Neill E. Brower

Neill Brower represents clients throughout California in land use and environmental matters, including permitting and regulatory compliance. His practice involves a broad range of land use laws and regulations, from local planning and zoning regulations to state land use regulations, including the California Subdivision Map Act and Coastal Act, with a particular emphasis on the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and density bonus laws (SB 1818 and AB 2222). Neill’s practice also involves State environmental regulations, including the California Fish & Game Code, Carpenter-Presley-Tanner Hazardous Substance Account Act, and Cal-OSHA; and federal environmental laws and regulations, including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), CERCLA/Superfund Law, RCRA, the Clean Water Act, and OSHA. He has extensive experience working with local jurisdictions and state, regional and federal agencies to obtain regulatory approvals. His experience has ranged from single-family homes to major mixed-use developments. 

Neill also represents lenders in evaluations of potential construction and bridge loans, as well as the ability of foreclosing lenders to complete stalled projects or develop alternatives to failed projects. Representative examples include analyses of apartment buildings for conversion to condominiums; the potential effects of the Ellis Act, Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act, and associated local implementing regulations on redevelopment of a rental housing site; establishing permitting benchmarks to protect a bridge lender and ensure satisfaction of a later take-out by a subsequent lender; and preserving entitlements, completing a foreclosure sale, and evaluating the vesting status of a master-planned residential development.  

Prior to his legal career, Neill worked for 10 years managing and preparing a variety of environmental and urban planning documents, including environmental impact reports and statements, General Plan updates and specific plans, and federal and State natural resources permitting applications. He also provided peer review of planning and technical documents and assisted in developing CEQA compliance guides for the University of California and the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority. Neill’s more notable projects included preparation of environmental impact reports for the UCLA, U.C. Riverside, and U.C. Santa Barbara Long-Range Development Plans, AT&T Park in San Francisco, and the Mission Bay Redevelopment Project. During that time, Neill worked extensively with local and state agencies as clients and as regulators. A former archaeologist, Neill also completed archaeological and historic resources surveys and other technical studies.