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W. ANDREW GOWDER, JR.

Partner

andrew.jpeg

Andy counsels and advocates for clients in the areas of land use, property, land conservation and historic preservation, state and local government law, and benefit and nonprofit corporate formation, governance, and counsel. His practice includes both representing leading environmental and preservation groups in litigation and providing counsel and strategic advice to nonprofit organizations, local governments, and responsible landowners and developers to assist them in doing their good work and achieving their missions.

 

He is an editor and writer of books and articles on topics relating to sustainable development, the greening of local government, the financing of public infrastructure, the ownership of property, the land use entitlement process, heir’s property, and the protection of the environment and historic preservation, and he teaches and lectures frequently on those topics.

 

Andy has long been active in the American Bar Association, serving in many leadership roles, including as Chair of the ABA Section of State and Local Government Law, which works to advocate for local government that is just, protects individual freedom, and strengthens the rule of law.

He has also been involved in leadership in the Urban Land Institute at the national, regional and local levels, serving for more than ten years on the Executive Committee of the Sustainable Development Council (three years as its Chair), currently as Chair of the Carolinas Rethinking Southern Cities Regional Initiative Council and formerly as Chair of the ULI South Carolina District Council, where he continues to serve on its Governance Committee and its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. Through this work, Andy has been able to learn, develop and influence policy and innovation in green and sustainable land use planning and building over the last 20 years.
 

His practice and professional work have led him to achieve the professional designation of CRE (Counselor of Real Estate), an AV-Preeminent Rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the highest available rating for lawyers in that system, and he has for many years been named Best Lawyer in America in Land Use.

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Get in Touch

843.727.2229

Andy@austengowder.com

Bailey Pope

paralegal

bailey@austengowder.com

Areas of Practice

Waterfall in nature
Gardening
US government building

Land Use

Non-profit Foundation
& Governance

State &
Local Government

Judges Examining Document
Modern Creative Office

Intellectual Property

General Counsel

Speaking Engagements

Teaching Activities

South Carolina Land Use Conference (Seminar Group)

Co-Chair of Program; Speaker: Case Law Updates on SC Local Government and Land Use Law

(April 2022)

Land Use Institute

  • Video Conference, October 19, 2021Federal Laws, Regulations and Programs Affecting Local Land Use Decision Making, Video Conference, October 19, 2021

  • Land Use Institute Affordable Housing Update, Video Conference, January 20, 2021

  • Obtaining Land Use Entitlements During a Pandemic: Covid-19, Variances, and Zoning, Video Conference, March 2020

  • Federal Laws, Regulations and Programs Affecting Local Land Use Decision Making, April 19, 2018, Detroit MI

  • Update on Planning, Land Use and Eminent Domain: Nonconforming Uses and Development Agreements, February 1-2, 2017, Miami, FL

ACREL

Spring Meeting 2022, Speaker on the Easement Potpourri Panel, speaking on “Heirs Property and Prescriptive Easements: Intersecting Unrecorded Rights in Property and Practical Solutions for Getting from Here to There.”

Urban Land Institute (ULI)

Rethinking Southern Cities Regional Council: Lowcountry Lowline Presentation: Summer 2022 Meeting, Wilmington NC

ALI Eminent Domain and Land Value Litigation Institute

  • The Lawyer’s Right to Comment and the Right to a Fair Trial in Eminent Domain Proceedings, January 2019, Palm Springs, CA

  • Determining the Client and Addressing Issue of Representing Organizations, January 2018 Charleston, SC

  • Planning Ahead: Future Highway Corridors as Takings, February 2017, San Diego, CA

Guest Lecturer

Franklin L. Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management, Daniels College of Business, University of Denver, 2019-2021: REAL 4701 Topics: CITYCRAFTING: Integrated Systems Scale Regeneration, John L. Knott, Jr., Adjunct Professor.

The Seminar Group

Coastal Issues & Shoreline Management in the Southeast: Case Studies, Video Conference, November 20, 2020

ABA Section of State and Local Government Law

Land Use Hot Topics Panels. Each year from approximately 2003-2016, I presented an update on decisions involving exactions and impact fees at the Section Spring Meeting, at a program sponsored by the Land Use and Planning Committee. The papers that were presented at those panels were published in The Urban Lawyer and are listed below.

Publications

Articles & Book

Reviews

  • “Recent Developments in Exaction and Impact Fees: Do  You Know the Way to San Jose?” The Urban Lawyer, Summer 2016

  • “Recent Developments in Exaction and Impact Fees” The Urban Lawyer, Summer 2015

  • “After Koontz: Recent Developments in Exactions and Impact Fees” The Urban Lawyer, Fall 2014

  • “When Do the Nollan and Dolan Rules Apply to the Regulation of Development and Land Use?” Planning and Environmental Law, American Planning Association, June 2013

  • “Recent Developments in Exactions and Impact Fees: Public Dedications Required of Private Land” The Urban Lawyer, Summer, 2012

  • “Recent Developments in Exactions and Impact Fees: Who Pays for New Schools, Fair Housing, and Clean Air?” with Bryan W. Wenter, The Urban Lawyer, Summer 2010

  • “Recent Developments in Exactions and Impact Fees,” with Bryan W. Wenter, published in The Urban Lawyer, Summer 2009

  • “A Blueprint for Rebuilding Our Cities,” a book review of Redevelopment Planning, Law, and Project Implementation: A Guide for Practitioners, Brian W. Blaesser & Thomas P. Cody,

  • Editors, State and Local Law News, Winter 2009 Vol. 32, No. 2

  • “Recent Developments, Exactions and Impact Fees,” with Bryan W. Wenter, The Urban Lawyer, Summer 2008

  • “Exactions and Impact Fees 2007: The Limits of Local Authority,” with Bryan W. Wenter The Urban Lawyer, Summer 2007

