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June 2008 June 5, 2008 - Santa Barbara Independant Shootout at Miramar Corral - Full EIR Could Prompt Developer Caruso to Leave While he wouldn’t give specifics, Coast Law Group attorney Marco Gonzalez said “documents and files maintained by the county show a pointed effort to push this project through at the expense of a full investigation and public disclosure.” He expected to release more details on documents he uncovered in a public records search at a future date. Read Full Story »
June 3, 2008 - San Diego City Beat Developer vs. Developer Gonzalez has been monitoring the Quarry Falls planning process on behalf of the group Save Our Forests and Ranchlands and is concerned that the city has forced Sudberry to spend energy and money on auto-oriented improvements that would be better spent on public transit. Read Full Story »
May 2008 May 16, 2008 - Ramona Sentinel County Corks Boutique Winery Ordinance
April 2008 April 23, 2008 - Voice of San Diego Nevada Record Dogs Francis' Green Push Environmentalists are clearly intrigued by Francis' promises. Marco Gonzalez, an attorney who has represented local environmental groups, said he's optimistic that Francis could offer an alternative to Sanders, but said he found it hard to support someone with Francis' "conservative mojo." "Anybody who campaigns on promises of good environmental deeds, it's hard to believe a little bit. I'll stay hopeful, but I'm not willing to throw my full support behind someone with an untested track record," Gonzalez said. "I don’t think anyone would be so fooled to think that Steve Francis is a male version of Donna Frye." Read Full Story » April 10, 2008 - CNNMoney.com Stop Oahu North Shore Development Judges Asked to Stop Development on Oahu's North Shore In an effort to stop long-planned hotels and condos from being built on Oahu's North Shore, conservation groups asked an appeals court Wednesday to step in. Opponents of the Turtle Bay resort development say the 3,500-unit expansion would destroy the North Shore's largely rural character, add traffic congestion and threaten endangered sea turtles and monk seals. Read Full Story » April 10, 2008 - The Honolulu Advertiser Turtle Bay Hearing Revisits Environmental Impact Public input matters when it comes to the proposed expansion of Turtle Bay, according to the attorney who argued yesterday that the city should have ordered a supplemental environmental impact statement for the project now that the owner is moving ahead with it after 23 years. ... California attorney Rory Wicks of Coast Law Group said the Hawai'i Environmental Policy Act calls for a supplemental study when a project has changed, causing likely changes of the impacts to the surrounding area. Read Full Story » April 9, 2008 - KHON2 - Honolulu Appeals Court Hears Turtle Bay Case Rory Wicks, the attorney for Keep the North Country and the Sierra Club argued before the three judge panel, saying conditions on the North Shore have changed dramatically since the original EIS was completed in 1985. He asked that a lower court's decision to not require a supplemental environmental review be overturned. Read Full Story » April 9, 2008 - KITV.com - Hawaii Appeals Court Hears Arguments On Turtle Bay Expansion The Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals heard arguments on Wednesday over the future of development on the North Shore near Turtle Bay Resort. Kuilima Resort Co. wants to build a subdivision and expand Turtle Bay Resort, based on an approval it got in 1985. Lawyers for North Shore residents trying to stop the expansion want the court to require the developer to produce a new environmental impact statement. "All we're asking is that they do what the law requires. They should consider the environmental impact on this project, especially such a giant project, a dinosaur project, a project that was approved 23 years ago and hasn't been built," attorney Rory Wicks said. Read Full Story »
March 2008 March 18, 2008 - San Diego City Beat Going Underground - Could A Subway Break A Deadlock And Start A C Street Renaissance? Two years ago... City officials announced the formation of a committee to write a plan to reinvigorate C Street and turn it into a new commercial core. Alas. “I’ve never seen anything quite like this in a city,” said Sachin Kalbag, C Street project manager for Centre City Development Corporation (CCDC), which administers redevelopment Downtown. “We’ve been deadlocked a year-and-a-half on one issue.” Read Full Story » March 15, 2008 - North County Times Water Pollution Cops Reject Vista Settlement - City Faces Public Hearing, $1.1 Million Fine In a move that surprised Vista and Carlsbad officials this week, San Diego Regional Water Quality Control board members rejected a $700,000 fine that the cities had negotiated with the agency's staff. The cities now face a public hearing in June with the agency ---- the county's water pollution police ---- and the possibility of a larger fine, perhaps the $1.1 million figure that the control board recommended before settlement talks. Read Full Story » March 5, 2008 - Voice of San Diego 'Showers to Flowers' Struggles For Foothold The practice of using bathwater for irrigation, known as gray water recycling, has not spread widely across San Diego County. Since 1999, the county has issued just 53 permits for gray water recycling systems throughout the region. Despite the increased attention on this arid county's need to conserve and reuse every drop of water it can, gray water recycling hasn't gained widespread popularity. In a region where irrigation is responsible for 50 percent of all water consumption, the process could reduce demand for potable water. But gray water is untreated and, if done improperly, has the potential to pollute groundwater supplies or other waterways. Read Full Story » March 2, 2008 - North County Times Questions Pile Up For Carlsbad Desal Plant - Control Board Again Raises Environmental Concerns For the second time in three months, a government agency has raised environmental concerns about a plan to take seawater out of the ocean off Carlsbad and turn it into drought-proof drinking water. "It's absurd to us that any agency could pre-approve a project of this magnitude without having this information already tied down," said Marco Gonzalez, an environmental lawyer active in the Surfrider Foundation, which has sued to overturn the commission's permit approval. Read Full Story »
February 2008 February 7, 2008 - Voice of San Diego Live From Del Mar, It's The Toll Road Show On a day when the commission voted 8-2 to reject a plan to build a 16-mile toll road through San Onofre State Beach, a 3,000-acre state park that runs along San Diego County's northern border with Orange County, the atmosphere felt more like a concert tailgate than a formal government meeting. At least 2,000 people turned out to voice their opinions about the proposed project. Read Full Story »
