Biography

Rick Tooker is a seasoned land use planning professional with 30 years of experience navigating the many facets associated with land use rights for complex, and sometimes controversial, projects in the San Francisco Bay Area and Monterey Peninsula. He has worked in Napa, Healdsburg, Calistoga, Livermore, and Carmel-by-the-Sea, and consulted in several other cities on residential and mixed use developments, including Oakland’s City Center development. Rick is based out of Farella’s St. Helena office with a focus on the wine industry.

Rick effectively and efficiently manages diverse teams in the areas of planning, economic development, housing, building, and code compliance. He has managed preparation and implementation of general plans, master plans, specific plans, ordinances, and design guidelines.

Prior to joining Farella, Rick actively participated in the resurgence of Downtown Napa. He specifically managed projects securing entitlements for several hundred-thousand square feet of new retail, office, industrial, and residential development. He was the project manager of Napa Riverfront, Andaz, Napa Square, Main Street West, 1313 Main Street, and the Culinary Institute of America at Copia. As a community development director and planning manager in Napa, he also led the development department in permitting revitalization and construction of First Street Napa and 1300 First Street, Vista Collina Resort, and the Cinedome Plaza.

To help avoid unforeseen circumstances that could delay a project, Rick actively listens to and works with others to carefully consider a broad range of possibilities and outcomes before charting a course. He is politically astute and has earned the respect of local agency decision-makers and their staff.

Memberships and Affiliations

  • American Planning Association (APA)
  • Napa Parks and Recreation Board
  • Yountville Zoning and Design Review Board

Firm Highlights

Publication

Nonprofit Basics: Unpacking Prudent Investments, PRIs and MRIs

Welcome to  EO Radio Show - Your Nonprofit Legal Resource . Episode 73 discusses frequently used terms in the nonprofit world pertaining to investment activities. Public charity and private foundation directors and officers need...

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News

Farella Announces 2024 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Pathfinders: Taylor Rottjakob and John Ugai

Farella Braun + Martel is proud to announce that senior associates  Taylor E. Rottjakob and John M. Ugai have been named 2024 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Pathfinders. Pathfinders have been identified as...

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Publication

California AI Proposal Rethinks Consumer Scope and Recordkeeping

The California Privacy Protection Agency will revisit its  draft  regulations for automated decision-making technology on March 8, including use of artificial intelligence to process personal information. Comment periods should be coming soon in 2024...

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News

Brookfield Forecloses on 2,150-Unit Veritas Portfolio With Uncontested $464M Bid

Restructuring, insolvency, and creditors rights partner Gary Kaplan provided expert commentary in The Real Deal  article, "Brookfield forecloses on 2,150-unit Veritas portfolio with uncontested $464M bid." Read the full article  here  (subscription may be...

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News

Scraping Battles: Meta Loses Legal Effort to Halt Harvesting of Personal Profiles

Alex Reese spoke to Matt Fleischer-Black of  Cybersecurity Law Report about the Meta v. Bright Data decision and its impact on U.S. scraping case law. Read the article here (paywall or trial).

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Publication

Employment Law Update for Nonprofits With Holly Sutton

Welcome to  EO Radio Show - Your Nonprofit Legal Resource . Charities, foundations, and their founders often request help addressing employment practices and compliance questions. In this episode, host Cynthia Rowland is joined by Holly...

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Publication

Achieving Compatibility Between Solar Project Developers and Mineral Estate Holders

By Dirk R. Mueller , Alyssa Netto , and Will Russ Texas and California lead the country in terms of solar energy generating capacity while also maintaining major oil and gas production operations, which...

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Publication

Corporate Transparency Act: A Guide on Beneficial Ownership for Nonprofit Executives

The Corporate Transparency Act, enacted as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, represents a significant shift in regulatory requirements for entities across the United States. This act, set to...

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News

Lawdragon Names 7 Farella Lawyers Among “Leaders in Environmental Law”

Northern California legal powerhouse Farella Braun + Martel is pleased to announce that seven lawyers were selected to The Lawdragon Green 500: 2024 Leaders in Environmental Law . Farella lawyers selected for inclusion: Sarah...

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News

Winston Liaw Named a Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Fellow

Northern California legal powerhouse Farella Braun + Martel is proud to announce that Winston Liaw has been named a Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Fellow for 2024. Winston joins a select group of...

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