Lawyer named to Portola Valley Planning Commission Lawyer named to Portola Valley Planning Commission (March 09, 2005)

The Portola Valley Planning Commission is losing a lawyer and gaining one. The Town Council chose Nathaniel "Nate" McKitterick, an attorney specializing in insurance and real estate law, to replace commission chair Craig Breon, an attorney and executive director of the local chapter of the Audubon Society.

After 10 years on the commission, Mr. Breon said he is leaving to take an extended vacation in the United States and Baja, Mexico.

At its February 23 meeting, the council voted 4-0 for Mr. McKitterick, with Councilman George Comstock absent.

The other two candidates -- NASA Ames program manager Bill Vermeere and marketing executive Marianne Plunder -- were both well qualified, said Mayor Ed Davis.

"He seemed to have, at his fingertips, a grasp of how the commission works and what it does," said Councilman Richard Merk, who took pains to note that a unanimous vote for commission members is a tradition that council members strive to preserve and does not necessarily reflect their first choices among a normally strong field of candidates.

Mr. Merk added that the council probably also felt a deep appreciation of the work Mr. McKitterick has done in researching and arguing Portola Valley's noise-complaint case before the Airport Roundtable, a very difficult venue.

Mr. McKitterick is an attorney with DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary, a Maryland-based global law firm with offices in East Palo Alto. His clients include individuals, corporations, landlords and tenants.

In 2004, he was recognized for pro-bono services involving hundreds of hours helping an East Palo Alto resident get out from under a mortgage from a predatory lender, he said in an interview.

Mr. McKitterick has a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Wisconsin and a law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

He and his wife Jennifer Hanley have lived in Portola Valley since 2000; their son Finn was born in 2003. Mr. McKitterick is an elder at the Valley Presbyterian Church and enjoys backcountry skiing and cycling.

The five-member commission advises the council on zoning issues, and approves conditional use permits and variances.

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