Case Study

Folsom Ranch Medical Center

Client: Dignity Health

Lead Attorney: Martha Lofgren

Brewer Lofgren provided land use and government affairs advice leading to the successful entitlement of a hospital expansion project, encompassing 530,000 square feet across three buildings, including a full-service acute care hospital and two medical office buildings.

• Pre-entitlement due diligence advice related to the evaluation of applicable contracts, entitlements, and environmental mitigation requirements on a 27-acre site in the Folsom South Specific Plan area.
• Approved project entitlements included Planned Development Permit and Development Agreement Amendment.
• CEQA: Addendum to previously certified Environmental Impact Report.

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Case Study

Rancho Cordova – The Preserve Development Agreement

Client: Winn Communities

Lead Attorney: Martha Lofgren

Brewer Lofgren negotiated and drafted a development agreement with the City of Rancho Cordova to vest rights on a single-family residential subdivision, also including parks and preserve areas. Development Agreement vested a General Plan Amendment, Rezone, and Tentative Subdivision Map.

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Case Study

Sierra View Rental Housing Apartments

Lead Attorney: Roy Brewer

Approval of a 195-unit rental housing development on 9.6 acres proximate to Sierra College and adjacent commercial development. The prior approved use for the site was for a commercial center with an expansive parking lot. Approval followed negotiations with two school districts and satisfaction of matters expressed by members of the Architectural Review Committee, the Planning Commission, and the City Council, as well as attempts to address concerns raised by members of the public.

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Case Study

Canyon Terrace Rental Housing Apartments

Lead Attorney: Roy Brewer

Approval of a 96-unit expansion of an existing 200-unit rental housing development on approximately 17 acres. The existing development was approved circa 1984 coincident with the approval and construction of single-family residential developments adjacent to the project. Approval followed negotiation of an agreement with a neighborhood association to contribute to the association at the same rate as homeowners do for maintenance of the landscaping along the street frontage to the new development, as well as relocation of some buildings to create greater setback from that same street frontage.

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Case Study

Aerojet Waste Consolidation Unit

Lead Attorney: Roy Brewer

Location: Sacramento County, California

Approval of an amendment to the Aerojet Special Planning Area (SPA) zoning ordinance to accommodate a one million cubic yard Class II landfill on a portion of the property that is already the site of a landfill. The new landfill is for the exclusive use by Aerojet to accept non-hazardous materials from within the Aerojet campus of approximately 12,000 acres. Truck traffic is limited to within the Aerojet property and will not rely on public roadways. Approval of the landfill with conditions avoided an estimated 4.3 million miles of truck traffic on public roadways to transport materials to Class II landfills outside of Sacramento County, as well as an estimated 9.3 million pounds green-house gas emissions associated with diesel truck traffic. Approval followed consultation with the County of Sacramento, the City of Rancho Cordova, the City of Folsom, the Cordova Planning Advisory Committee, and approvals by the Regional Water Quality Control Board, the County of Sacramento and CalRecycle.

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Case Study

Folsom American River Crossing

Client: City of Folsom

Lead Attorney: Martha Lofgren

• As City Manager, Martha Lofgren negotiated agreement between local and federal agencies for a $117M construction project to build Folsom’s American River Crossing
• Personally assisted in negotiations with congressional representatives, US Army Corps of Engineers, and US Bureau of Reclamation for bridge funding after an existing two-lane bridge was closed due to terrorist concerns after 9/11
• Secured local support of SACOG and Sacramento Transportation Authority to include funding in regional transportation funding programs, including Measure A Sales Tax Renewal

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Case Study

Highway 50 Corridor Mobility Partnership

Client: Highway 50 Corridor Mobility Partnership

Lead Attorney: Martha Lofgren

Brewer Lofgren coordinated a public-private partnership consisting of four public agencies (Sacramento County, El Dorado County, Folsom, Rancho Cordova) and four private landowners for the development of a coordinated transportation plan and funding recommendations to alleviate traffic on the Highway 50 Corridor in the eastern Sacramento region. The firm:

• Created alliances with Caltrans, SACOG, and Sacramento Regional Transit District as advisory members to the partnership
• Ensured that Phase 1 of the Highway 50 Program Priority Transportation Improvements was successfully ratified by each of the four public agencies. The firm drafted an ordinance for a regional impact fee and a Memorandum of Understanding to finance the first set of improvements. This memorandum provided a governance structure as an alternative to a more formal Joint Powers Authority and served as a template for a City/County Memorandum of Understanding on development fees
• Successfully obtained $22 million in state funding in 2007 for the Highway 50 Corridor Mobility Partnership. It was the only off-highway project to qualify for such funding

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Case Study

Charitable Land Donation to Public Agencies

Lot A and Lot Y Donations to City of Folsom

Client: Alleghany Properties

Lead Attorney: Martha Lofgren

Negotiated the donation of two separate parcels, owned by private entities, to the City of Folsom via Charitable Donation agreements in exchange for relief from assessment district payments and concurrence by public agency in tax deduction status.

• Prepared Letter of Intents and reviewed appraisals obtained by clients
• Drafted Charitable Donation Agreements and Gift Deeds
• Presented terms to City Manager and City Attorney, as well as providing overview to elected officials of benefits to City
• City agreed to assume assessment payments, relieving landowner of any future financial obligations
• City consented to characterization of transactions to qualify for tax deductions
• One transaction resulted in the preservation of heritage oak trees and potential Native American artifacts, resulting in an award to the landowner by the local Historic Preservation League
• Second transaction resolved issue of agency use of private property for a drainage facility, removing any real development potential for the site

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Case Study

Downtown Sacramento Railyards

Client: Southern Pacific Transportation Co. and, subsequently, Union Pacific Railroad

Lead Attorney: Roy Brewer

Secured eight consecutive unanimous approvals in the 1990s, including the first ever approval of a Specific Plan for ground known to contain contaminated soil and groundwater, and approvals obtained in advance of Remedial Action Plans having been approved or implemented for all of the property. The firm conducted 160+ community meetings and public hearings, including adjacent residential neighborhoods and business districts, various stakeholder interest groups and the Sacramento Environmental Commission, among others.

Approvals included certification of:

• EIR
• Railyards Specific Plan
• Special Planning District Zoning Ordinance
• 1st Tentative Map and Conditions of Approval for the same
• 1st Infrastructure Financing Plan and the 1st Implementation Ordinance
• 1st Development Agreement for the Railyards
• Three-party MOU between SPTCo, DTSC and the City of Sacramento related to protocols to guide development of the property and the extension of 7th Street through an active railyards
• Successfully negotiated the transfer of SPTCo property to the City for eventual transfer to the US General Services Administration for construction of the Federal Courthouse
• Successfully negotiated an agreement defining the terms by which the 7th Street corridor would be remediated on an accelerated schedule and railroad bridge crossings constructed to ensure uninterrupted rail traffic while 7th Street was constructed
• Successfully negotiated a four-party agreement commissioning the initial arena feasibility study
• Assisted the client managing the consultant team during preparation of revisions to the 1994 Railyards Specific Plan and contributed to that effort as land development counsel

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Case Study

Village at Squaw Valley

Client: Intrawest Development Company

Lead Attorney: Roy Brewer

• Represented Intrawest, the largest developer of ski resort properties in North America at the time, during the development of this master planned ski resort community
• Served as counsel for property owner during the process of obtaining the General Plan Amendment, Rezoning, and Map for The Village at Squaw Valley, USA, in Placer County

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