Jones Foster Shareholder Alan Ciklin, Land Use & Governmental practice group co-chair and Real Estate practice group member, has decades of experience representing commercial and residential developers, corporations, office and industrial park clients, and residential buyers and sellers in complex land use and zoning matters and sophisticated real estate transactions.
We sat down with Alan to get a little more information about his background and his practice here at Jones Foster.
I began my career as an Assistant County Attorney when there weren't that many county attorneys. I was fortunate to be able to get a very wide variety of experience representing the Palm Beach County Planning and Zoning Commission, the Board of County Commissioners, the Zoning Board of Appeals, and the Land Use Advisory Board.
Later on, because of that experience, when the then-director of Building, Planning & Zoning, who was a lawyer, went into private practice I was appointed by the Board of County Commissioners as the new director of Building, Planning & Zoning. I was able to not only represent those boards but was also given the responsibility of managing the administrative process. And that, again, was the planning division, the zoning division, the building division, and everything in between, including Code Enforcement, the Construction Industry Licensing Board, and the Environmental Board of Appeals.
Having been an administrator, an Assistant County Attorney, and a Deputy County Attorney representing the Board of County Commissioners gives you an insider's perspective. And, over the years I've also represented municipalities so that gives you a real perspective on problem-solving from the administrative side. Eventually, I went into private practice as a named partner and then managing partner for over 30 years and have been leveraging my prior experience to benefit my clients ever since.
Several years ago, I was involved in the largest landmass rezoning in Palm Beach County's history for a rock mining operation in western Palm Beach County. The project was significant and involved local government, state, and federal agencies in the planning, review, permitting, and approval process.
In addition to the land use part of my practice, I also handle a wide variety of real estate transactions for residential buyers and sellers and guide commercial and residential developers and corporations through the process of financing, acquisition, and planning.
I believe my clients benefit from my background because I’m able to advise them on not only the transaction itself, but on land use and development issues as well. I work effectively with the local government as needed to fulfill the client’s goals.
Palm Beach County is the largest landmass county east of the Mississippi River and has 39 municipalities plus the unincorporated area – all of which have their own zoning and land development regulations. I receive calls on a very regular basis to help people resolve zoning, land use, and code enforcement issues in many of those municipalities and others throughout Broward, Martin, and St. Lucie counties.
Often the first question is: What can I do with this particular piece of property?
People sometimes fall into the trap of buying a piece of property or contracting to buy a piece of property because their next-door neighbor or a similar business has a use that they want, so they think it's permitted. Then they find out that perhaps the next-door neighbor's use is illegal, or it's grandfathered in. Even though it appears to be the same situation, an assumption is made and they find out after making a big investment that they can’t do what they had planned.
So the important point here is that before you contract, or close on a piece of property, you have a due diligence period to make sure you know what uses and activities you can undertake on the property.
Sometimes the best-laid plans go wrong. A property owner has gone to the local jurisdiction and was told they can't do something, or what they want to do is very difficult to accomplish, and then they'll call us to step in and provide guidance and legal counsel.
Zoning and land development regulations vary by municipality, so problems arise. For example, a client of mine is a home builder buying a piece of property and wants to subdivide it into two lots and is trying to figure out how to navigate the approvals process. We're also representing an industrial developer in another municipality that has land development issues. We're helping her work her way through the regulatory process and the development process so that at the end of the day, she'll be able to get a site plan approved, pull a building permit, and build and use a property for what she wants to do.
Code enforcement matters are something we help clients with regularly, often when they are facing fines and liens. I've represented clients that have had north of $4 million in fines that we've been able to get reduced by working closely with the jurisdiction. Step one in reducing fines is to get into compliance in order to secure a fee reduction. Sometimes compliance is not that easy. And in some jurisdictions, if you own multiple pieces of property, it's not just the piece of property that's in violation that you've been cited for that needs to be in compliance, it's all other properties that you own within the jurisdiction. So it sometimes becomes challenging and complex.
Code enforcement violations can impact residential purchasers also so it’s important to make sure that all the proper permits have been obtained so that there are no code enforcement issues outstanding and that all prior permits are closed.
We also handle governmental approvals, variances, conditional uses, special exceptions, and rezonings for clients.
One of the things that's always important in representing a client – and it's always been my philosophy – is that when the client comes in and says, “I have this problem,” I go back to the beginning. I’ve found that many times the problem that the governmental agency says you have is not a problem at all and may simply be a misinterpretation by the agency.
When there really is a problem, we always try to resolve things through the jurisdiction’s staff. We have developed excellent relationships with government officials and many of the municipalities, individually and collectively. The firm represents several municipalities so we have experience on the other side of the coin and know what it takes to resolve problems.
Sometimes we need to represent our clients before zoning boards of appeals, special magistrates, planning and zoning boards, city commissions or councils, and the Board of County Commissioners in order to resolve problems. We're experienced in this and have successfully represented clients before all of these boards over many decades.
That's an easy question. My favorite part of the job – and this sounds a little too basic – is being able to help people with problems. By nature, I'm a competitive person. I want to succeed for my clients and to be able to take their problems and resolve them in a satisfactory manner. It's my favorite part of the job and what has kept me very active in this particular line of work. The other good thing about practicing in the area of land use and zoning is that most of the problems aren't particularly prolonged. They take maybe perhaps weeks or months to resolve, rather than years and years. That keeps your perspective fresh and allows you to move on to the next problem to solve.
Certainly, if you're an out-of-state developer or property owner and you are planning to relocate or purchase additional properties in Florida, or even if you are from another county in Florida, you want somebody who knows their way around the local market. You want someone with boots on the ground who knows the administrative staff, the zoning directors, the politicians, the brokers, the title companies, and who knows what’s happening in the specific market and who is familiar with the diverse local ordinances and state laws regarding land use and zoning.
