|
Description of Practice:
Michael Patrick Durkee is a partner, resident in our Walnut Creek office, who focuses his practice in land use, elections, and local government law. He represents developers, builders, property owners, cities, counties, special districts, and interest groups in all aspects of California local government, elections, and land use entitlement, review, and approval processes. He has expertise in the laws and processes regarding local governance, general plans, specific plans, planning, zoning and development, vested rights (common law, development agreements, vesting maps), exactions (fees/dedications), the Subdivision Map Act, Williamson Act, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and local elections (initiative, referendum, recall). Mr. Durkee has been instrumental in the creation, coordination, and implementation of overall entitlement strategy (including defense tactics) for some of California's most controversial development projects, including the San Jose Giants Ballpark Proposal, the Buck Center for Aging and Research, Black Point, Buck Mountain Ranch, and the North Livermore Initiative. He is widely recognized for his expertise in effective negotiation and resolution. Mr. Durkee has extensive expertise regarding "value-enhancing" entitlements and is considered one of the state's top creative land-use minds. He regularly handles the coordination with city/county staff regarding the planning of the project, the negotiation and drafting of all agency documents for legal compliance and tactical advantage, and the coordination of all environmental, planning, and engineering consultants and their reports.
Mr. Durkee is a frequent participant in land use seminars conducted for builders' groups, cities and counties, the University of California Extension, and the State Bar of California. He is a co-author of Ballot Box Navigator (Solano Press 2003), co-author of Land-Use Initiatives and Referenda in California (Solano Press 1990, 1991), the principal author of Map Act Navigator (1997-2006), and runs the site landusenavigators.com , a preeminent online resource about California land use issues. He is a former member of the Advisory Board of The California Land Use Law and Policy Reporter, and the State Assembly Local Government Committee's "Subdivision Map Act Advisory Group." Mr. Durkee is the recipient of the 1992 "Outstanding Instructor" award from the U.C. Davis Extension Land Use Program.
Educational History:
Mr. Durkee received his Bachelors of Science degree from the University of California, Davis in 1981 and was graduated with Distinction from McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific, in 1984. |
