Travis Brooks

Shareholder
Walnut Creek, CA
925.935.9400
travis.brooks@msrlegal.com
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Travis is a land use shareholder in Miller Starr Regalia's Walnut Creek office.

Travis is a land use shareholder in Miller Starr Regalia's Walnut Creek office.

Practice Areas

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Land Use - Entitlement Land Use & CEQA Land Use - Transactional Land Use - Litigation
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Biography

For more than a decade, Travis has thoughtfully provided strategic advice to clients on a wide range of complicated land use entitlement and environmental matters throughout the state of California.  He represents residential, technological, commercial, and industrial businesses on prominent and often precedent-setting development projects in various permitting jurisdictions.

In the midst of a critical housing supply crisis, a core part of his practice involves utilizing recently strengthened state housing laws, often in innovative ways, to secure the approvals necessary to develop thousands of residential units throughout the state.  He also works with clients to navigate the often complex local, state, and federal approval processes required to introduce commercial and industrial uses and structures in California. 

Travis assists clients in obtaining various land use approvals including general plan amendments, rezonings, conditional use permits, subdivision maps, development agreements, affordable housing agreements, design review, and compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”).  In addition, Travis has significant experience with the Housing Accountability Act (and its many recent amendments), Senate Bill 330, the Density Bonus Law, the Housing Element Law, the Subdivision Map Act, the Permit Streamlining Act, the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the Surplus Land Act, the Ralph M. Brown Act, the Public Records Act, and state and federal takings and environmental law.  Travis frequently writes and speaks on important and developing areas of land use and environmental law.  

Before becoming an attorney, Travis clerked with the California Assembly Committee on the Judiciary and worked on political campaigns in Colorado, New York, and Washington D.C

Travis is licensed to practice in California and New York.

Education

J.D., University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law (2011)

  • With Great Distinction
  • Order of the Coif

B.A., Colorado College, Political Science (2006)

Associations

Contra Costa County Bar Association

New York State Bar Association

Urban Land Institute

Awards & Recognition

Super Lawyers Northern California Rising Star (2017-2023)

Publications

“California Supreme Court Rejects All-Or-Nothing Classification Of Permit Decisions, Holding That Whether CEQA Triggering Discretion Exists Must Be Determined On A Case-By-Case Basis”, Miller & Starr Real Estate Newsalert, November 2020 (Co-Author).

“Navigating Land Use Permitting During A Pandemic,” California Lawyers Association (CLA) Real Property Law E-Bulletin, July 15, 2020 (Co-Author).

U.S. Supreme Court Issues County of Maui Decision—Finds ‘Functionally Equivalent’ Test Guides the Inquiry Whether an NPDES Permit is Required for Groundwater Point Sources that Link to Waters of the U.S., California Land Use Law & Policy Reporter, June 2020, Volume 29, Number 9

The Slow March of Progress – Despite Failing to Secure Sweeping Housing Legislation, the Enactment of SB 330 in Newsom’s First Year is an Important Step Forward, California Land Use Law & Policy Reporter, March 2020, Volume 29, Number 6

Unwinding the “Preclusion Trap” – Knick v. Township of Scott Upends Thirty Years of Federal Takings Precedent. Miller & Starr Real Estate Newsalert, November 2019, Vol. 30, Issue 2

“Towards Promises Unfulfilled: Applying Sixteen Years of Trade and Environmental Lessons to the Pending U.S. - Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement,” 23 PAC. MCGEORGE GLOBAL BUS. & DEV. L.J. 339 (2011)

Speeches & Presentations

“Recent Real Estate Law Developments: A 2026 Update.”  California Lawyers Association, Real Property Law Section, Annual Conference in Yosemite, California, May 16, 2026.  (Co-Panelist)

“Policy at the Crossroads:  What 2026 Means for California Retail Real Estate.”  International Council of Shopping Centers, Annual Conference in Monterey, California, March 25, 2026. (Co-Panelist)

"The Land Use/Water Law Connection: CEQA Update: Yes, Water Practitioners Need to Know This," Argent Communications Group’s 37th Annual California Water Law & Policy Conference, Santa Barbara, CA, June 8, 2023

“Legislative Tools to Encourage Residential Development: Using AB 2011 and SB 6 to Develop Residential Uses on Commercial Properties,” Argent Communications Group’s 8th Annual California Land Use Law & Policy Conference, Virtual, December 7, 2022

“The Land Use/Water Connection Updates: CEQA Update: Yes, Water Practitioners Need To Know This,” Argent Communications Group 36th Annual California Water Law & Policy Conference, Virtual, May 19, 2022

“The Water/Land Use Connection Updates: CEQA Update: Yes, Water Practitioners Need To Know This,” Argent Communications Group’s 35th Annual California Water Law & Policy Conference, Virtual, April 19, 2021

“State of the Art in Housing and Land Use Law in California,” Contra Costa County Bar Association’s 2020 MCLE Spectacular, Virtual, November 20, 2020

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