Who We Are

When prospective real estate purchasers need answers before closing escrow, they turn to Schmitz & Associates. When property owners and developers need help navigating the complex permit processes and securing approvals for their development projects, they turn to Schmitz & Associates. For the past 25 years, Schmitz & Associates has successfully provided land development consulting, project management and permit processing services to thousands of clients throughout Central and Southern California. Founded by Don Schmitz, II, AICP in Malibu, CA two decades ago, Schmitz & Associates evolved from a boutique firm specializing in coastal residential and agricultural/equestrian projects, to one that now includes a regional office and which also handles subdivisions, multi-family residential, health clubs, retail/commercial, office buildings, restaurants, transit-oriented development and industrial projects in urban and rural communities throughout Southern California. In addition, Schmitz & Associates has become the “go to” firm for property owners and municipalities with complex, multi-jurisdictional projects which require not only top flight planners and project managers, but also effective advocates with regulatory decision makers. A reputation for excellent and successful land use consulting services has allowed Schmitz & Associates to continue to thrive in the recent recessionary years. From our smallest residential projects to our largest commercial clients, our strong reputation has been built upon the fact that we care for and represent each of our clients and their development projects as if they were our only one. Moreover, while many colleagues in fields related to ours have added “land use planning” and “permit expediting” to their list of services, we have consistently offered to our clients for the past 20+ years the most talented and dedicated team of planning professionals available. We believe that the fact that we are trained, seasoned, and professional planners is what distinguishes us from many in our field and allows us to successfully represent our clients’ projects.

Our Team

Don Schmitz

President and Principal Planner

 

Scott Hoeft

Director of Planning

 

Nicole Farnoush

Project Team Manager

 

Chris Deleau

Special Projects Manager

 

Cindy Martin

Special Projects Manager

 

Alan Diseker

Assistant Planner

 

Nick Weidhaas

Senior Planner

 

Arfakhashad Munaim

Senior Planner

 

Ben Suber

GIS Manager

 

Essie Landsverk

Bookkeeper

 

Diana Springer

Executive Assistant to the President & Office Manager

 

Brian Manor

Senior Planner

 

Daryl Schay

Senior Special Associate

 

Adrienne Coryell

Planning Assistant to the President

 

Adrien Thein-Sandler

Associate Planner

 

Mehra Ardeshiri

Associate Planner

 
 

Neelima Gadicherla

Senior Planner