Mark G. Sellers

Mark Sellers has 20 years of municipal law experience as the former City Attorney of Thousand Oaks, and primarily focuses his practice on all aspects of land use and development, as well as CEQA compliance, eminent domain/inverse condemnation, affordable housing, redevelopment and transactional real estate matters.  He was named to the Pacific Coast Business Times most influential attorneys list in 2010 and 2011.

Mr. Sellers has attended more than 400 hundred public meetings, advocating his client’s interests on a vast variety of land use and public law issues.  He understands how politically sensitive public decisions by an elected governing body can be, and knows that, frequently, it is not the message but how you deliver it.  He understands how local government works, observing that many times a property owner is talking with the wrong staff person.

He has helped direct the successful creation of a number of large master planned communities.  He has negotiated and drafted many Development Agreements, Redevelopment Agency Development and Disposition Agreements, Conservation Easements, agreements on the Transfer of Land Development Rights (involving thousands of acres and residential units and commercial retail centers), and also the more traditional contracts on raw land acquisition for development, sale of improved real property, and commercial and office leases.

In his CEQA practice, he has reviewed and advised on many Initial Studies, Negative Declarations, MNDs and EIRs, successfully challenging and defending CEQA documents.

He is familiar with the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act and water quality issues of the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board and its enforcement process, having successfully obtained drastic reductions in proposed Administrative Civil Liability actions on unauthorized discharges.

In addition, he handles municipal law questions, including conflict of interest, referendum/initiative/elections, public bidding, prevailing wage, Brown Act compliance, and local taxes.