City Attorney, Office of City Attorney, City of Oakland
Planner, Office of Economic Development and Employment, City of Oakland

Professional and Volunteer Affiliations

State Bar of California

Thomas J. Levendosky

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