Brooke Miller

Brooke has nearly 20 years of experience helping her clients successfully navigate land use planning, zoning, entitlements, environmental, local government and special districts law to expedite and defend their development projects.

Areas of Practice

Brooke partners with clients to develop strategic approaches to land use entitlements. She leverages her expertise in state and local laws to help clients statewide secure development permits for housing, mixed-use, commercial, healthcare, energy storage and other projects, minimizing risk whenever possible. Brooke has many years of experience working directly with agency staff and advising and presenting to local government officials at the county, city and special district levels. She also successfully defends her clients in litigation under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), Subdivision Map Act and the California Planning and Zoning Law, including in published appellate decisions from the 2^nd and 6^th District Courts of Appeal.

In addition to her land use and environmental law practice, Brooke has experience practicing under the Cortese-Knox-Herzberg Local Government Reorganization (LAFCO) Act, the Coastal Act and the California Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32), among other laws. She also has extensive experience in government contracting and public works.

Prior to joining Sheppard Mullin, Brooke practiced in both the private and public sector. After almost a decade in private practice, primarily representing cities and special districts including water, transportation and fire districts, Brooke joined the Santa Cruz County Office of County Counsel as Assistant County Counsel representing the Planning Commission, Planning Department, Department of Public Works, Santa Cruz County Local Agency Formation Commission, County Sanitation Districts and Regional Transportation Commission.

Brooke later joined the San Diego County Counsel’s office, advising the County Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission on CEQA compliance and land use entitlements and working closely with County Planning & Development Services and Sustainability staff on the Climate Action Plan update and Countywide CEQA thresholds of significance, including the County’s VMT-based transportation threshold. Brooke also defended the County against lawsuits under CEQA and related land use laws in collaboration with counsel for real parties in interest.

Brooke has been recognized as a San Diego Daily Transcript Young Attorneys Award Finalist and received a Litigation Award from the County Counsels’ Association of California. Brooke is an Expert Contributor for the California Association of Environmental Professionals (AEP) CEQA Portal and participates in the Urban Land Institute San Diego-Tijuana Womens’ Leadership Initiative.

Experience

• Resolved a dispute with a neighboring property owner to achieve land use approvals to develop the first major utility-scale (200 MW) BESS project in Merced County.
• Successfully defended the City of Los Angeles’s approval of a housing development in CEQA litigation on behalf of real parties in interest in the published case of Guerrero et al. v. City of Los Angeles (2024) 98 Cal. App. 5^th 1087 (cert. den.), holding petitioners’ CEQA claims were untimely under the Statute of Limitations triggered by the first project approval.
• Achieved City Council approval of a long-term contract and sign regulation exception for the installation of digital wayfinding kiosks in Downtown San Diego over opposition from adverse interest groups.
• Obtained City land use approvals over neighbors’ appeal for a six-bed hospice home located in the City of Poway.
• Worked extensively to obtain federal reauthorization and funding for the Pajaro River Levee Project, an approximately $400 million flood control project to protect vulnerable agricultural communities in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties. Subsequently achieved adoption of State legislation exempting the project from CEQA.
• Successfully defended the County of Santa Cruz against litigation under the Subdivision Map Act challenging final map approval for a multiuse project with retail space, a village green and residential units including deed-restricted affordable units.
• Successfully defended the County of Santa Cruz in CEQA litigation in the published case of Aptos Council v. County of Santa Cruz (2017) 10 Cal.App.5th 266 (cert. den.), upholding the County’s approval of Zoning Code changes against a CEQA challenge based on segmentation claims.

Articles

Energy Law Blog Posts

• "California Leaders Move to Support Energy Storage," March 24, 2025

Real Estate, Land Use & Environmental Law Blog Posts

• "Understanding AB 303: Potential Impacts for California BESS Project Development," January 28, 2025
• "State of Conversion: Update on Adaptive Reuse and Conversion Legislation," October 14, 2024
• "Assessing The Practicality of Harris’ Affordable Housing Plan," August 29, 2024
• "Big Streamlining for Small Subdivision Developers," July 22, 2024

• "Adapting Underutilized Commercial Spaces for Residential Redevelopment: New Tools and Challenges," March 27, 2024

• "Conditional Approval is Project Approval: Appellate Court Confirms CEQA Statute of Limitations Triggered by Tentative Map Approval Conditioned on Subsequent Rezoning," January 19, 2024
• "Good, Better, BESS: How to Build Your Energy Storage Systems," January 18, 2024
• "Ninth Circuit Strikes Down Berkeley’s Ban on Natural Gas in New Construction, Dealing Blow to California’s Electrification Efforts," April 26, 2023

• "Challenge to Housing and Revitalization Project Found Not Cognizable under the Fair Housing Act and California Fair Employment and Housing Act," March 10, 2022
• "Petitioners Failed to Show Subdivision Consistent With a Specific Plan EIR Was Outside the Scope of a Statutory Exemption," March 8, 2022

Media Mentions

Speaking Engagements

• "Redeveloping Underperforming Properties: Legal Considerations and Issues," Continuing Education of the Bar - California, September 27, 2023
• "Home Sweet Home: Housing Options Under SB 9," CEB, May 25, 2022

Events

Digital Media