January 2008 January 15, 2008 - San Diego Union Tribune Environmental Groups Sue Over Desalination Two environmental groups are suing the California Coastal Commission, challenging its approval of a proposed ocean-water desalination plant in Carlsbad. The lawsuit was due to be filed in San Diego Superior Court yesterday, said Marco Gonzalez, an attorney who prepared it on behalf of the Surfrider Foundation and Planning and Conservation League. Read Full Story »
Decemer 2007 December 7, 2007 - The Daily Californian Berkeley U-Haul To Stay Open While Awaiting Lawsuit Resolution According to Aran Wong, an attorney for U-Haul, the center has not been cited for parking its trucks on the street during the past year. He also said the original agreement between U-Haul and the city does not limit the capacity of the property. Read Full Story »
November 2007 November 21, 2007 - San Diego Union Tribune Officials Seek Third Sewage Waiver :: Plan Avoids $1.5 Billion In Upgrades To Facility The City Council set up a high-stakes showdown with environmentalists yesterday when it decided to seek a third waiver from federal law for the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant, which empties into the Pacific Ocean.... "It's the same old story. Nobody wants to spend money today. Nobody wants to plan for the future,” said Marco Gonzalez, a lawyer for the Coastkeeper and Surfrider groups. Read Full Story » November 21, 2007 - Voice of San Diego Litigation Likely as Council Pursues Sewage Waiver The City Council on Tuesday agreed by a 7-1 vote to apply for a waiver that would permit San Diego to continue dumping sewage into the Pacific Ocean at a level that doesn't meet federal standards. Marco Gonzalez, a Surfrider Foundation attorney, said environmentalists wanted the city to make a formal declaration supporting toilet-to-tap before they would endorse the waiver. With Sanders opposed to toilet-to-tap, Gonzalez said he worried the city's commitment was tenuous. Read Full Story » November 15, 2007 - San Diego Union Tribune Sanders Vetoes Water-Recycling Project :: Pilot Program Seen As Too Expensive Two local environmental leaders criticized Sanders' veto at a council committee hearing on the issue. Both urged the council majority that proposed the program to override Sanders' veto. They were Marco Gonzalez, a lawyer who represents the environmental groups Surfrider Foundation and San Diego Coastkeeper, and Jim Peugh, Sanders' environmental appointee to a panel that advises the mayor on water and sewer financial issues. Read Full Story » November 14, 2007 - Fox6News.com Reycled Water Mayor Jerry Sanders today vetoed a recent City Council action that authorized a pilot program to use recycled wastewater to supplement San Diego's drinking water supply. Sanders said his decision was a financial one. Read Full Story » November 7, 2007 - North County Times Carlsbad Sends Time-Share Concept Back For Redesign :: Project Along Agua Hedionda Lagoon Called Too Dense The city's planning commissioners were unanimous in their view Wednesday that a proposed 26-unit, time-share condominium project will need redesigning if it is to fit with the surrounding residential neighborhood along Agua Hedionda Lagoon. Read Full Story »
October 2007 October 30, 2007 - North County Times State Commission Starts Desal Project Review Roughly 250 people packed into a state hearing Tuesday, many of them arguing that a proposed desalination project in Carlsbad could help protect this drought-stricken region as it confronts a dwindling water supply... Gonzalez, the environmental attorney, focused on the pipe issue during his testimony. If the desalination plant will be the sole user of the pipe, then the commission needs to order Poseidon to do an additional environmental review, he argued. Read Full Story » October 20, 2007 - North County Times Time-Share Project Proposed For Lagoon Site Environmental attorney Todd Cardiff, who's been hired by several property owners in the area to fight the plans, said it's the sort of project no one would want next door. Everything from its proposed roof-top observation area ---- he calls it a "party deck" ---- to the lack of extra parking for boat trailers is going to cause trouble, he said. Read Full Story » October 19, 2007 - 10News.com Is San Diego County Facing Water Crisis? San Diego County is in the driest two-year period since record-keeping began in 1801. It rained in San Diego on Sept. 22, and it did not rain very much -- just 0.05 of an inch at Lindbergh Field. It was the first measurable rainfall in San Diego in 151 days... "I think a lot of people like to deny the fact that we live in the desert and imagine our water comes from a pristine source," said environmental lawyer Marco Gonzalez. Gonzalez represents the environmental groups Coastkeeper and Surfrider. Read Full Story » October 12, 2007 - Voice of San Diego The Battle for Mount Soledad Rory Wicks, who represented La Jolla landowners in litigation against the city after a landslide in the early 1990s, and Patrick Catalano, who is representing three of the homeowners affected by last week’s collapse, both explained the geology of landslides in the same basic way. Read Full Story » October 2 - 10News.com City Attorney Presides Over Water Forum City Attorney Michael Aguirre presided over a community forum on water conservation Tuesday, during which he renewed his call for reclaimed water to be used to help fill San Diego's reservoirs. Other panelists at Tuesday's forum included, local labor leader Jerry Butkiewicz; Bruce Reznick, executive director of San Diego Coastkeeper; Marco Gonzalez, attorney for the Surfrider Foundation; and Don Wood, senior policy advisor for the Pacific Energy Policy Center. Read Full Story »
September 2007 September 26, 2007 - San Diego Union Tribune A U-Turn On Toll Road Council Reverses Itself, Opposes San Onofre Plan Reversing its position from a year ago, the San Diego City Council yesterday voted to oppose a proposed toll road that would cut across San Onofre State Beach and a nature preserve in Orange County. The 17-mile extension of state Route 241 would link Oso Parkway in Rancho Santa Margarita to Basilone Road at Interstate 5, along the northern edge of Camp Pendleton. Read Full Story » September 17, 2007 - San Diego Union Tribune Surfers Paddle Out To Attack Pollution “People already had ideas about clean water – they just didn't know how many others agreed with them,” Sirota said. Yesterday's event was a mini-festival, with a rock band, corporate sponsors, vendor stands and speeches by local politicians – most notably San Diego City Councilwoman Donna Frye, the grande dame of San Diego's surfer class. Read Full Story » September 14, 2007 - North County Times Coastal Cities Will Be Asked To Split Cost Of Sand Study In Massive Replenishment Project Todd Cardiff, an attorney with the Encinitas-based Coast Law Group and a member of the Surfrider Foundation's local advisory board, said project planners must ensure sand replenishment does not alter or harm the reefs that form waves for surfing. "In general, we do support sand replenishment and beach-building," Cardiff said, "but it has to be done in a way that takes into account potential impacts to surfing." Read Full Story »
