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Steve’s practice focuses on advising clients on land use and real estate matters relating to a wide variety of residential, commercial, and industrial developments. He assists clients in obtaining all types of land use approvals, including mining permits, shoreline permits, building permits, hydraulic project approvals from the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and aquatic lands leases from the Department of Natural Resources. This assistance regularly includes litigating administrative and judicial appeals of land use decisions. Steve has extensive experience with surface mining projects and shoreline developments, and in helping clients efficiently complete the consultation requirements of the Endangered Species Act, in order to secure permits from the Corps of Engineers. He also frequently assists clients with wetlands issues, easements, rezones, condemnations, and local improvements district (LID) assessments.
Representative Matters
- Represent one of the state's largest surface mining companies in obtaining and updating numerous local, state, and federal permits for several sites in King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties.
- Assist Suncadia, LLC with a variety of land use projects relating to the Suncadia Master Planned Resort and the Cle Elum Urban Growth Area development in Kittitas County.
- Assist The Quadrant Corporation in numerous land use and real estate matters relating to the mixed-use development at Northwest Landing in the City of DuPont.
- Assist businesses and individuals in a wide variety of real estate and land use matters, including plat and site plan approvals, rezones, LID assessment appeals, and permits for residential and commercial shoreline projects.
Professional and Civic Involvement
- Washington State Bar Association (Environmental and Land Use Section).
- Pro bono work for the Pioneer Square Community Development Organization, King County Client Assistance Program, and a non-profit energy conservation institute.
Articles and Presentations
- Program Co-Chair and Moderator for the Shoreline Permitting CLE, sponsored by Law Seminars International, 2007
- Speaker, "State Environmental Policy Act," Navigating the Maze: A Checklist Approach to Land Use and Environmental Law, Washington State Bar Association, October 4, 2002 and October 7, 2004
- Speaker, "The Endangered Species Act: The Response of State Agencies," Hillis Clark Martin & Peterson, P.S., June 1, 2000.
Honors / Awards / Unique Recognition
- Repeatedly recognized as a "Rising Star" by Washington Law & Politics
- Law Clerk to The Honorable Jerome Farris, United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 1995-96
- Attorney Fellow, California Appellate Project, 1994-95
Education
- J.D., Yale Law School, 1994
Stephen J. Massey Public Interest Award (1993) for work with Haitian refugees
Co-Director, Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic, 1992-93 - B.A., Stanford University, 1988
- Phi Beta Kappa
Bar/Court Admissions
- Washington State Courts
- California State Courts
Personal
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Lately I enjoy strolling the shorelines of Magnuson Park and Matthews Beach with my two-year-old son, pointing out the differences between ducks and swallows, and using the wonderful book "Wild Plants of Greater Seattle" to learn the names of our native flora. For bus reading, I favor poetry of all centuries. I’m trying to dust off my piano skills with simple pieces by Schubert.