Scott E. Porter

Senior Associate

Areas of Practice

Land Use and Zoning
Public Finance
Telecommunications
Municipal Law

Education

J.D., UCLA School of Law, 2000, Moot Court
B.A., History, UCLA, 1997, Magna Cum Laude

Admissions

Supreme Court of California
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
United States District Court for the Central District of California

Professional Affiliations

State Bar of California
City Attorney Association of Los Angeles County

Publications

Three articles in the California Real Estate Reporter
Two papers for League of California Cities: “Implementing the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006 (DIVCA)” and “SB 9 – Hastening the Demise of Single Family Zoning (May 2022)”

Mr. Porter currently serves as assistant city attorney to the City of La Verne and the City of Encinitas. He routinely advises at their city council and planning commission meetings. Mr. Porter also served as city attorney for the City of West Covina and interim city attorney of Palmdale. Mr. Porter has been with the law firm of Jones Mayer since 2015.

His primary practice areas are municipal law, land use, and telecommunications. Mr. Porter advises elected officials and staff in all areas of municipal law, including general plans, zoning, the Coastal Act, housing, conflicts of interest, local agency formation commissions (LAFCOs), public finance, public contracting, public works, telecommunications, utilities, and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Mr. Porter has advised on the comprehensive rewrite of four general plans, one Coastal Land Use Plan, three development codes, and more than a dozen housing elements. He has advised and negotiated development agreements collectively valued at hundreds of millions of dollars. He has advised multiple cities on ballot measures, land use initiatives, and related litigation.

Mr. Porter has assisted multiple cities on public finance matters, including elections on cannabis taxes, parcel taxes, business license taxes, utility users taxes, transient occupancy taxes, and transactions and use (sales) taxes. Mr. Porter has advised on special assessment proceedings, water and utility rate increases, development impact fees, and fee studies.

Mr. Porter has advised on public contracting procurement, capital improvement programs, and utility operations.

Mr. Porter has provided dozens of trainings on land use, telecommunications, and CEQA. He has also served as a guest lecturer at California State University, Northridge, on state ethics laws and the planning process. Mr. Porter has published three articles in the California Real Estate Reporter relating to real estate and telecommunications. In May 2022, he presented a paper to the League of California Cities on SB 9 (urban lot splits).

Mr. Porter has been with the law firm of Jones & Mayer since 2015. He has previously served as City Attorney to the City of West Covina. He currently serves as Assistant City Attorney to the City of Whittier, and Deputy City Attorney for Fullerton. His primary practice areas are municipal law, land use, public finance, and telecommunications. Mr. Porter routinely advises at City Council and Planning Commission meetings.

Mr.Porter advises elected officials and staff in all areas of municipal law, including general plans, zoning, the Coastal Act, housing, conflicts of interest, public finance, public contracting, public works, telecommunications, utilities and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Mr. Porter has advised on the comprehensive rewrite of three general plans, one Coastal Land Use Plan, and two development codes. He has advised and negotiated agreements collectively valued at hundreds of millions of dollars.

Mr. Porter has assisted multiple cities on public finance matters. He has assisted cities conduct elections on parcel taxes, business license taxes, utility users taxes, transient occupancy taxes, and transactions and use (sales) taxes. Mr. Porter has advised on special assessment proceedings, water and utility rate increases, development impact fees and fee studies.

Mr. Porter has been practicing law since 2000 when he graduated from UCLA School of Law. Mr. Porter graduated magna cum laude from UCLA in 1997 with a degree in history.

Mr. Porter has provided dozens of trainings on land use, telecommunications and CEQA. He has also served as a guest lecturer at California State University Northridge on state ethics laws and the planning process. Mr. Porter has published three articles in the California Real Estate reporter relating to real estate and telecommunications. In May 2021, he will be presenting a paper to the League of California Cities on SB 9 (Urban Lot Splits); he previously presented a paper on how to implement the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006 (DIVCA).

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