About Us
Legal Counsel for Land Ownership and Development
Founded in 2007 to focus on the law related to the ownership, development, financing, and management of land from Acquisition and Financing, through Development, Zoning and Permitting, Appeals, Leasing, End-Unit Sales, and Ad Valorem Tax Appeals
Recognized Experience & Ability
A former elected planning & zoning, inland wetland and conservation commissioner, counsel to municipalities and municipal land use commissions, and draftsman of land development regulations, the Principal, Gregory J. Cava, has more than 40 years years of experience in the practice of real estate law, an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale Hubbell, a listing in its Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers, election by his peers as a Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL) and the American College of Mortgage Attorneys (ACMA), and listings in Best Lawyers in America and as a Connecticut Super Lawyer [for information on the methodology for selection to Best Lawyers of America click on http://www.bestlawyers.com/about/CT_Methodology.aspx and for Super Lawyers http://www.superlawyers.com/connecticut/selection_details.html
Projects
Clients have included the owners and developers of a billion-plus dollar, four million square foot mixed-use project from negotiation of a land development agreement with the municipality through project approval by the various land use commissions, the owners of apartment buildings, office towers, and retail shopping centers in connection with land use, contract issues, leasing, condemnations, and municipal tax appeals, the buyers, sellers, and owners of residential subdivisions, condominium projects, and single-family estates and homes in a variety of land use matters, buy-sell transactions, and financing of those properties, and more than 100 condominium and property owners associations
PRACTICE AREAS
LAND DEVELOPMENT
The Connecticut Experience Connecticut is divided into 169 municipalities spread over our eight counties. County government was abolished in 1958, so virtually all regulation of land use occurs on the municipal level, though certain land use in the coastal zone and along navigable rivers, as well as development filling a significant amount of inland wetlands, can require state and federal permits. And while there are regional planning agencies, these act only in an advisory manner. To obtain the permit for your shopping mall or other facility is done on a town-by-town basis. Connecticut has a number of nicknames, and the one most apt to the area of land use is "The Land of Steady Habits". In the land use context, this manifests itself in a neighborhood ethic which abhors change of any sort. Yes, the acronym NIMBY, not in my backyard, is alive and well here. Land use commissioners are in every instance, unpaid local volunteers either elected or appointed depending on the municipal charter. They take their jobs seriously, I know because I served on three different commissions in two towns. Few of them are land use lawyers or other land use professionals and many are untrained with experience limited to their service as a commissioner. Every commission follows state law, some in the breach. If the town has a special legislative charter, it may have additional provisions in its regulations and some may supersede state law. Applications to land use commissions are decided based on the evidence in the record of the proceedings. Accordingly whether you are the applicant or an opponent, you would be well advised to be represented by experienced land use counsel to make sure you make a record that will give the Commission what it needs to support its decision, or if it goes the wrong way, to allow you to prevail on appeal.
The Land Use Commissions In Connecticut we have a number of land use boards and commissions. Zoning commissions which enact zoning regulations, may engage in zoning enforcement, or may delegate enforcement to a zoning enforcement officer, and acting administratively handle a variety of zoning permit applications. Planning Commissions develop a decennial plan of conservation and development and approve subdivisions. They may also be vested with the power to approve special permits. Many towns combine the planning and zoning functions in a combined Planning & Zoning Commission. A critical commission is the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) which provides the relief valve in the form of a variance of the zoning regulations in the rare cases in which due to particular conditions on the property in question, a strict enforcement of the zoning regulations results in unusual hardship. The ZBA also hears appeals from certain decisions of other commissions primarily related to zoning enforcement by a zoning commission, for example, and from decisions of the zoning enforcement officer. Inland Wetland and Watercourse commissions regulate activities within, or near enough to affect wetlands and watercourses and handle wetlands enforcement activities with or without a wetlands enforcement officer. Coastal management functions under Connecticut's Coastal Area Management Act are generally given to one of the land use commissions and generally to the zoning commission. Some towns have conservation commissions which manage natural resources. This function is often given to the inland wetlands commission. There are also village district commissions which manage development and land use within established village districts, and historic district commissions which manage development and land use and aesthetics within established historic districts. Some towns like Darien, have established Architectural Review Boards to advise the planning and/or planning and zoning commissions on issues related to building fenestration, aesthetics, and building function in order to preserve the essential character of communities. In addition, some towns have independent boroughs with their own land use commissions. If it seems balkanized, it is. And in the land of steady habits, we like it this way. Another solution to the problem of creating lots for separate ownership which does not require municipal permits or subject the developer to the approval process is the use of what is known as a vertical subdivision, or air-rights subdivision.