May 2007 May 17, 2007 - San Diego Union Tribune Report Urges New Look At Two Border Sewage Ideas The U.S. government has been fixated on one partial remedy for the Tijuana River sewage problem and needs to quickly reconsider two alternatives it rejected. Read Full Story » May 10, 2007 - San Diego Union Tribune Border Sewage Plant Delayed - Commission Suspends All Bajagua Wastewater Plans A major effort to improve treatment of Tijuana sewage has stalled at the U.S. agency that is under orders to upgrade its faulty wastewater plant in San Ysidro... "For someone now to say we should stop (and) consider another project is the height of irresponsibility and ignorance," said Gary Sirota, a Bajagua lawyer. Read Full Story » May 4, 2007 - Voice of San Diego Environmental Review Suffers Setbacks, Divides Officials Local environmentalists have made strides in several recent lawsuits against the city of San Diego over its supervision of local development, with the city's top two elected officials consistently at odds over a key environmental safeguard. Read Full Story » May 1, 2007 - Voice of San Diego Border Sewage Plant Delayed - Commission Suspends All Bajagua Wastewater Plans Smokey Bear looked happy to see Mayor Jerry Sanders on Saturday at an Arbor Day tree-planting ceremony at Kate O. Sessions Memorial Park in Pacific Beach... "I don’t think Sanders is willing to put himself in the crosshairs in the way Schwarzenegger has on global warming," said Marco Gonzalez, an environmental law attorney who has represented San Diego Coastkeeper and City Councilwoman Donna Frye. "I see it more as public perception, and it's no secret that what happens on the 11th floor (of City Hall) is driven by public relations and not straightforward policy considerations. A lot of it is just for show." Read Full Story »
April 2007 April 10, 2007 - The GuardianJudge Blocks Construction of Local Jewish Center Attorney Todd Cardiff of Coast Law Group represented the two citizen parties that sued Hillel: Taxpayers for Responsible Land Use and the La Jolla Shores Association. The parties filed the lawsuit because of community and environmental impact concerns. There is considerable apprehension among the residents of the nearby La Jolla Shores neighborhood that the proposed student center is inappropriate for the community. Read Full Story » April 5, 2007 - The Log Lawsuit On Hold, Fireworks Resume at SeaWorld Coastkeeper contends SeaWorld's fireworks shows potentially dump up to 40,000 pounds of fireworks into Mission Bay every year, the group's attorney Marco Gonzalez said in a KPBS radio interview last year in defense of his group's lawsuit. Whether SeaWorld is able to continue its fireworks program may depend upon the feedback the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board gets from state and federal authorities. If it is decided SeaWorld is polluting the bay, it could mean an end to most over-water fireworks displays along the coast. Read Full Story »
March 2007 March 28, 2007 - San Diego City Beat Rose Canyon’s Great Escape - City Council Backs Off From Building A Bridge Across North-City Ravine—For Now A new environmental review does not preclude the bridge from being built. "We're looking for the same thing we were looking for originally,” said Marco Gonzalez, another attorney for Friends of Rose Canyon, "an honest comparison between feasible alternatives to best serve the community.” Read Full Story » March 23, 2007 - Los Angeles Daily Journal RIAA Sends More Letters On Music Downloading In a second round of settlement notices targeted at college students accused of illegally downloading music, the Recording Industry Association of America sent 405 new letters Wednesday to administrators nationwide, including 57 addressed to unnamed students in the University of California system. Seyamack Kouretchian, a partner at Coast Law Group in Encinitas who represents a USC student targeted by the organization, said the pre-lawsuit option "is misleading to shell-shocked students" who receive the notices. Read Full Story » March 13, 2007 - North County Times Environmental Groups Appeal Oceanside Lagoon-Front Hotel Several local environmental groups have appealed a controversial hotel project slated for the banks of Buena Vista Lagoon to the California Coastal Commission. Encinitas attorney Marco Gonzalez said Tuesday that he filed an appeal with the commission on grounds that the project violates Oceanside's coastal plan ---- guidelines for developments close to the beach ---- and that it will block views of, and access to, Buena Vista, the lagoon shared by Carlsbad and Oceanside. "They are putting a gigantic structure, completely out of character with the neighborhood, right on the edge of the lagoon," Gonzalez said. Read Full Story » February 2007 February 27, 2007 - www.10News.com San Diego Water, Sewer Rates To Increase Marco Gonzalez, an attorney for San Diego Coastkeeper, said recent efforts by the city to maintain and replace aging pipelines has resulted in an 84 percent reduction in sewer spills. "If we don't continue the strides we have made so far we will fall back into that morass we were in for 30 years," he said. Read Full Story » February 23, 2007 - San Diego Union Tribune Water And Sewer Rate Increases Appear Inevitable Sanders stood with three environmental advocates yesterday in support of the higher rates at a news conference near a storm drain outfall on San Diego Bay. Two environmentalists, Bruce Reznik and Marco Gonzalez, the executive director and a lawyer for San Diego Coastkeeper respectively, have been negotiating a legal settlement with city officials to improve the sewer system and reduce spills. Read Full Story » February 20, 2007 - San Diego Union Tribune Coastal Panel Pick Becoming Political Saga North County attorney Marco Gonzalez, who helped broker the access-for-endorsement deal with Hueso, declined last week to speculate on what is hanging up the appointment. “It sounds to me like the speaker needs more time to be certain his decision is the right one,” Gonzalez said. Read Full Story » January 2007 January 22, 2007 - Voice of San Diego Key Supporters of Bay-Front Deal Back Off In separate letters sent to the Unified Port of San Diego this month, a coalition of environmental groups and a local electricians union said the bay-front project poses risks to public health and surrounding wildlife that would scuttle their longtime support for the behemoth development if the project isn't significantly altered or more thoroughly studied. "Indeed if these issues are not addressed ... the Coalition may not be able to support the proposed project at all," Marco Gonzalez of the Coast Law Group, the attorney for the