Often I'll get calls from people out of state that will say, “I have a world-class architect that I've used for years that I trust here in the northeast.” And I'll always advise those people, absolutely, use an architect that you trust but we need to connect you with local people who know their way around Palm Beach County and its municipalities because local knowledge is extremely important.
That's a good question. I also have an active real estate practice, and one of the things that's really important to consider is the contract details. Look at the due diligence timeframes and contingencies subject to rezoning and approvals and subject to confirming that the zoning allows the purchaser to do what they want to do. Often, when people negotiate contracts without the advice of knowledgeable counsel, they negotiate the wrong thing, they're looking at the wrong issue. They don’t give themselves enough time to make their way through the process or they don't know what the process is. Or, they are relying on information that is applicable to another jurisdiction and doesn't apply here in Palm Beach County or its 39 municipalities.
Unfortunately, issues arise fairly frequently. That’s why it’s helpful to have an attorney who handles both real estate and land use regularly. I receive calls from clients who purchase a piece of property and suddenly, their neighbor claims an easement exists, or that there’s a zoning violation, or there’s a question about access to your property to get to a waterway or some other destination.
Often my job is to get to the bottom of those issues to find out what the legal status of that property is and the land use area access. One of the things to be always on the lookout for is whether there's adequate access. Adequate means not only from a practical standpoint but also from a code requirement standpoint.
A year or so ago, we represented a developer who had a wonderful piece of property zoned for multi-family residential but access to the property required going through another development over a canal. It became very challenging because the bridging of the canal was a permitting issue, and it was also a very expensive issue to resolve.
Well, I've never found municipalities to become more lenient in granting approvals. Unfortunately, the busier they get the more stressed the bureaucracy becomes, and the harder it is to resolve problems and get answers and resolutions to those problems.
That's when relationships matter. That's when knowing where to go to resolve your problems matters. And that's when reputations matter. So when the bureaucracy knows that the lawyer that's representing the property owners has been there, done that, and knows their way around, that's always very helpful because often when things get very busy, experience matters.
People within the administrative area don't always know the answers to certain questions because they haven’t done it before or they are new to the job. Often it's important to help educate them. One of my philosophies has always been to be hard on the problem, and not on the people. The reason that is important is because people remember when you've treated them with respect and decency, and with a fair approach and they'll help you next time around and then you can build a relationship over time. A one-and-done, burn-the-house-down approach may be successful once, but it's not going to be successful a second time, at least in my experience.
I think I've been blessed to have a lot of clients who have been with me for a long time. I think the key to that is responsiveness. If you don’t get a callback for three days, you're going to go to somebody else that responds right away. It's human nature, and it's what the consumer deserves. One of the things I pride myself in, and something that Jones Foster instills in its culture, is that we believe our clients deserve responsiveness. You call me, I return your call. I provide you with the facts and I give you my best legal opinion. I don't sell you a resolution when there may not be a good one. I'll tell you if I think it’s economical or not because sometimes the resolution might not be worth it. And, if we hit an obstacle, I'm always looking for other alternatives for the client to allow them to accomplish their goal.
One of the things that is important is to not be a one-niche practice. We want to be able to offer a wide variety of services to clients whether they are single-family homeowners or national developers. And in order to do that, you have to have qualified people at all levels so mentoring and recruiting is essential.
We have some very talented litigation associates who work with Tom Baird, my co-chair, as well as shareholders Joanne O’Connor and Rob Vargas on land use and governmental matters. They have been representing clients at hearings throughout Palm Beach, Martin, and St. Lucie counties and in matters involving municipal law, land use and zoning, and related litigation. Their practices are evolving and they are enjoying the challenges and opportunities that this area of practice offers.
Recently the firm hired Senior Counsel Peter Henn whose unique and diverse skillset is a real asset to the team. He is a real estate and land use attorney, an AICP-certified professional planner, a former developer, and a longtime faculty member at Florida Atlantic University.
And, we have several land use associates to help meet our expanding client needs. We are fortunate to have an incredible network of clients and referral sources throughout South Florida who know each of us through our decades of work in the field.
Jones Foster is a century-old law firm and has built an enviable reputation for having exceptional lawyers who can handle complex and difficult matters that often are handled by larger firms. And, the culture is collaborative, so reaching out to someone in another practice area for advice for your client or to have extra eyes on a complicated matter is the way we work.
From the client perspective, working with a midsize full-service firm allows them to develop a relationship with not only one attorney but several attorneys across practice groups so whether they have a real estate closing, a land use dispute, a need to update their trust, a tax issue or a business restructure, they have a singular trusted, legal resource.
The information provided in this article does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; it is for general informational purposes only. No reader of this article should act or refrain from acting on the basis of this information without first seeking legal advice from counsel in the relevant jurisdiction to ensure the information contained herein – and your interpretation of it – is applicable or appropriate to your particular situation.
Jones Foster is a full-service commercial and private client law firm headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida, with offices in Palm Beach and Jupiter. Tracing its roots back to 1924, the firm has served as an integral part of South Florida’s growth and prosperity. Through a relentless pursuit of excellence, Jones Foster delivers original legal solutions that help clients, colleagues, and the community to move forward. A significant number of attorneys have received the designation of Board-Certified Specialist by The Florida Bar in their specific practice area. The firm’s practice groups include Complex Litigation & Dispute Resolution; Corporate & Tax; Land Use & Governmental; Private Wealth, Wills, Trusts & Estates; Real Estate; and Trust & Estate Litigation. For more information, please visit www.jonesfoster.com.
