Kelly Alhadeff-Black is a partner in the Temecula office of Lewis Brisbois and co-chair of the Public Agency & Municipal Law Practice. Her practice focuses primarily on land use, entitlement, environmental and regulatory issues for residential and commercial development projects in Southern California. Ms. Black is on a team of Lewis Brisbois attorneys that serve as outside General Counsel to the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, a group of public agencies that together comprises one of the largest sanitation agencies in the United States. Ms. Black has served on this team since January 2020. She also is on a team of Lewis Brisbois attorneys that serve as outside General Counsel to the San Gabriel Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District. This team has served the District as General Counsel since September 2020.

Ms. Alhadeff-Black’s experience includes:

• All aspects of the CEQA process including preparing project descriptions, review of environmental reports, drafting environmental documents including initial studies, mitigated negative declarations and sections of Environmental Impact Reports, drafting and review of mitigation and monitoring programs and various other treatment, monitoring or regulatory agreements.
• Working with land owners, developers and public homebuilders on various aspects of the entitlement and development process.
• Working with agencies including Caltrans on right of entry and access agreements.
• Negotiation and review of regulatory permits and applications.
• Negotiation and drafting of conservation easements.
• Negotiation and drafting of project development documents including specific plans, conditions of approval and development agreements.
• Negotiation with Native American tribes on mitigation measures and tribal monitoring agreements.
• Preparation and review of real estate transactional documents for the lease, purchase and sale of real property.
• Assisting with corporate and transactional issues for privately held organizations including corporations and limited liability companies.
• Worked with local agencies on issues including real property transactions, entitlement and use reviews, permitting and conservation processes, drafting and revising staff reports, resolutions and ordinances, and drafting CEQA findings in connection with agency actions.

Kelly Alhadeff-Black has extensive experience with compliance and interpretation of Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) requirements for species conservation and habitat preservation. Specifically, the Western Riverside Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP) is a comprehensive HCP requiring mitigation and conservation for over 500,000 acres of land and approximately 146 native species of plants and animals. She represented private developers, both commercial and residential, on issues with the MSHCP including negotiations of conservation requirements, sale of land and placing conservation easements and restrictive covenants over private land.

Ms. Alhadeff-Black has negotiated to execution conservation documents (conservation easement, restrictive covenant) for public homebuilders and private land acquisition companies as well as other large and small private landowners.

She has negotiated and drafted documents for the acquisition and maintenance of replacement mitigation land for both Army Corps and Department of Fish and Wildlife conservation requirements. Recent project efforts include identification of sufficient mitigation land for a 2,200 acre project, a 300+ unit apartment complex, a 500+ unit apartment complex, and a 900+ acre master planned community.  Ms. Alhadeff-Black has worked with regulatory specialists to negotiate mitigation ratio requirements and replacement mitigation land for conservation requirements imposed by the Army Corps and the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

In addition to her work on species and habitat conservation, Ms. Alhadeff-Black is also experienced in all aspects of reviewing cultural and archaeological reports and negotiating mitigation measures, including possible land donation or conservation easements for the protection and preservation of historical and archaeological resources.  Ms. Alhadeff-Black has worked under the guidelines of both SB 18 and AB 52 which require Native American consultation and negotiation as part of the development process.

Outside of the office, Ms. Alhadeff-Black has served as an adjunct Professor for Legal Skills at the University of San Diego School of Law, an instructor on Land Use and CEQA issues for the Environmental Leadership Institute for California State University, San Marcos, and she has previously served on the Board of Directors for Kids Included Together and the Rivers and Lands Conservancy.

Admissions

• State Bar Admissions
  • California

Admissions

California

Associations

• California State Bar Association
• Riverside County Bar Association
• Board of Directors, Kids Included Together (Board President)
• Community Advisory Board, Safe Alternatives for Everyone
• Board of Directors, Riverside Land Conservancy

Education

University of San Diego School of Law

Juris Doctor, 2001

Washington University, St. Louis

Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, 1998