environmentalists wrote in a Jan. 11 letter. Read Full Story » January 18, 2007 - North County Times San Marcos Residents Get Armed With Legal Advice About 30 people, many of them activists in the community who regularly attend City Council sessions and various hearings, met at the Lake San Marcos Resort & Country Club for a two-hour seminar by environmental attorney Marco Gonzalez. Read Full Story » January 11, 2007 - San Diego Union Tribune Ailing Surfer Suing Groups Over Cardiff Beach Pollution A North County surfer who says he is suffering from brain stem encephalitis has sued several agencies and conservation groups alleging that they failed to keep ocean waters clean enough and did not properly alert beachgoers to contamination at Cardiff State Beach. Read Full Story » January 10, 2007 - Voice of San Diego Sick Surfer Sues Over Dirty Water A Carlsbad surfer has sued several local governments and two nonprofit conservation groups, claiming he contracted a potentially deadly brain infection because he was exposed to sewage while surfing. Read Full Story » January 8, 2007 - Voice of San Diego Regulatory Gap Stifles Pollution Control Tap your brakes, and the pads shed the slightest bit of copper. Peel out on the road, and your tires leave behind traces of zinc that hang in the air.... When those air pollutants eventually settle on the ground, along the shoulders of roads and interstates, rainfalls wash them into nearby creeks and streams. They end up as water pollution and affect the growth and reproduction of marine life such as sea urchins, mussels and oysters. And water regulators are powerless to regulate car tires and brakes, prohibiting them from controlling the pollution at its source. Read Full Story »
December 2006 December 15, 2006 - San Diego Union Tribune Sewer Plant May Again Seek Delay In a move with huge budget implications for the region, San Diego is taking its first steps toward seeking another five-year exemption from national water pollution standards for its Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant. Read Full Story » December 11, 2006 - Monterey County Herald Seawall Plan Has Support Eight years after relocating its fifth hole closer to the ocean, the Pebble Beach Co. wants to build a seawall to head off potential erosion on the coastal bluffs below the green on the par-3 No. 5 at its Pebble Beach Golf Links course. Read Full Story » December 7, 2006 - Voice of San Diego Who Wants The Bully Pulpit? That's not all. Today I spoke with Marco Gonzalez. He is a lawyer and adviser to the Surfrider Foundation. He confirmed that a coalition of environmental groups would be making public a letter soon supporting Cushman and recommending he be able to take that third term... Read Full Story » December 1, 2006 - San Diego Union Tribune Settlement Offered In Sea Wall Lawsuit - Foundation Seeks New Impact Report With negotiations at a standstill, lawyers for an environmental group that sued the city over sea walls are offering a compromise they say would protect both property owners and the coastline. Marco Gonzalez, an attorney representing the Surfrider Foundation, hand-delivered a settlement proposal to Mayor David Powell at a City Council meeting Wednesday. Read Full Story »
November 2006
November 17, 2006 - San Diego Union Tribune Neighbors Object To Sea Wall Plan A proposed sea wall that would shore up the sagging Beacons Beach bluff hit a glitch last night when residents who live near the beach strenuously opposed the idea and Planning Commissioners urged city staffers to look at other options to save the bluff. Read Full Story » November 16, 2006 - Santa Barbara Independent Rincon’s Wild Ride Victory at Last for the South Coast Septic-to-Sewer Project On September 19, 2006, the Carpinteria Sanitary District (CSD) board room was filled with surfers young and old listening to the district board discussion of the environmental documents supporting the South Coast Beach Communities Septic-to-Sewer project. When the board approved those documents - and, finally, the project itself - the room erupted in cheering and applause, but those of us from Heal the Ocean sat there stunned, not sure whether to clap, cheer, or fall over dead. Read Full Story » November 16, 2006 - San Diego Union Tribune San Diego Mayor Faces Fight Over Plan To Raise $1.4 Billion To Fix Aging Water, Sewer System Marco Gonzalez, an attorney for local environmental groups, said the wastewater department made progress by slashing sewage spills. But he said much more work remains. For example, San Diego has counted more than 100 water-main breaks each year since at least 1999. “What people need to remember is that we neglected our sewer system for more than 30 years, so naturally it will take us a few years to catch up,” Gonzalez said. Read Full Story » November 15, 2006 - North County Times Surfrider To Challenge Beacon's Beach Study An environmental impact report examining the planned Beacon's Beach Access Project is vague and incomplete in its assessment of possible harm to the beach, an attorney representing the San Diego chapter of the Surfrider Foundation said Wednesday.... But the report fails to analyze whether importing sand would effectively make up for beach erosion and the extent to which beach-building might affect surfing at the beach below Neptune Avenue at Leucadia Boulevard, said Todd Cardiff of the Encinitas-based Coast Law Group. Read Full Story » November 12, 2006 - San Diego Union Tribune Padilla Tough To Replace On Coastal Panel Local environmental leaders are huddling to decide whom they favor to replace Chula Vista Mayor Steve Padilla on the California Coastal Commission... Environmental attorney Marco Gonzalez, a former San Diego Surfrider chapter chairman, said that just because Frye isn't a Latina doesn't mean she won't meet Nuñez's criteria. Read Full Story » November 10, 2006 - San Diego Union Tribune Land Deal, Push From Mayor's Ally Linked In Suit Top city officials slashed the price on a controversial La Jolla land sale under pressure from a high-powered consultant with ties to Mayor Jerry Sanders, according to a lawsuit filed against the city. Attorneys for the La Jolla Shores Association and some other La Jolla residents have asked a judge to block the sale to Hillel of San Diego, approved by the San Diego City Council in May. Read Full Story » November 3, 2006 - San Diego Union Tribune Lines Drawn In Sand Over Sea Wall The fight over sea walls that consumed Solana Beach is spreading to Encinitas. This time, however, environmentalists are not opposing sea walls that protect bluff-top homes, but a sea wall that would shore up the hillside above Beacons Beach, the third most popular beach in Encinitas behind Moonlight and Swami's. Read Full Story » November 2, 2006 - City Beat Mayor Sells La Jolla Land At A Discount, Court Papers Show; Neighbors Call It Backroom Deal High-level staff in the office of San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders influenced the discounted sale of city land in La Jolla to a Jewish student organization, according to documents filed in court last week. Read Full Story »
