Effective Land Use Representation Involves So Much More Than Just Knowing The Law
Knowing the law - the statutes and the cases - is just the start. Even years of experience practicing land use law may not be enough. In this firm's opinion, truly effective land use lawyering is about being able to think like a land use board member, the way someone with years of first-hand board experience thinks, and then about putting that insider's perspective to work to achieve clients' goals.
Truly Effective Representation Requires An Insider's Understanding of How to Achieve Land Use Results
Truly effective representation on land use and zoning matters is about intuitively understanding how planning and zoning boards make decisions. It's about understanding first-hand who and what influences board members to vote a particular way on an application. It's about being able to think like a board member and, accordingly, being able to predict with reasonable accuracy how the planning or zoning board will react to any given element of a client's presentation, These are skills that an attorney with years of experience as a planning and zoning board member, and as an elected official, can offer.
Truly effective representation on land use and zoning matters is also about understanding the roles of the municipal officials who influence a municipality's planning and zoning decisions. It's about understanding first-hand how the zoning officer makes decisions, who and what has the potential to influence him or her and about knowing how to work with the zoning officer to achieve the client's desired results. It's about understanding the roles of the municipality's engineering and planning professionals and the influence that these individuals have on planning and zoning board decisions.
Finally, truly effective land use representation is about intuitively understanding the role of the municipality's mayor and the influence that he or she has the potential to wield over planning board matters, board members and municipal officials generally.
There Is No Substitute for First-Hand Experience
At Erica Edwards, Esq. Law Offices LLC, we bring all of this and more to our representation of each and every land use and zoning client. Located in central New Jersey, our firm's representation on land use and zoning matters is sought-after throughout the State. From the most complex redevelopment project to the most straightforward zoning issue, our clients benefit from Erica Edwards' thirty-five years of experience with land use and zoning issues.
Ms. Edwards' extensive experience includes twenty years as a member of a planning and zoning board during which time she spent a decade as the board's chairman and lead administrator. Her municipal experience also includes nearly a decade as an elected official during which time she served four years as a mayor.
