Who is he? Only our best weapon against developers gone wild!To know this guy is to love him! Ask anyone who knows him. I will be reporting on Richard, a North Miami Beach native son, more soon as he was one of the lawyers representing our side at the Lowe's Big Box Administrative Hearing...decision expected very soon!
Richard Grosso is the Executive Director and General Counsel of the Everglades Law Center (ELC) a public interest law firm which represents citizens in South Florida in cases that defend the public interest in environmental and land use matters.
He directs the ELC's public interest litigation practice and clinic at the Shepard Broad Law Center at Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, where he is an Associate Professor. He specializes in land use, growth management and environmental policy and permitting issues.
Richard Grosso has successfully litigated a number of important and precedent setting cases, including: 1) Pinecrest Lakes v. Shidel, where demolition of buildings erected in violation of a local comprehensive plan was ordered by the courts. 2) 1000 Friends of Florida v. Monroe County, the precedent - setting case on the issue of carrying-capacity - based planning. 3) Sierra Club, et al v. Miami-Dade County, which overturned the state approval for a commercial airport at the former Homestead Air Force Base. 4) Fla. Wildlife Fed. & Sierra Club v. US Army Corp of Engineers, which halted construction of a new city on the fringe of the Everglades in western Palm Beach County and resulted in the relocation of the project to an urban infill area.
He won a major victory for citizen enforcement of the Growth Management Act in Poulos v. Martin County, which guaranteed citizens the right to a de novo trial in plan consistency challenges, and co-authored an influential amicus curie brief in the ground-breaking case of Brevard County v. Snyder.
In his prior service to the state of Florida, he successfully argued the inverse condemnation cases of McKay v. DER and Namon v. DER, which strengthened the state's ability to protect wetlands on private property; DCA v. Withlacoochie Regional Planning Council, which upheld the state's authority to require Regional Policy Plans to be consistent with the State Comprehensive Plan; and Homebuilders and Contractors v. Dept. of Community Affairs, which upheld the state's ability to discourage urban sprawl.
Should we care about this guy fighting David and Goliath issues? I think we should take an interest in what he and his staff are doing because what they do is for our benefit and the future of Florida!
From left to right:Richard Hamann, Joel Mintz, Laurie Macdonald, Robert Hartsell (in rear),Richard Grosso, Janet Reno, Thomas Ankersen, Lisa Interlandi, David White. Not pictured: Jason Totoiu, Jennifer Tuby.
(Most of the case details were plagiarized from their website)
10 comments:
I do know Richard Grosso, although I don't "Love" him I do respect him. He has argued impossible cases on behalf of the environment and he has prevailed. Florida is lucky to have him, a man who cares more about animals, plants and all of us than he does about his personal bank-roll.
Take note Greeberg Traurig "intensify land-use for the developer" attorneys labeling themselves as "environmental" attorneys.
I was surprised to see Janet Reno in that photo.
Richard Grosso and his center work on a shoe string budget to address land use issues that make or break the quality of life for residents and visitors. The challenges of opposing the often unlimited resources of developers, law firms and governments is a testament to his abilities.
Richard is a hero. He could be making a lot more money working on the other side of things.
Saint Suburb:
We are not fighting EVERY development and every developer...I don't mind developers at all. I am against certain developers (the gone wild ones) that push for more AND EXPECT that their profit should be maximized at the expense of the rest of us. If a developer buys land zoned farmland or zoned single family, or land on the other side of the UDB, why should it be his right to have it upzoned? The sense of entitlement is what galls me. When Jorge Perez got the Mercy hospital rezoned, that is the only time I had a beef with him. Otherwise, I didn't care how much money he made or how much he built. There are plenty of developers that play fair but there are those that hire big shot lawyers like Lucia and Clifford and get exactly what they want from our less than useless politicians.
Don't be a putz: I SAID "DEVELOPER'S GONE WILD" didn't I!
And, some developers buy wetlands and expect that they will be allowed to fill the land in. How much of our wetlands is lost to development?
I have worked with Richard and Bob Hartsell on several cases. Richard is, bar none, the brightest attorney I have ever dealt with and that includes those high roller developer's attorneys. Bob is no piker either. I don't think any one knows the master plan amendment process better than Richard. The problem is that because he is usually fighting the state in administrative law court he has an uphill battle. Admin court is so tilted in favor of the state even an attorney like Grosso has problems winning. Federal court is a different matter, the rules are more equal and barring a corrupt judge he will win. We all owe him much gratitude. In addition, he is one of the nicest persons I have had the pleasure of knowing.
Genius I read this blog frequently and 90% of stuff posted is anti developer. Just thought Id remind folks some of the positive stuff developers do in case they forget (as apparently some have) FYI I agree strecthing the UDB is ridiculous but politicians and the voters that elect them are as much if not more to blame on that one.
ANON Yes we have to protect wetlands but in a way that makes sense if you buy a sense for ex if you buy a 100 acre tract that has 10 acres of wetlands (AKA Swamp) that are not part of any larger waterway then you should not be robbed by the state via mitigagtion and regulation at the end of the day its consumers who pay higher housing prices and have to get bailed out by the "government" (aka themselves and their fellow taxpayers).
Because Suburb, we focus on the bad mostly not the good, so the developers we talk about are the bad developers. This is sort of like a blog to root out evil...and i guess also to amuse ourselves every so often.
Im not anti-develoepr at all; But there is good development and bad development, but the need to raise campaign money prevents most local politicians from acting on that distinction. I've watched the work of the everglades law center and they do more work that directly impacts south florida than most national environmental groups. They are as talented as the big law firm lawyers and make a big differnce whenever they are able to get involved in a major development issue. They are reasonable and not shrill, adn you can see that agency lawyers and staff and even the developer lawyers ahve a lot fo respect for them. But they dont seem to be well - known enough to have major local financial support. I give to them and encourage others to do so. There have been several important but I guess not huge issues over the years where I or people I know asked them to represent us but they were spread too thin to help. If everyone who cared about these issues gave even small contributions to them, it would make a huge difference.
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