October 2006 October 31, 2006 - BlogSpot.com Shawn Hogan Moves To Dismiss MPAA Case On Ground of Defective Copyright Registration In Universal v. Hogan, the MPAA's case against internet executive Shawn Hogan, based upon alleged file sharing concerning a single film -- "Meet the Fockers" -- Mr. Hogan's attorney, Seyamack Kouretchian of Coast Law Group, has made a motion to dismiss the complaint on the ground that the copyright registration was defective. According to Mr. Hogan's papers, the copyright registration was not applied for until two (2) months after the applicant had previously sold off the rights to "Meet the Fockers". October 31, 2006 - San Diego Union Tribune S.D. Wastewater Manager To Leave For Chula Vista “I am not sure there is anyone currently on staff who can fill Scott's shoes,” said Marco Gonzalez, an environmental attorney who has pressed the city to upgrade its sewage system for years. Read Full Story » October 27, 2006 - turtlebayresort.blogspot.com Court Asked to Rule in Favor of KNSC and Sierra Club KNSC recently expanded its impressive legal team to include Marco Gonzalez of Coast Law Group, a leading environmental firm in California. Marco has successfully negotiated and litigated complex disputes on behalf of numerous non-profit environmental organizations and community groups. Read Full Story » October 24, 2006 - San Diego Union Tribune 'Crude And Rude' Methods Mean Delays, Inaccuracies, Scientists Say The expansion of beach monitoring began in 2000 with passage of the federal Beach Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act, also known as the “beach bill.” The legislation was the brainchild of Encinitas attorney Gary Sirota, a former legal adviser to the Surfrider Foundation. The law created grants for states that adopt water-quality standards and tell the public about violations of those standards. Read Full Story »
September 2006 September 10, 2006 - San Diego Union Tribune Shoring Up Fletcher Cove The Army Corps Of Engineers Is Examining High-Tech Ways To Fight Beach Erosion, Including Building An Artificial Reef. What nature takes away, humans can always try to snatch back with high-tech devices. That appears to be the scenario at Fletcher Cove in Solana Beach, where the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is studying how to keep sand on the beach by beating back marauding waves. Fletcher Cove has faced sand loss for decades. Creeks that carry sediment to the beach have been dammed upstream by development, and bluffs that nature meant to be eroded to make sand have been shielded by sea walls, the Corps of Engineers and environmentalists say. Read Full Story » September 9, 2006 - Los Angeles Times Pollution Concerns May Lower the Boom on Offshore Fireworks SeaWorld San Diego has suspended its shows and plans to seek a discharge permit. Beach cities fear additional costs of more regulations. Fears that major fireworks shows may be polluting the Pacific Ocean could dampen pyrotechnics displays along the California coast. Read Full Story » September 8, 2006 - San Diego Union Tribune Point Loma Sewage Treatment Plant Upgrade Could Mean More Rate Hikes After decades of putting it off, San Diego and other wastewater agencies in the county may finally have to upgrade the Point Loma sewage treatment plant. The bill could surpass $1 billion. For many residents, that is likely to mean ... More Rate Hikes. Read Full Story » September 7, 2006 - The Log Lawsuit May End Waterside Fireworks Statewide The San Diego Coast-Keeper has effectively halted SeaWorld's fireworks shows - and that might be just the beginning. A lawsuit that led to the cessation of fireworks at SeaWorld may threaten waterside fireworks throughout the state. Read Full Story » September 7, 2006 - The Log Water-Quality Board Approves Desalination Plant Permit A California state water-quality board approved a permit for a water supply development company on August 16, setting up one final hurdle for a desalination plant in Carlsbad. The San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board unanimously approved a permit for Poseidon Resources Inc. that would allow it to discharge high-concentrated salt water for its proposed Carlsbad desalination plant. Read Full Story » September 4, 2006 - OUT-LAW.com Wi-Fi Guidance Becomes Law In California California legislators have passed a law which will force makers of wireless internet equipment to include guidance on keeping data secure on wireless connections. The law now awaits signature by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Read Full Story »
August 2006 August 30, 2006 - San Diego City Beat Opportunity In Disguise - Lawyers Urge City To Settle Lawsuit Over Downtown Plan, Perhaps Opening Door To Improved Mass Transit Turns out those environmentalists and historical-heritage people have a point. Several points, really. Shortly after the San Diego City Council hurriedly passed the update to the 1992 downtown community plan in March, two groups sued the city. Save Our Forests and Ranchlands (SOFAR) argued the plan included too much parking and inadequate public transit and parkland. Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO), sued to force the city to create a system where developers would be aware of the historical significance of a site before they begin construction. Read Full Story » August 28, 2006 - These Days on KPBS Radio SeaWorld Halts Nightly Fireworks Show - Radio Interview The San Diego Coastkeeper claims that SeaWorld's nightly fireworks show violates the Clean Water Act. SeaWorld doesn't necessarily agree, but it avoided litigation by ending the show. Are the fireworks gone for good? Do they really pollute the bay and affect the environment? What sort of impact will this have on other shows around California? Host Maureen Cavanaugh takes up these issues with a spokesman for SeaWorld and an attorney for the San Diego Coastkeeper. Listen to Interview » August 28, 2006 - Voice of San Diego State Parks Feel Pinch of Region's Growth More than a dozen environmentalists and planners interviewed for this story could not identify any time in San Diego's recent history when state parks faced such development pressures. It is a result, some say, of population growth. While more land has been turned into housing subdivisions, habitat conservation plans have also designated more land as dedicated open space -- off limits to development. Read Full Story » August 28, 2006 - San Diego Daily Transcript Internet Law Pioneer Takes on File Sharing Cases An Encinitas lawyer is helping to change the way the entertainment industry goes after illegal downloaders. Seyamack Kouretchian, a senior partner with the Coast Law Group, LLP, recently prevailed in a potentially precedent-setting file-sharing case with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and is