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Environmental Resource and Water Resource Permitting

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and various Water Management Districts (WMD) regulate the environmental resources of the state of Florida, permitting surface waters, mitigation banks, mines, works of the district (WOD), everglades restoration and wetland impacts. DEP also acts as staff for the Governor and Cabinet sitting as the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund permitting and leasing state sovereign submerged lands. In addition, water resource and environmental permits are often required from the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The legislative and regulatory frameworks of these agencies create a complex system for the permitting of development and land uses, including agricultural uses and mitigation banks, that require experienced counsel. Gunster’s attorneys have experience with all areas of environmental permitting that allow our clients the resources needed to navigate these waters. Gunster’s attorneys also have experience in the litigation processes associated with this permitting process.

Practice Group Leader

Brian M. Seymour

West Palm Beach, Florida 33401-6194
(800) 749-1980

Environmental & Land Use Attorneys

Representative Matters

Gunster’s Environmental and Land Use attorneys have represented clients in some of the largest and most complex projects in Florida including:

Environmental, due diligence and real estate counsel to the seller of approximately 73,000 acres of agricultural lands to the State of Florida.
Land use, environmental and real estate counsel for the buyer in one of the largest rural lands and preservation transactions in the history of the State of Florida, including the master planning and DRI and environmental permitting for the creation of a new town on a portion of the purchased property, as well as the defense of those approvals in administrative and circuit court litigation.
Formation of a Community Development District, obtaining of all land use entitlements and development approvals required for a 10,000 acre mixed-use development of regional impact and incorporation of the project into what is now considered one of Broward County’s best planned cities.
Land use counsel to a group of investors in obtaining DRI approval to redevelop the former IBM property in Boca Raton to include over 6 Million square feet of industrial research park, office, retail, and 600 hotel rooms.
Real estate and land use counsel in the assemblage and approval of a DRI for the urban redevelopment of 26 contiguous blocks of property in Downtown West Palm Beach for the creation of almost 4 Million square feet of office and retail, 475 residential units and 800 hotel rooms.
Land use counsel in obtaining approval for a DRI to convert 46000 acres of agricultural land into a mixed use community of 17,800 residential units, 161 acres of office, 640 acres of industrial, and 320 acres of retail.
Land use counsel in obtaining development approvals for a thoroughbred training facility that included over 1,000 stalls, 342 grooms quarters, two practice tracks, and a recycling plant to transform horse waste to soil amendments.
Nationwide environmental due diligence and transactional counsel for over $6 billion in stock and asset purchases and acquisitions of industrial and commercial properties.
Environmental counsel on several matters representing potentially responsible parties in Super Fund sites.
Land Use and environmental counsel for resort properties, including historic hotels and resorts, in obtaining land use and development approvals, including historic and architectural reviews and modernization projects.
Real estate, land use, and environmental counsel in obtaining sovereign submerged lands leases and approvals for marinas of various sizes, including the defense of the approvals through administrative and circuit court review.
Environmental counsel in obtaining state and federal approvals for mitigation bankers.
Litigation counsel for a property owner in a $100,000,000 lawsuit against multiple governments that violated the owner’s rights to due process and equal protection of laws and for the regulatory taking/inverse condemnation of the client’s property.

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