Santiago D. Echemendia

Attorney at Law
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Santiago D. Echemendia is a partner and chair of the firm’s Local Government Law Group.  During his 23 year career, he has concentrated on municipal law with an emphasis on land use/zoning, including appeals, competitive bidding (has handled approximately 50 bid protest administrative hearings and lawsuits), ethics, public records and administrative law.

SIGNIFICANT REPRESENTATIONS

  • Serves as Board Counsel to Early Learning Coalition of Miami-Dade/Monroe.
  • Serves as Board Counsel to the South Florida Water Management District Governing Board for five years, where he attended all board meetings and workshops to provide expertise on conflicts of interest and ethics issues, as well as issues on policies pertaining to procurement, competitive bidding, minority and small business participation, and the Sunshine Law. Mr. Echemendia handled many administrative cases, and also provided recommendations for final agency action.
  • Served as Senior Public Affairs Consultant to Florida Department of Transportation, acting as a liaison with the Metropolitan Planning Organization on behalf of FDOT.
  • Represented the City of Miami in connection with all of the submerged land leases from the Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund.
  • Represented Monroe County on Protect Key West and The Florida Keys Inc. d/b/a “Last Stand” v. South Florida Water Management District and Monroe County.
  • Represented the Miami-Dade County School Board on transferable development rights and historic preservation issues.
  • Represented CBS Outdoor Inc. on its settlement of National Advertising v. City of Miami.
  • Provides governmental relations and substantive land use, environmental, and transportation advice to major real estate interests and other corporate clients before city and county boards throughout Florida, and before various state agencies, including the Governor and Cabinet (acting as the Trustee of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund), the Florida Department of Transportation.

Cases he has been lead counsel on include:

  • JC&C Enterprises v. City of Hialeah
  • Springmeyer v. Metropolitan Dade County
  • Hernandez v. Metropolitan Dade County
  • Kern v. Metropolitan Dade County
  • Cajon v. Metropolitan Dade County
  • Palmer Ranch v. Sarasota County
  • SRI Miami Venture v. The City of Miami
  • West Bay Plaza v. The City of Miami Beach
  • Brickell Village v. The City of Miami
  • Palm Springs General Hospital, Inc. v. City of Hialeah Gardens
  • Balani v. Miami-Dade County
  • Buquebus v. City of Naples
  • Chisholm Properties South Beach, Inc. v. City of Miami Beach and Ritz Plaza Hotel Corporation
  • Decoplage Condominium Association, Inc. v. The City of Miami Beach and Ritz Plaza Hotel Corporation
  • Fernandez v. Village of Pinecrest
  • Pellas v. City of Coral Gables
  • Wal-Mart Stores East L.P. v. City of Miramar
  • Lisa M. Detournay v. City of Coral Gables, et al. and Amace Properties
  • Outlook Media of South Florida LLC v. City of Miami

Administrative hearings (final agency action) he has been lead on include:

  • Pelican Bay Foundation, Inc. v. Collier County Water and Sewer District and South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD)
  • Protect Key West and The Florida Keys Inc. d/b/a “Last Stand” v. SFWMD and Monroe County
  • Berryman & Henigar v. SFWMD
  • Florida Wildlife Federation v. SFWMD and Scripps
  • DiVentura v. The Glades at Stuart and SFWMD
  • Kevin Burkett v. Osceola County, Habitat Restoration, Inc. and SFWMD
  • Captiva Civic Association and The Conservancy of Southwest Florida v. SFWMD
  • Conservancy of Southwest Florida v. G.L. Homes of Naples Associates II, Ltd., and SFWMD
  • SFWMD v. Eco-Engineering, LLC, f/k/a Enviroglades, LLC
  • Andres Monsalve v. State of Florida Department of Transportation and Outlook Media of South Florida LLC
  • Outlook Media of South Florida LLC v. Department of Transportation and CBS Outdoor, Inc.

BAR AND COURT ADMISSIONS

  • Florida

PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

  • The Florida Bar, Member
  • Miami-Dade Planning Advisory Board, Former Board Member
  • South Florida Regional Planning Council, Former Board Member
  • Miami-Dade Housing Finance Authority, Former Board Member
  • Board of Directors of the FIU-Wolfsonian Museum, Former Board Member

AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS

  • Martindale-Hubbell "AV" Rated
  • 2008-2010 Finalist for South Florida Business Journal Key Partners Award
  • South Florida Legal Guide, Top Lawyers 2009-2010 Award
  • Finalist, Top Dealmaker for the Camillus House Land Swap Transaction, MDBR, 2007
  • Zoning recognition in the Legal 500, 2008 and 2009 editions