currently litigating a similar case against the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). Read Full Story » August 27, 2006 - San Diego Union Tribune SeaWorld Seeks Permit, Halts Fireworks Show SeaWorld has suspended indefinitely its nightly fireworks show over Mission Bay and will apply for a potentially precedent-setting permit that would regulate pyrotechnics as a water pollutant. Read Full Story » August 26, 2006 - The Orange County Registrer New Plant Gets OK - Water Board Approves Poseidon Desalination Facility; More Hurdles Ahead A seawater desalination plant proposed for Huntington Beach got the green light from regional water quality regulators, though potential roadblocks still loom for the $250 million project. Read Full Story » August 24, 2006 - San Diego Union Tribune SeaWorld Suspends Fireworks Show - Environmentalists Raise Issue Of Water Pollution SeaWorld has suspended indefinitely its nightly fireworks show over Mission Bay and will apply for a potentially precedent-setting permit that would regulate pyrotechnics as a water pollutant. SeaWorld has stopped the shows since Sunday to avoid a lawsuit from San Diego Coastkeeper, an environmental group that contends the chemical and paper residue falling into Mission Bay from spent fireworks constitutes a discharge of pollutants under the federal Clean Water Act. “There are pollutants being discharged and the law says you need a permit,” said Marco Gonzalez, an attorney for Coastkeeper. Read Full Story » August 17, 2006 - The Press-Enterprise Music Firms Worry Family - Their Suit Against A Woman Was Dismissed, But Her Daughter May Be Next A Palm Desert cheerleading coach who was unsuccessfully sued by several record companies that alleged she had illegally downloaded their music over the Internet said the companies are now threatening to go after her daughter. Read Full Story » August 16, 2006 - North County Times Pendleton Unveils New Wastewater Plant The Marines took a major step Wednesday toward conquering one of the region's bigger water pollution problems. In an afternoon ceremony at Camp Pendleton, military officials and consultants announced the opening of a $45 million wastewater treatment plant they say will help clean the ocean, prevent beach-closing sewage spills and preserve base drinking water by providing recycled water for irrigation. Read Full Story » August 11, 2006 - Digital Media Wire RIAA Drops File-Sharing Lawsuit Against Wi-Fi Network User The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) was recently compelled to drop one of its copyright infringement lawsuits against an alleged file-swapper, after the defendant argued that the RIAA could not definitively prove she was the person who illegally shared music files online. Read Full Story » August 8, 2006 - LawAndTax-News.com Record Companies Turn Tail in File-Sharing Case Just days after IFPI and RIAA reached a global out-of-court settlement with the Kazaa peer-to-peer network, a failed music piracy prosecution in the US has raised fears that the record companies may find it increasingly difficult to win file-sharing cases. August 8, 2006 - thescotsman.com 'No Proof' Of Downloads A group of US record labels agreed to drop a case after the alleged file-sharer argued it could not be proved she illegally downloaded any music. The case may set a precedent undermining scores of other such cases. "They don't take these cases to trial, they either settle or dismiss," says Seyamack Kouretchian of Coast Law Group, who fought the case. "It was our position that they could not ever prove Tammie Marson downloaded this music or that Tammie Marson made it available. It was just an absolute impossibility." August 3, 2006 - TheRegister.co.uk Woman Forces US Record Industry To Drop File-Sharing Case A group of US record labels agreed to drop a music piracy case in the US after the alleged file-sharer argued that it could not be proved that she downloaded any illegal music. The case may set a precedent that undermines scores of other music piracy cases. Read Full Story » August, 2006 - Wired.com Shawn Hogan, Hero Last November, Shawn Hogan received an unsettling call: A lawyer representing Universal Pictures and the Motion Picture Association of America informed the 30-year-old software developer that they were suing him for downloading Meet the Fockers over BitTorrent. Hogan was baffled. Not only does he deny the accusation, he says he already owned the film on DVD. The attorney said they would settle for $2,500. Hogan declined. Read Full Story » August 1, 2006 - BlogSpot.com Recording Industry vs. The People Initiates Coverage Of MPAA Case Against Shawn Hogan : Universal v. Hogan A blog devoted to the RIAA's lawsuits of intimidation brought against ordinary working people. Link to Full Blog »
July 2006 July 28, 2006 - TheAge.com.au Hogan Hailed 'Hero' For Taking On MPAA Technology entrepreneur, Shawn Hogan, has attracted a loyal following in the US as he prepares to go head-to-head with the Motion Picture Association of America to fight internet piracy allegations launched against him. Read Full Story » July 20, 2006 - San Diego Union Tribune Group Sues Carlsbad For Desalination Plant Report A coalition of environmentalists filed a lawsuit yesterday alleging that the city of Carlsbad failed to fully examine the potential impacts of a proposed oceanfront desalination plant. If successful, the lawsuit by the Southern California Watershed Alliance and the Desal Response Group would force Carlsbad to redo an environmental impact report for a proposed $270 million desalination plant that would convert seawater to drinking water. Read Full Story » July 20, 2006 - San Diego Union Tribune Sanders Against Sending Treated Wastewater To Tap San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders said yesterday he opposes a proposal to turn wastewater into drinking water – after the city's staff has spent more than two years and about $1 million researching the option... Marco Gonzalez, a lawyer for environmentalists backing reservoir augmentation, said Sanders' stance will make the project “significantly more difficult” to implement. Still, he remained upbeat about its prospects. Read Full Story » July 19, 2006 - Surfrider Foundation Chapter Meeting Presentation Save Trestles - Presentation by Todd Cardiff Video of the presentation given by Todd Cardiff to members of the community at the monthly meeting of the San Diego Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. The presentation highlighted the current status of the proposed extension to the 241 Foothill South Toll Road. The proposed project would cut through San Onofre State Beach and negatively affect the environment of that park and the world class break at Trestles. Watch Video » July 11, 2006 - KPBS Radio - These Days Will A Planned Toll Road Kill The Waves At Trestles? Host Tom Fudge speaks to representatives from the Surfrider Foundation and the Transportation Corridors Agency about the plan to build a toll road to expand state Route 241. Environmental groups argue that the toll road will have a negative impact on the San Onofre State Beach. Guests: Todd Cardiff, a Member of the Advisory Board for the San Diego County Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, and a partner at the Coast Law Group and Lance MacLean, Vice Chair of the Foothill Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency, and Mayor of Mission Viejo. Listen to Interview »
