rICHARD gROSSO'S Biographical Sketch

   Richard Grosso, President of Richard Grosso, P.A., in Plantation, Fla., is a widely recognized lawyer and advocate, with 38 years of experience as a public interest litigator, appellate lawyer, advocate and counselor in the areas of federal and Florida environmental, land use, constitutional, property rights and related governmental and administrative law. He offers services throughout Florida and in Washington DC.

   Mr. Grosso is a former Law Professor at the Shepard Broad College of Law at Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where he taught in the areas of environmental, energy, land use, administrative, appellate practice and federal and state constitutional law. He is the former Executive Director and General Counsel of the Everglades Law Center, Inc., (ELC) a public interest law firm which represents citizens and environmental interests in environmental and land use matters concerning the Florida Everglades, Florida Keys and the south Florida ecosystem in general. He is also a former Legal Director for 1000 Friends of Florida, and attorney for the Florida departments of Community Affairs and Environmental Regulation. Over a 34 – year litigation and appellate career, he represented numerous public interest clients and the state of Florida in federal and state administrative and judicial proceedings. He frequently appears before local governments, state and federal agencies, and other bodies concerning land use and environmental issues.    

     Mr. Grosso has worked extensively on the local, state and federal policy, legal and agency decision-making aspects of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, cutting edge "carrying capacity" land use planning in the Florida Keys, climate and sea level rise sustainability issues in south Florida and a wide variety of environmental and land use issues throughout Florida.    Richard’s work and analysis has been quoted or referenced in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Forbes, Politico, National and Florida Public Radio, in almost every major news media in Florida, and other newspapers and blogs across the country and around the world.  Mr. Grosso has successfully litigated many significant and precedent setting cases, including:   

• Mattino v. City of Marathon, which overturned the state of Florida's approval of a development increase in the keys that violated the hurricane evacuation time - based development limits in state law.

*        1000 Friends of Florida v. Palm Beach County, which strictly enforced the Palm Beach County land use plan, and protected the Everglades Agricultural area from wide-spread limerock mining, thus preserving its environmental restoration potential; 

• Fla. Wildlife Fed. & Sierra Club v. US Army Corp of Engineers, which halted construction of the Scripps Research Institute on the fringe of the Everglades in western Palm Beach County and resulted in the relocation of the project to an urban infill area. 

• Pinecrest Lakes v. Shidel, where demolition of buildings built in violation of a local comprehensive plan was ordered by the courts; 

• 1000 Friends of Florida v. Monroe County, the precedent - setting case on the issue of carrying-capacity - based planning; 

• Sierra Club, et al v. Miami-Dade County, which overturned the state approval for a commercial airport at the former Homestead Air Force Base.

• Poulos v. Martin County, which guaranteed citizens the right to a de novo trial in plan consistency challenges. 

• McKay v. DER and Namon v. DER, which rejected inverse condemnation claims and strengthened the state of Florida's ability to protect wetlands on private property;  

• DCA v. Withlacoochie Regional Planning Council, which upheld the state's authority to require Regional Policy Plans to be consistent with the State Comprehensive Plan;  

• Homebuilders and Contractors v. Dept. of Community Affairs, which upheld the state's ability to discourage urban sprawl through the state land use planning process.    

     Mr. Grosso also co-authored an influential amicus curie brief in the ground-breaking case of Brevard County v. Snyder, Florida’s leading land use law case.  Among Professor Grosso’s notable publications are: 

