Application Prep and Representation

Land Use Permit application preparation and representation at local review proceedings is a core service of the firm.  Our philosophy is that applications that are well structured and thorough ultimately save clients time and money in the review process.  Proper structure is attained by a having a thoroughgoing understanding of a local government’s procedures as set forth in their respective land development codes but also understanding how the local procedures connect with State appeal processes.  A thorough and well structured application increases the likelihood of a positive staff recommendation and reduces the likelihood of appeal on contested cases.  When CSA applications are appealed to LUBA, we tend to have a high rate of success and only on very rare occasions have our clients ended up with remands that cannot be handled in relatively straightforward terms.

With respect to representation, each principal has his own style.

We manage our project work to align particular projects and jurisdictions with the principal that is the best fit.  We are fortunate to have many outstanding volunteers who fill Planning Commission and City Council positions here in Southern Oregon, but it is still challenging to explain the many complex issues in a land use application to volunteers who have their own “real jobs”.  CSA has developed a number of strategies over the years for effective representation and includes the following:

• Application preparation described above- the more issues we can reach agreement on with the staff the smoother the hearing process will usually be.
• When a case becomes contested, or we expect it to be at the outset, we recommend clients engage legal counsel early in the process so that we can focus on the planning issues and the attorney can respond to legal issues and questions.
• A picture is worth a thousand words – we make sure that our maps, plans and graphics convey the requests in an understandable manner.
• We work hard to be as concise as possible in our verbal presentations and to use plain language that is easy for decision makers to understand.