The role of the Land Use Lawyer As your land use lawyer, I will assist you and the other members of the development team, which may include land surveyors, engineers, and wetlands and soil scientists, and other professionals, in navigating the shoals of the land use process. This will include meeting with land use officials, preparing the application, in covering what is required, and then in quarterbacking the presentation and assisting in the parrying of opposition. This is where my experience is important. Because I have served on three of the four principal land use commissions (a planning & zoning commission, and an inland wetlands and conservation commission) I have written zoning regulations, enforced zoning regulations, reviewed and acted on most of the sorts of permits issued by these commissions, and know how Commissions approach the regulation of land use from the inside. This permits me to focus on the sorts of issues than can derail an application and to work to resolve potential concerns before the application is submitted. I can assist you with obtaining approval for conventional subdivisions, special permits and special exceptions, site plan approval, variances, zone changes, CAM site plan approval, CAM permits, State Traffic Commission STC Major Generator Certificates, Inland Wetland Regulated Activity Permits, certificates of zoning compliance, and other required land use permits. Win or lose before the commission, in the event it is necessary to defend or prosecute an appeal of the commission's decision to Superior Court, I can represent your interests in preparing, filing, litigating, briefing, and arguing the appeal. A word to the wise, you must act quickly in the appeals arena. Once a decision is made, the board or commission publishes it in the newspaper and a person aggrieved has but 15 days from the date of publication to commence the appeal by the service of process on the necessary party-defendants. Failure to meet this deadline as to certain of the necessary parties, deprives the court of jurisdiction over the appeal and the decision stands.
Assisting the Municipal Land Use Commission Zoning and land use decisions become more contentious with each passing year. As more and more of the available land has disappeared into development in the suburban and rural towns, the remaining open spaces create controversy. As the pace of infill projects in the cities and urban centers accelerates with improvements in the economy, controversy follows in its wake. More than ever, commissioners need a land use lawyer at the table when they make their decisions in order to make sure those decisions stick. From assisting commissioners to craft clear and concise regulations, to helping them apply those regulations to the proposals before them, I can assist your land use commissions in making the kinds of decisions that avoid appeals and when appealed, are more defensible. In addition, I handle land use appeals through trial and if necessary, appeal.
TRANSACTIONS
Purchases and Sales
Whether you want to buy or sell real estate, your very first call should be to your lawyer. Whether your are purchasing 100 acres of land for development, or an office building, a shopping mall, or a new home, the purchase of real estate is a transaction of critical importance to the bottom line of a business, and to the financial well-being of a family or individual. As the law of real property has become more and more complex in recent years, and real estate development and zoning and land use has resulted in an increasing degree of complexity from use restrictions to easements and servitudes to support transportation infrastructure or some other governmental interest, the structuring of transactions to permit you flexibility, particularly if your due diligence reveals existing conditions that make your intended use more expensive or even impossible, and the careful review of the title are more important than ever. Even the listing agreement you sign with a real estate broker can create unexpected issues and because the sales professional can be critical to the realization of your expectations, it is even more important than ever to obtain counsel in negotiating this agreement. The rule of thumb is: if it seems simple and straightforward, it is not. And while there are forms, there is no such thing as a form agreement suitable to any transaction. As expensive as real estate is in Connecticut, off-the-rack will simply not do if you are paying bespoke prices.
In addition to reviewing and negotiating the contract, I will also advise you as to due diligence. This can be quite extensive in a transaction involving certain sorts of commercial property. It may involve obtaining land surveys, environmental site assessments, soil stability testing, permit searches, evaluation of title encumbrances in terms of impacts on future development or use, examination of zoning and land use files and permits, obtaining zoning, land use, and other permits before closing. If the property is a hazardous waste establishment, it will also involve the filing of a declaration under the Connecticut Transfer Act which may necessitate engaging special counsel depending on the complexity of the arrangements required in order to assure you will emerge from the process as relative unscathed as possible. That law is in flux and so requirements will change. There again, my experience in handling real estate transactions goes back to the first file I worked on and has involved multi-million commercial, industrial, retail and residential facilities.