June 2006 June 22, 2006 - North County Times Hearing Delays Stormwater Permit "When it rains, everybody feels it's pretty much OK to say 'Don't go in the water for 72 hours,'" Marco Gonzalez of San Diego Bay Council, referring to the fact that rain runoff washes pollution straight to the sea and bay. "That is offensive, and should offend every one of you sitting here today. This permit is supposed to fix that problem." Read Full Story » June 19, 2006 - Stellar Magazine Surfrider Foundation Files Appeal The Surfrider Foundation appealed the lower court’s ruling in Surfrider v. City of Solana Beach today. On April 13, 2006, Judge Anello ruled against the Surfrider Foundation on five out of six claims.... Attorney Todd Cardiff, from Coast Law Group, the law firm which represented the Surfrider Foundation, admitted that it was odd to appeal a case that the Surfrider Foundation had prevailed on. Mr. Cardiff explained “There are three reasons that Surfrider feels it must appeal Judge Anello’s ruling. Read Full Story » June 14, 2006 - San Diego Union Tribune Rancho del Oro Developers Offer Land For New Fire Station Landowners who want to build 339 homes on property zoned for offices have now pinned their hopes on the City Council reversing the recommendations of two commissions to deny the project. Read Full Story » June 14, 2006 - San Diego Union Tribune Carlsbad OKs Desalination Plant - Project Faces Many Hurdles For Permits “I would rather see an ocean teeming with life than a desalination plant,” said Todd Cardiff of the San Diego chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. Read Full Story » June 13, 2006 - San Diego Union Tribune San Diego Approves Settlement Over Sewer Repairs, Maintenance The city of San Diego will continue to upgrade its sewage collection system over the next year under a partial legal settlement with environmentalists that was unanimously approved by the City Council yesterday. Read Full Story » June 12, 2006 - Surfersvillage Global Surf News Surfrider Foundation Makes Waves at Celebrity Surf Jam Despite the conditions, blue team captain Pat O’Connell, along with Surfrider Foundation activists Brian Alper, Terry Gibson, Marco Gonzalez and Molly Ware, and Incubus members Brandon Boyd and Ben Kenney, Switchfoot members Chad Butler and Tim Foreman, and pro surfers Jeff Deffenbaugh, Taylor Knox and Tim Curran (known collectively as Pat’s Posse) all surfed well enough to sail to a Celebrity Surf Jam victory. Read Full Story »
May 2006 May 25, 2006 - San Diego Union Tribune High Water Marks For Region - Coastline's Pollution Scores Are Improving, Beach Report Says San Diego County's beaches were mostly pollution-free in the 12 months ending March 31, except for several located at the mouths of creeks, rivers or lagoons. Read Full Story » May 24, 2006 - Associated Press Sand Can Be Polluted Even With Clean Water Beach sand can be teeming with bacteria even when the ocean water is clean, according to a study released on Tuesday. Read Full Story » May 6, 2006 - San Diego Union Tribune Encinitas Resort Before Commission Million-dollar condominiums that have been in the works for years could soon change the landscape of the bluffs above Ponto Beach and the coastline itself. Read Full Story »
April 2006 April 29, 2006 - San Diego Union Tribune Carlsbad Board To Air Environmental ReportThe City's Planning Commission will weigh in next week on one of the major environmental challenges facing the state: turning ocean water into drinking water. Read Full Story » April 14, 2006 - San Diego Union Tribune Lawsuit Says S.D.'s Downtown Plan Ignores Traffic - Environmentalists Cite AlternativesAn environmental group is suing the city of San Diego over a downtown development plan, saying the plan ignores the traffic and parking congestion that would come with a booming population. Read Full Story » April 11, 2006 - San Diego Union Tribune Visiting Congressmen Say They Back Bajagua Sewage ProjectKey members of the House Subcommittee on Water Resources and the Environment said yesterday that they would approve reimbursement for a sewage-treatment plant in Mexico aimed at reducing pollution from the Tijuana River. Read Full Story »
March 2006 March 27, 2006 - San Diego Union Tribune Surfrider's Unconventional Leadership Choice Is Rare But Not Unprecedented In The Environmental Movement. When leaders of the Surfrider Foundation went shopping for a new executive director, they didn't select a battle-hardened eco-warrior with surfing wax on his toes. Read Full Story »
March 16, 2006 - North County Times Marina Towers Discussion Proves Contentious Before 33 members of the public spoke Wednesday on the proposed sale of the Marina Towers land to the condo owners in the 17-story building, Mayor Jim Wood pleaded with everyone to "keep it friendly." Read Full Story »
February 2006 February 21, 2006 - Voice of San Diego Bajagua Stinks Up Green Relations San Diego's environmentalists agree that there's a considerable amount of sewage coming from Tijuana that is dangerously polluting area waters, but the issue of how to clean it up has provoked an argument among them that is as nasty as the problem itself. Read Full Story »
January 2006 January 15, 2006 - North County Times Encinitas-Based SurfAid International No Stranger To Helping Islanders The islands, villages and towns devastated by the Asian tsunami last month were geographic mysteries for many Americans, but for some international surfers who will go to no end to find the best waves, they were paradise. Read Full Story » January 6, 2006 - Making Waves Oceanside Votes To Oppose The Toll Road Through San Onofre State Park Oceanside City Council voted to oppose the proposed toll road through San Onofre State Park. Read Full Story »
June 2005 June 1, 2005 - Making Waves Magazine Surfer Hero Donna Frye Paddles Into San Diego Politics Surfers, male and female, keep coming up to hug her or say hi. Skip, a stocky, sun-reddened, curly-haired grandfather, has his wetsuit top unzipped and hanging at his waist, his signature egg-shaped longboard under one arm. He places a lei made of braided green ti leaves around his wife's neck before he and some 500 other surfers paddle out into the water, forming a sinuous broken line around the quarter-mile-long pier. Read Full Story »
February 2005 February 1, 2005 - Surfshot Magazine Wave of Destruction Last December, three of the gnarliest waves in living memory swept across the Indian Ocean. With the scope of the resulting damage, the inconceivable number of deaths, the millions of lives left literally in ruins ... talking about anything else seems pretty trivial. Read Full Story »
