Wendy U. Larsen Attorney At Law

Wendy is a land use planning law consultant who provides professional services to public and private sector clients in regard to a wide variety of land use matters. During her career of more than 30 years, she has served clients in more than 30 states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico with respect to land use planning, preservation of environmentally sensitive and open space lands, downtown and community redevelopment and growth management.

• Land Use Planning
  • Preparation of update to the City of Coral Gables Comprehensive Plan
  • Expansion of the area master plan for the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government (detailed plans for expansion of the first urban service area by 5,330 acres, including community design, infrastructure and preservation of natural and open space features) (1996)
  • Boca Raton Areawide Downtown Development of Regional Impact and Mizner Park redevelopment project (1986-present)
  • New Jersey State Development and Redevelopment Plan (1986-1992)
  • Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Regulations for the Florida Keys Area of Critical State Concern (1985)
  • Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan for the New Jersey Pinelands Commission (1979-1981, 1985)
  • Rural lands preservation
    • Lexington-Fayette County, Kentucky
  • Transportation corridor: Paris Pike in Lexington, Kentucky
  • A statewide consensus building process
    • Delaware Public Policy Institute with funding from the governor's office and the Delaware Department of Transportation
• Community Redevelopment
  • City of Lauderhill Findings of Necessity and Community Redevelopment Agency Plans, 2002-present
  • City of Coral Springs Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Findings of Necessity, CRA Formation and Community Redevelopment Plan for Coral Springs Town Center, 2003
  • Beach by Design, Community Redevelopment Plan for Clearwater Beach, 1999-2000
  • Plan de Desarrollo Integral por la Peninsulsa de Camera, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1992-1994
  • Downtown master plan, downtown Development of Regional Impact, Mizner Park feasibility study, conceptual site plan for Mizner Park, drafting public/private partnership for Mizner Park and representing CRA in development of Mizner Park in Boca Raton, Florida, 1986-1991
• Legislative Drafting and Land Use Regulation
  • More than 75 sets of land development regulations for communities as small as Barrington Hills, Illinois, and as large as Phoenix, San Antonio and New Orleans
  • City of Coral Gables, Florida, zoning code rewrite, 2004-present
  • Miami-Dade County, Florida, discretionary development approvals rewrite, 2003
  • Community redevelopment code, city of Clearwater, Florida, 1999-2000
• Land Use Litigation
  • Hernandez v. City of Lafayette, 643 F.2d 1188 (5th Cir.), reh'g denied, 649 F.2d 336 (1981), cert. denied, 455 U.S. 907 (1982), appeal after remand, 699 F.2d 734 (5th Cir. 1983) (alleged civil rights violation)
  • Hernandez v. City of Lafayette, 399 So.2d 1179 (La. Ct. App. 1981), writ denied, 401 So.2d 1192 (La. 1981), appeal dismissed, 455 U.S. 901 (1982) (reasonableness of denial of rezoning)
• Development Planning and Permitting
  • Amendments to a large office/light industrial park DRI in Boca Raton, Florida, to permit an intermodal transportation facility for the Tri-County Commuter Rail Authority
  • Preparation of Boca Raton, Florida's downtown areawide DRI, which led to a revised downtown development plan based on three primary elements — implementation of a beautification plan, a capital facilities plan and a "catalyst for redevelopment" that ultimately became Mizner Park
• Education
  • Hollins College, B.A. (philosophy and religion, 1964)
    • Phi Beta Kappa
    • Faculty Silver Award for Highest Academic Achievement, Recipient
  • University of Chicago, B.D. (1967)
    • Woodrow Wilson Fellow
  • DePaul University College of Law, J.D. (1973)
    • DePaul Law Review, Editor-in-Chief
    • Clerk to Justice Daniel P. Ward, Illinois Supreme Court 
• Admissions
  • Florida
  • Illinois (inactive)
  • Colorado (inactive)
  • Numerous trial courts and appellate courts
• Professional Associations and Memberships
  • The Florida Bar
    • Environmental and Land Use Law Section, Member
  • American Bar Association
    • Planning and Law Division, Founder, Member and Chair
• Awards and Recognitions
  • Boca Raton Historical Society Walk of Recognition, Inductee, 2016
  • Best Lawyers in America, 2015-2025
    • Land Use and Zoning Law
  • South Florida Business Journal, Power Leaders in Law, 2014-2017
  • AV Preeminent®, Martindale-Hubbell
• Civic
  • Schmidt Family Centre for the Arts of Mizner Park, Inc., former Member of Board of Directors, former Chair
  • Palm Beach County Cultural Council, former Member of Board of Directors, former Chair, 2003-2009
  • Boca Raton Historical Society; former Member, Board of Directors
  • Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, former Chair; Boca Raton Board of Directors
  • South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (Tri Rail), Governor’s Appointee to Board and Chair, 1993-2001
• Articles and Publications
  • Co-Author, "Moratoria As Takings Under Lucas," Land Use Law and Zoning Digest, June 1994
  • "Land Regulations: Under the Courts' Microscopes," 43 Land Use L. and Zoning Digest 4, 1991
  • Co-Author, "Special Districts: The Ultimate in Neighborhood Zoning" Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 1990
  • "Impact Fees: Round Two With the Illinois Highway Code," Illinois Municipal Review, August 1989
  • "Impact Fees: Et Tu Illinois?" 21 John Marshall L. R. 489, 1988
  • "The Taking Issue Trilogy: The Beginning of the End?" 33 Journal of Urban and Contemporary Law 169, 1988
  • "Impact Fees/Amendment to the Illinois Highway Code," Illinois Municipal Review, January 1988
  • "Exactions and Takings After Nollan," 39 Land Use Law and Zoning Digest, No. 9, September 1987
  • "Hamilton Bank: Supreme Court Signals Aversion to Compensation in 'Taking' Disputes," 45 Urban Land No. 3, March 1986
  • "Now You Have It... Now You Don't... Now You Might --- Platted Lands in the Florida Keys," 2 Platted Lands Press No. 9, September 1985
  • "Aesthetics: Regulating a Roman Circus," 42 Urban Land No. 9, September 1983
  • "The Failure to Legislate: Mt. Laurel II," 42 Urban Land No. 4, April 1983
  • "Vested Rights: Balancing Public and Private Development Expectations," Urban Land Institute , 1982
  • "In Accordance With a Comprehensive Plan: The Myth Revisited," Institute on Planning, Zoning and Eminent Domain, 1979