Land Use & Entitlements

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

Ms. Janssens’ practice focuses on assisting clients with land use matters, development of public property, and general municipal and governmental law.  She advises both nonprofit housing developers and public agencies on subjects such as affordable housing requirements, accessory dwelling units, land use entitlements, and the California Environmental Quality Act.  Ms. Janssens additionally has experience in all aspects of municipal law, such as the Brown Act, Public Records Act, and conflicts of interest.  She has worked on many public-private transactions, including redevelopment projects and affordable housing development, and has drafted disposition and development agreements, purchase and sale agreements, development agreements, loan agreements, and regulatory agreements.  In her capacity as an agency attorney, Ms. Janssens has provided legal advice to Planning Commissions, City Councils and Boards of Supervisors.

Education

• B.A., University of California, Berkeley
• J.D., UC Davis School of Law

Previous Employment

• Deputy City Attorney, City of Livermore
• Associate County Counsel, Alameda County
• Deputy County Counsel, Santa Barbara County

Professional and Volunteer Affiliations

• State Bar of California
• League of Cities, Municipal Handbook Chapter Chair
• Mediator Training, 28 hours, Ventura Center for Dispute Settlement, January 2014, WSET Level II certificate