January 2005 January 28 , 2005 - North County Times Surfrider Sues Solana Beach Over Sea Wall OK The Surfrider Foundation is suing the city of Solana Beach for skirting the state's requirements for studying the environmental impacts of sea walls and other shoreline projects, a lawyer for the nonprofit group said Thursday. Read Full Story »
September 2004 September 13, 2004 - National Law Journal Surf's Up, Dude, But Finish That Brief First Three San Diego-area environmental lawyers who spend their free time surfing the water they've filed suits to protect have teamed up in an effort to balance public service and profitable business practice. Read Full Story »
December 2003 December 2003 - Surfshot Magazine, by Dave Russell Surfer Marco Gonzalez is the lead attorney and Chapter Chairman of the San Diego Surfrider Foundation Every day we are fighting individual projects on a community-by-community basis. We are working nationally to make sure that we get additional funding for local cities to deal with storm water pollution and coastal erosion. The San Diego chapter is really leading the charge on behalf of all the California chapters to do a lot of things. Read Full Story »
October 2003 October 2003 - Sierra Club Todd Cardiff: Coastal Activist in the SpotlightTodd Cardiff started working to protect Califronia's coast in the 1990s. Todd's environmental work began against the UNOCAL Corporation, which had leaked millions of gallons of petroleum on Guadalupe and Avila beaches near his home of San Luis Obispo. This was just the beginning, and it led to a campaign and a single moment that dramatically changed Todd's life. Read Full Story »
June 2003 June 2003 - Making Waves Victory In Solana Beach In a stunning victory for the Surfrider Foundation, San Diego Superior Court Judge Lisa Guy-Schall set aside Solana Beach's approval of a shoreline armoring project. The decision, rendered on March 25, 2003, set aside the mitigated negative declaration, and ordered all project actions void, "until full compliance with [the California Environmental Quality Act] is achieved, including certification of an [environmental impact report] that fully analyzes impacts, and mitigation measures, in accordance with this ruling." Read Full Story »
June 2002 June 2002 - New York Law Journal Playing Straight On Video Game Licenses In most video games, if you don’t react quickly and properly, chances are the bad guys will shoot you in the back and you will have to begin the game again if you wish to get to the next level. Likewise, in real life, if you don’t understand the rules and know how to play the game, you can’t expect to get far before the bad guys get you. Unfortunately, however, in real life, you typically don’t get a second chance to start over and avoid the bullet. Read Full Story »
December 2000 December 2000 - U.S. Water News Online Agreement Reached On How To Treat International Wastewater An environmental group and a federal water commission has reached an agreement aimed at cleaning up discharges from an international sewage treatment plant that has been sending wastewater into kelp beds and the surf zone in San Diego. Read Full Story »
March 2000 March 27, 2000 - New York Law Journal and E-Commerce Law Weekly Nuts And Bolts Of Website Development And Hosting Agreements Web development and hosting contracts are the cornerstone of today's New Media practice. With the exponential growth of online commerce, these agreements are the primary devices used to ensure that all of the critical aspects of the online experience, such as a Website's look and feel, navigational organization, access speed, and system integration, are clearly defined and expressed such that the Website owner can help ensure that traffic through its high-profile Website is pleasant, quick, smooth, without interruption, and hopefully profitable. If negotiated correctly, web development and hosting agreements will provide predictability in the rough surf that makes up the virtual world of the Internet. If negotiated incorrectly, they can be as dangerous as a jagged iceberg lurking just beneath the surface. Read Full Story »
October 1996
October 28, 1996 - National Law Journal Revised Rules Govern Domain-Name Disputes On September 9, 1996, rules governing domain name disputes were revised. Although these revisions relate to the handling of disputes, they have an indirect and noteworthy impact upon the domain name registration process. Specifically, because the new policies expressly depict the superiority of trademark registrations in domain name disputes, a domain name registrant must now do more than merely reserve a name with the Internic. Rather, as set forth below, the domain name registrant must take further steps to protect itself by filing for federal trademark protection. Read Full Story »
March 1996
March 18, 1996 - New York Law Journal Naked In A Minefield, Technology And Corporate Liability One would not know the sixties are over with all the streaking going on nowadays. Everywhere one looks, nakedness surrounds; and surprisingly, traditional company executives seem to be the least modest. Some with just their backsides exposed and others completely naked, but all with at least their flies down, companies of all sizes appear to be running loose and wild, with nothing more than the wind to protect their family jewels. Is it that they think the attorneys haven't noticed? Or, do they like to run around exposed? Whatever the case, a cold breeze is on the horizon and it is the general counsel's responsibility to provide coverage. Read Full Story »
October 1995
October 23, 1995 - National Law Journal Digital Priates Are Plundering Performance Rights There is piracy on the information highway, and the recording industry apparently is being looted. The online community is digitizing, copying and replaying musical performances without paying royalties to recording artists, publishers and labels. And although the recording industry generates billions of dollars of revenue per year, it may not have the power to stop this high-tech assault. Read Full Story »
April 1995
April 26, 1995 - New York Law Journal Virtual Reality Becomes A Reality - Litigation In The Year 2025 It has been said before that by the year 2000 there will be just two types of businesses- those embracing emerging technology and those looking for a good bankruptcy attorney. After all, to stay competitive and efficient in the future, businesses must learn to compete in an environment where personal communication systems, laptop computers, e-mail addresses, CD-Rom machines, and Internet access is the norm. To reject or fail to notice how this technology will change the traditional methods of doing business is to altogether fail to understand the modern marketplace. Read Full Story »
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