  • “Exactions Update: The State of Development Exactions After Lingle v Chevron USA, Inc.,” with Daniel J. Curtin, Jr., and Bryan W. Wenter, The Urban Lawyer, Summer 2006

  • “Exactions Update: When Nollan/Dolan Heightened Scrutiny Does Not Apply,” with Daniel J. Curtin, Jr., and Bryan W. Wenter, The Urban Lawyer Summer 2005

  • “Recent Developments in Land Use, Planning and Zoning Law Relating to Exactions,” with Daniel J. Curtin, Jr., The Urban Lawyer, Summer 2004

  • “Exactions Update: When and How did Nollan/Dolan Rules Apply,” with Daniel J. Curtin, Jr.,The Urban Lawyer Fall 2003

Books

Bar Activities, Community Service, Pro Bono & Affiliations

South Carolina

Bar

  • Member, House of Delegates, (1994-2015, approximate)

  • Certified Civil Mediator by SC Supreme Court (current)

Charleston County

Bar

  • Member, 1986-present

American Bar Association

  • Section of State and Local Government Law

    •  Section Delegate to the American Bar Association House of Delegates, 2016-present (represents the Section in the ABA House of Delegates, the policy-making body of the Association)

    • Chair, Urban Lawyer Advisory Board, 2020-present (chairs the board of the Section’s academic law journal)

    • Member, Publications Oversight Board 2019-present (oversees the Section’s book publication program)

    • Chair, 2013-2014 (chairs the governing Council of the Section)

    • Chair Elect, 2012-2013

    • Vice-Chair, 2011-2012

    • Secretary, 2010-2011

    • Committees Coordinator, Special Advisory to the Chair 2009-2010 (coordinates the work of all Section committees, chief of staff to the Section Chair)

    • Committees Coordinator 2008-2009

    • Land Use Planning & Zoning Committee Chair 2007-2008 (chairs the largest and most active subject matter committee within the Section)

    • State and Local Law News Editor 2007-2008 (editor for the Section’s newsletter)

    • Member of Council, 2007- present (member of the governing body of the Section)

    • Section Liaison, Urban Land Institute, 2007-present

  • Standing Committee on Publishing Oversight, Member, 2021-present (ABA Presidential Appointment; oversees all publications of ABA Publishing).

  • Committee on Scope and Correlation of Work (the only committee in the ABA elected directly by the ABA House of Delegates; reviews all entities within the Association and makes recommendation on modifying, combining or sunsetting entities if warranted).

    • Member, 2015-2021, Chair, 2019-2020

  • The American Bar Foundation, Fellow, 2014-present

Community Service

and Pro Bono

Activities

  • Preservation Society of Charleston

    • Chair, beginning January 1, 2023

    • Vice Chair (current)

    • Board Member, 2019-present

    • Chair, Advocacy Committee (current)

    • Member, Executive Committee

  • South Carolina Aquarium

    • Board Member, 2016-present

    • Chair, Governance Committee (current)

    • Member, Executive Committee (current)

  • Friends of the Lowcountry Lowline

    • Board Member 2020-present

    • Secretary, General Counsel (current)

    • Member, Executive Committee (current)

  • Friends of Coastal South Carolina

    • Board Member, 2020-present

    • General Counsel

  • Charleston Moves

    • Board Member 2013-present

    • Board Chair 2019-2020

    • Member, Executive Committee, General Counsel (current)

  • Charleston Waterkeeper

    • General Counsel, 2010-present

  • Wake Forest University School of Law

    • Member, Board of Visitors, 2015-2019

  • Lowcountry Local First

    • Founding Board Member, 2007

    • Chair, 2010-2011

    • Vice Chair 2009-2010

  • Raptor Youth Rowing Club

    • Founder, Chair, 2007-2010

  • 180 Place (formerly Crisis Ministries)

    • Board Member 2006-2012

    • Board Chair 2008-2011

    • Vice Chair 2007

  • The Sustainability Institute

    • Board Member and Chair, 1999-2007

    • Recipient, “Green Hammer Award”

  • Enough Pie

    • Board Member, Secretary, General Counsel,            2013-2019

  • Carolina Youth Development Center

    • Board Member, 1993-1999

    • Board Chair 1997-1999

    • Board Development Committee 2000-present

  • I’On Assembly

    • Board of Directors, 2001-2004

  • Parents and Children Together (PACT)

    • General Counsel 1997-2008

  • First (Scots) Presbyterian Church, Charleston, S.C.

    • Board of Deacons, Moderator, 1998-2000

    • Elder, Member of Session (two nonconsecutive terms)

    • General Counsel ACORN (New Building)   Committee

Other Memberships

  • Urban Land Institute

    • ​Sustainable Development Council (Product Councils consist of Full Members of ULI only,
      from across the organization, limited to 50-60 members, focused on all aspects of sustainable
      and regenerative development and green building)

      • ​Member, Executive Committee, 2010-present (plans and executes two meetings per year,
        including a full day of programming, venue selection, dinner, and other events)

      • Chair, 2014-2017 (chairs the Executive Committee, see above; presides when the Product
        Council meets)

    • ULI South Carolina District Council (the statewide local membership organization for ULI
      members)

    • Rethinking Southern Cities Regional Initiative Council (a product council consisting of
      members of ULI South Carolina, ULI Charlotte and ULI Triangle focusing on innovation in
      cities in the Carolinas and Southeast)

      • ​Chair, 2019-present (responsible for planning 2 programs per year held in various cities
        in the Carolinas)

      • Member, Executive Committee, 2017-present

  • The Counselors of Real Estate

    • ​October 2017-present

    • Bylaws Committee, Vice Chair

    • Infrastructure Interest Group

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