Purpose & Vision

Additional Information

Purpose & Vision Our Staff Scope of Services Announcements

NCRC is offering a new specialty service. The Land Use and Environmental Mediation Group is comprised of five mediators who bring a wealth of experience and a combined 150 years of specialized practice dedicated to resolving environmental, land use, energy, and public policy issues. Our services range from facilitating stakeholder input on public issues to mediating complex disputes either before or during litigation.

As a nation and a region, we are dealing with increasingly complex and controversial issues involving our natural and built environments. Natural resources are diminishing while demands on those resources are rising. Renewable energy sources may reduce environmental impacts such as climate change, but developing them sometimes clashes with other environmental goals. Development patterns are changing amid community resistance. Land uses are being mixed and development densities increased, producing conflicts between residents and businesses. As these changes occur, conflicts among landowners, developers, local residents, environmental organizations, and government agencies disrupt communities, waste social and financial resources, and breed cynicism about public decision-making. The Land Use and Environmental Mediation Group can improve understanding of the affected parties' interests and diminish conflict and litigation.

The use of mediation to resolve environmental, land use and related issues has lagged far behind its use in other areas of conflict. We hope to change this.

We encourage facilitation or mediation at the earliest possible stage of any developing conflict, regardless of subject or size. All too often, parties wait until disputes escalate and litigation begins before considering mediation. We have seen first-hand that litigation can be avoided altogether if stakeholders have a role and disputants are listened to before their positions harden.

We can assist in resolving a wide range of issues through private or public solutions, from conflicts in a neighborhood to questions of broad public policy, including:

• Development and land use issues
• Environmental regulatory issues, including the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), air quality, water quality, and endangered species protection
• Permits and permit conditions
• Water supply and water rights
• Siting of energy and other facilities
• Natural resource development and restoration projects
• Soil and ground water contamination
• Toxic torts
• Climate change impacts and adaptation, including compliance issues under the California Global Warming Solutions Act
• Conflicts between Indian reservations and surrounding communities
• "Green" advertising or product claims
• Environmental insurance claims
• Neighborhood and homeowners association (HOA) disputes
• Nuisances and other community conditions
• Public policy development, including public and private stakeholder meetings

Our mediators focus on these areas, and are also available to mediate related real estate and business disputes.