Residential Transactions
In Fairfield and Litchfield Counties, the norm in a residential transaction is still a real estate contract drafted and negotiated by an attorney. This is not the practice in the remainder of the state, but having your lawyer review any contract you are about to sign is still the best practice everywhere. Beware, even in Fairfield and Litchfield Counties, you will most likely be given a document that is not denominated as a contract, but upon careful reading, is precisely that: a valid, binding contract. Only a lawyer, or a court of law, can tell you if what you are signing is a contract. The former can do so for a few hundred dollars. The privilege of having a court make the determination will cost you tens of thousands of dollars and years of aggravation and sleepless nights. A proper contract should reflect all terms agreed upon and other terms necessary to protect the interests of the parties. Do not assume any agreement, even one purporting to be prepared by a lawyer or endorsed by a Bar Association is appropriate. Seek counsel early and do not sign anything without doing so especially in a market that is ever volatile.
Financing
I have represented borrowers and lenders in connection with real estate financing and refinancing. This includes the review of condominium and common interest community documents and title insurance policies for lenders, as well as the preparation and negotiation of commercial loan documentation for lenders, the review and negotiation of this documentation for borrowers and the preparation of third-party opinion letters . I have also advised parties to workouts and handled foreclosures and so understand how the various document elements work and the limitations on remedies and their implications for the transaction. I have taught courses on all aspects of real estate documentation, financing, and due diligence to lawyers and non-lawyers.
Commercial Leasing
I have represented landlords, tenants, and sub-tenants and assignees of the positions of both landlords and tenants in connection with leases of commercial real estate and interests in commercial real estate such as cell and communications towers, transit and parking rights, and other aspects of leasing including the prosecution of appeals of condemnations of tenant-occupied income producing property.
AD VALOREM TAX APPEALS
Whether you own income-producing property such as an apartment building, retail mall, shopping center, or office building where the value of that property is in the income stream, or where the property is the site of your business operations, tax valuation is a critical component of successful operations - and one of the few you can manage. Periodic real property tax reassessment is both an art and a science. The municipality engages an appraiser to conduct a mass appraisal. This process can result in over-assessment and state law provides a process for the property owner, or tenant, opportunities to obtain a correction of the assessment. However, you must act fast because the deadlines are short. In Connecticut, all municipalities that have not otherwise obtained a waiver or other dispensation from the state, must reassess every five years as of a given October 1. If improvements are made to the property, or improvements are removed, there may be interim reassessments. As soon as you receive your notice of reassessment, if you believe your property has been over assessed, it is necessary to act without delay. The time limits to appeal are very short and require prompt action.
The critical first step in winning a municipal tax appeal is to make a careful analysis of the valuation to determine whether or not the appeal has merit. Oftentimes the difference is in knowing how the volatile, quickly turning markets we have experienced in recent years behave and impact valuations. I have represented property owners and municipalities in this process and have achieved favorable results for both positions within a reasonable budget.
The right time to seek my counsel is as soon as you know your town is going to being its assessment process. We can discuss what to look for, the time limits, and we can begin to gather and prepare the information that will be necessary to prosecute your tax appeal and discuss the retaining of an appraiser.
Your ADVOCATE
Just what are you paying for when you hire a lawyer?
What is a client looking for when the client hires a lawyer? Loyalty? Absolutely. Competence? Without question. But the quality that is surprisingly most often overlooked today is professionalism. The single most valuable thing a lawyer has to offer is his or her professional judgment. Sure, I graduated summa cum laude from college and wear the key of a member of Phi Beta Kappa. I’m proud of those accomplishments, but what matters to you, the client, is not that I’m smart enough to tell you what you can do. What matters is whether I have the maturity, wisdom, and professional judgment to help you, when faced with a business dilemma, determine what you should do. Often the hardest thing is to know when you've won.
A word to the wise - you get what you pay for. My hero as a lawyer, Abraham Lincoln, said it best: “A lawyer’s time is his stock-in-trade.” You are paying for my judgment, but it is measured in my time. That’s not to say that I will not negotiate fixed fees. For certain services, I will negotiate a fixed fee. Whether you are hiring me to represent you on the acquisition of a multi-million dollar home, or to take a billion-dollar real estate project through zoning, you are involved in a business transaction and I will work with you to determine what services you need, and we will come to an agreement on what cost and measure of billing is appropriate. We will do that at the commencement of the work. We will often not know in advance what a given representation, particularly where it is complex or where we do not completely control the process, will cost. Again, select a lawyer for professional judgment, and at the end of the day, you should be satisfied with the cost of the result because it is that judgment that is the single most important requirement to achieving a fair result.
"About half the practice of a decent lawyer consists in telling would-be clients that they are damned fools and should stop.
- Elihu Root