·        

• Property Rights Liability of the Limited Growth System in the Florida Keys—Is the Concern Overstated?, Environmental and Land Use Law Section Reporter, Fla. Bar., Vol. XLIV, No. 3, p. 3 (November 2024)
• A Guide to   Development Order “Consistency” Challenges Under Florida Statutes Section  163.3215, 34 J. of Envtl. L. & Litig. 129 (2019)
• Planning  and Permitting to Reduce and Respond to Global Warming and Sea Level Rise  in Florida,   J. Land Use & Env. Law., Vol 30, No. 2, 201 (Spring 2015)
• Planning and Permitting to  Reduce and Respond to Global Warming and Sea Level Rise, 6 J. Animal and  Environmental L. 41 (2015), https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0gcImiUSq5ETlVZSW1melFzcm8/view?pref=2&pli=1
• Regulating  for Sustainability: The Legality of Carrying Capacity – Based Environmental and Land Use Permitting Decisions, 35 Nova L. Rev. 711 (Summer 2011)
• The Public  Interest Perspective on SB 360, Fla. Bar Journal, Oct. 2009, at 24. 
• Richard  Grosso & Jason Totoiu, Planning and Permitting to Protect  Wetlands: The Different Roles and Powers of State and Local Government,  Fla. Bar Journal, Apr. 2010,  at 39. 
• Old McDonald  Still Has a Farm: Agricultural Property Rights After the Veto of S.B. 1712, Fla. Bar. J. March, 2005,     Volume 79, No. 3 (co-author with Robert Hartsell)
• Environmental View of the 50 Year Picture, Fla. Bar, Env. & Land Use Law Section Annual Update Materials (Aug. 25-27, 2005)
• Florida's Burt Harris Act: Does it Protect Third Parties and the Public Interest? (Georgetown University Law Center Continuing Legal Education; October 18 - 19, 2001)
• Legal Issues Concerning the Water Preserve Areas (Fla. Bar. April 20, 2001)
• Wildlife Habitat and Land Use in the Florida Keys (Fla. Bar, Env & Land Use Law Section) (January 18, 2001).
• Quit Exploiting the Everglades, ENGINEERING NEWS-RECORD, Jan. 11, 1999, at 59 (Co-author w/ S. Estenoz)
• Florida's  Growth Management Act: How Far We Have Come, and How Far We Have Yet to Go, 20 NOVA L. REV. 589 (1996).
• Carrying Capacity in the Florida Keys: The Implications for Land Use Planning, A NATIONAL SYMPOSIUM: ASSESSING THE CUMULATIVE IMPACTS OF WATERSHED DEVELOPMENT ON AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS AND WATER QUALITY (Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission, Natural Resources Dep’t, 1996).
• Looking for  the Middle Ground in Snyder, 15 ENVTL. & LAND USE LAW SEC. REP. (1993).
• Richard J. Grosso & David J. Russ, Takings Law in Florida: Ramifications of Takings Clauses, 8 J. Land Use & Envtl. L. 431, 485 (1993).
• Federal Offshore Leasing: States' Concerns Fall on Deaf Ears, 2 J. LAND USE & ENVTL. L. 249 (1986).

     Mr. Grosso has also authored numerous published Continuing Legal Education and other articles and outlines on growth management, land use, environmental and property rights law. 

     Mr. Grosso speaks and lectures extensively throughout the state of Florida and has spoken at numerous conferences, seminars and workshops sponsored by the Florida Bar Association, the Southeast Association of Law Schools, the South Florida Regional Planning Council, the Florida League of Cities, the Broward County Consumer Protection Board, the University of Miami Good Government Institute, the Scripps Howard Institute on the Environment, Palm Beach County Planning Congress, the PGA Corridor Association, Dade County Bar Association, several state and local government agencies, the Everglades Coalition, the University of Florida School of Law Public Interest Environmental Conference, the Broward (City and County) Leaders Water Academy, virtually every major environmental organization in the state.

     Mr. Grosso has been widely recognized for his work on behalf of Florida's  nvironment, including:

· 

- Sierra Club (national) Volunteer Achievement Award (2023)

- Audubon Florida's 2021 Everglades Champion Award

· Lifetime Achievement Award (2010 Fla. Bar, Environmental and Land Use Law Section’s Public Interest Environmental Conference). The Urban Environmental League’s (Miami-Dade County) Orchid Award for Lawyers Who Make a Difference (2009). 

· The Bill Sadowski Memorial Public Service Award by the Florida Bar, Environmental & Land Use Law Section (2008)

· The Tropical Audubon Society’s Polly Redford Citizens Service Award or his legal work on behalf of the environment (2008). 

· The Sierra Club Florida chapter’s William K. ‘Red’ Howell Legal Services Award (2005) 

· Named Most Effective Environmental Lawyer in south Florida, Daily Business Review (2004). 

· Conservationist of the Year (Marshall Foundation 2003). 

· Conservationist of the Year (Everglades Coalition 2002)

· Conservationist of the Year (Audubon Society of the Everglades 2001)

· Public Service Award (Martin County Conservation Alliance 2000)

· Environmentalist of the Year (CityLink Newspaper [Broward & Palm Beach Counties] 2000)

· Conservationist of the Year. Florida Wildlife Federation (1999) 

· Hal Scott Memorial Award for legal advocacy on behalf of the environment. (Florida Audubon Society 1997)

· Individual of the Year (Key West environmental group Last Stand 1995)

* Mr. Grosso's practice in Washington DC consists of federal government relations; he is not licensed to practice  law as a member of the Washington DC bar.