Overview
Gunster attorneys are committed to seeing the bigger picture regarding environmental and land use challenges. Our team seeks to assemble the many pieces of a “project puzzle” into a cohesive picture. Gunster represents a sophisticated clientele. Our attorneys serve public and private, national and international organizations who own, lease, develop, finance and manage agricultural, commercial office, retail, energy, industrial, residential and mixed use properties throughout Florida and the United States. Our lawyers represent clients in all aspects of land use, environmental, property rights, development and acquisition matters.
Gunster’s mission is to deliver effective legal counsel and manage the risks associated with continually changing environmental regulations. For decades, Gunster attorneys have advised on environmental issues including permitting and compliance, the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and the Comprehensive Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (CERCLA), among others. Our attorneys represent clients before federal, state and local agencies; administrative and judicial tribunals; and in federal and state courts. Gunster advises purchasers and sellers of agricultural, commercial and industrial property on their environmental rights and liabilities. Our environmental practice includes:
- Air quality and emissions
- Endangered species and habitat conservation
- Mitigation banking
- Remediation and cleanup
- Water quality and water quality trading
- Water resource and consumptive use permitting
- Wetlands
- Environmental resource permitting
Gunster attorneys seek to guide clients through Florida’s increasingly complicated land use regulations. Our goal is for our clients to benefit from our commitment to a practical approach to the financial implications of governmental approvals, conditions and the time required to procure entitlements. Because of the firm’s many locations throughout Florida, Gunster attorneys endeavor to remain entrenched in the multitude of communities they serve. Our dedication to our continued relationships with city, county and state agency attorneys and staff, commissioners and planning authorities are often an invaluable resource for clients. Our team’s experience includes waterfront/coastal development, urban redevelopment and mixed-use projects.
Our land use experience includes:
- Annexations
- Architectural review and landmark designations
- Comprehensive planning
- Concurrency management
- Development entitlements and permitting
- Developments of regional impact (DRIs)
- Tax increment financing
- Transit-oriented developments
- Zoning and rezoning
Gunster attorneys strive to provide uncommon solutions to reach common ground on a host of environmental and land use matters. Whether our attorneys are conducting due diligence, dealing with code enforcement, environmental and land use rule making, rural land and agricultural permitting, climate change and sustainable development, state, federal or administrative litigation or involved in governmental relations and counseling, Gunster’s attorneys, staff and in-house planners strive to consistently achieve results. In addition, Gunster is also retained to advise clients on development financing, community development and special taxing district questions, as well as energy project development matters.
Property rights are a major component of Gunster’s practice. Gunster has assembled a team of attorneys who support property owners and developers in maximizing the value of their land. Gunster’s objective is to navigate and lead clients through property rights obstacles in areas such as eminent domain, inverse condemnation and property (ad valorem) tax disputes. Gunster lawyers work to resolve claims pertaining to constitutional protections and under the Bert J. Harris Act, as well as through Florida Land Use and Environmental Dispute Resolution Act proceedings.
Gunster is determined to put the right people together — those who can efficiently answer substantive environmental, land use and property rights questions. The mission of our attorneys, planners and staff is to readily identify and work with local contacts who are critical to achieving a desired outcome. Our Environmental and Land Use team has decades of experience in pursuing creativity when seeking to mitigate problems and design optimal solutions for a variety of clients.
