Timothy A. Tosta

Timothy A. Tosta’s practice emphasizes land use and environmental law.

Mr. Tosta has successfully procured land use entitlements for some of California's most complex and controversial development proposals in some of the state's most treacherous political environments. From California's coast to the shores of Lake Tahoe, from the urban centers of San Francisco and Los Angeles to rural Monterey and Orange Counties, he has presented innovative strategies and solutions for entitlement of a wide variety of product types ranging from urban infill to new towns, from industrial campuses to vacation resorts. Finally, Mr. Tosta fully defends, in court, the entitlements that he has procured. Among other court victories, Mr. Tosta argued, before the California Supreme Court, Citizens of Goleta Valley v. Board of Supervisors of Santa Barbara County, one of California's most significant Environmental Quality Act cases.

Although the issues of climate change, greenhouse gases, and environmental sustainability in California are both embryonic and rapidly evolving, Mr. Tosta already has achieved considerable success in threading developments through the new complex of regulations pertaining to these issues. In the recent approval of a very significant mixed-use project on the San Francisco Peninsula, Mr. Tosta negotiated with community environmental leaders to obtain entitlements for a project previously considered “impossible.”

Mr. Tosta also specializes in the development of innovative strategic plans for "non-developer" businesses and other institutions (e.g. hospitals, universities, biotechnology and information technology companies) that find themselves in traditional developer roles.

Mr. Tosta has lectured at national meetings, conferences, and conventions of the American Bar Association, the American Institute of Architects, the American Law Institute, the American Planning Association, the California State Bar Real Estate Section, the National Association of Real Estate Editors, the Practicing Law Institute, the California Association of Appellate Lawyers and the Urban Land Institute, and has appeared before a variety of business groups, community associations, and colleges and universities throughout California. He has also been prominently featured in numerous publications, including The American Lawyer, California Law Business, The California Executive, the Daily Journal, The California Lawyer and Super Lawyers magazine.

In addition to practicing law, Mr. Tosta is also a certified Integral Coach, working with a select number of colleagues and clients to build sustainable careers as well as balanced, fulfilled lives. He is an amateur musician who plays guitar, mandolin, banjo, ukulele and a variety of other stringed instruments. He also serves as a hospice volunteer at San Francisco’s Laguna Honda Hospital, where he is encouraged to play and sing his own mediocre renditions of tin pan alley, folk and country songs to the hospice residents. Writings on his hospice experiences are available under the “Publications / Presentations” link at left. His first book, #DEATH tweet, Book 01 - A Well-Lived Life Through 140 Perspectives on Death and Its Teachings, was published to rave reviews in February 2010. Tim's second book, #DEATH tweet, Book 02 - 140 Perspectives on Being a Supportive Witness to the End of Life, was published in March 2011.

Memberships

American Planning Association.

Congress for New Urbanism.

International Council of Shopping Centers.

NAIOP.

National Speakers Association.

San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association.

Urban Land Institute.

Board of Directors - Laguna Honda Hospital Foundation.

Board of Directors - Felidae Conservation Fund.

Editorial Board - The Registry (Bay Area Real Estate Journal).