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.