Don Schmitz, AICP, is President and Principal Planner of Schmitz & Associates, Inc., a land use consulting firm specializing in land development entitlements, strategic planning, project management, and government affairs and advocacy. With over 28 years of planning experience, Mr. Schmitz is recognized as one of the State’s preeminent experts in coastal land use planning.
Prior to establishing his own consultancy, Mr. Schmitz served as a California Coastal Commission’s South Coast District principal planner on public and private development projects, and coordinator for access and wetlands matters. He has worked within the coastal communities of Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Dana Point, Avalon, Playa Vista, Venice, Pacific Palisades, Seal Beach, Rancho Palos Verdes, Malibu, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, Carpenteria, unincorporated South Laguna Beach, Irvine Cove, Newport Dunes, Santa Ana River, and Sunset Beach. He has also practiced extensively in many non-coastal jurisdictions including the counties of San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura, and Santa Barbara, and the cities of Los Angeles, Calabasas, Agoura Hills, Thousand Oaks, Vista, Santa Clarita, and Moorpark. As the founder and President of Schmitz & Associates, Inc., Mr. Schmitz has led the start up, management representation, and successful entitlement of over a thousand land development projects, including retail, office and commercial developments, equestrian centers, resorts, residential subdivisions, lot line adjustments, estate homes, multifamily residences, agricultural uses, shoreline protection devices, infrastructure improvements (including sewer mains and treatment plants), roads and bridges, and restoration projects.
Integrating decades of technical planning skills, a creative and sensitive design approach, and a keen understanding of the regulatory standards, policies, and procedures, Mr. Schmitz oversees and manages a team of talented and experienced planners, architects, biologists, engineers, and geologists on these projects from inception to public hearing and through condition compliance. Schmitz & Associates, Inc.’s track record of successful advocacy of its client’s projects demonstrates Mr. Schmitz’s expansive, cultivated, and effective working relationships with government planners, elected officials, Planning and Coastal Commissioners. Mr. Schmitz is an acknowledged expert on the Coastal Act, California Subdivision Map Act, CEQA/NEPA, fire safety issues, and state Water Code. His work as an expert witness and litigation consultant has been pivotal in numerous landmark legal proceedings, including cases dealing with Coastal Act policies, improper regulatory denial of entitlements, takings damages, prescriptive rights, land use related escrow and contractual disputes, and standard of care disputes.
