Sarah Adams
Biography
Sarah Adams is an expert in land use law whose research, teaching, and service focus on climate resilience and environmental and housing justice. Her work engages critical legal geography and dynamic federalism theoretical frameworks, while remaining community-engaged and reform driven. She serves as a faculty member of UO Law's Environmental & Natural Resources Law Center, supervising its Sustainable Land Use Project and co-supervising its Oceans, Coasts and Watersheds Project.
Professor Adams is a coauthor of the nation’s leading casebook on ocean and coastal law. She serves on the editorial board of The Urban Lawyer, on the board of Housing Land Advocates, an Oregon nonprofit dedicated to fair and equitable housing, and as the chair of the Housing Committee of the ABA Section on State, Local, and Tribal Government Law, where she previously served as chair of the section's Land Use Committee. She provides expert guidance to state and local legislatures, state and national bar committees, private foundations, and government agencies, including Oregon’s Department of Land Conservation and Development, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the EPA and FEMA. She has also served as a land use law expert peer reviewer for the Yale Law Journal and chair of Oregon’s LGBTQIA+ Bar Association.
Professor Adams brings to her teaching a love of the theory and practice of law, grounded in a decade of law practice experience. She is a Pro Bono Member of the Oregon State Bar. She received her J.D. magna cum laude from Lewis & Clark Law School and her M.Sc. with distinction from the London School of Economics. Prior to embarking on her legal career, she was a senior policy analyst for Portland, Oregon’s Metro Regional Government.
Publications:
Articles
Land Law Localism and the Climate Resilience Paradox, 36 Stan. L. & Pol'y Rev. 47 (2025).
- Republished in Zoning and Planning Law Handbook, 2026 edition (Patricia Salkin, ed., Thomson Reuters).
- Reviewed in Sara Bronin, Exposing Zoning’s Failure to Address Climate Hazards, JOTWELL (May 7, 2026).
Federal Flood Policy and Maladaptation: A Story of Collective Forgetting, 34 S. Cal. J. Interdisciplinary L. 1 (2024).
The White Supremacist Structure of American Zoning Law, 88 Brooklyn L. Rev. 1225 (2023).
Middle Housing by Right: Lessons from an Early Adopter, 37 J. of Land Use & Env’t L. 189 (2022), with Edward J. Sullivan.
Reforming Restrictive Residential Zoning: Lessons from an Early Adopter, 30 J. Affordable Housing & Comm. Dev. L. 161 (2021), with Edward J. Sullivan.
- Republished in Zoning and Planning Law Handbook, 2022 edition (Patricia Salkin, ed., Thomson Reuters).
Dismantling Segregationist Land Use Controls, 43 Zoning & Planning L. Reps., Sept. 2020, at 1.
Beyond Localism: Harnessing State Adaptation Lawmaking to Facilitate Local Climate Resilience, 8 Mich. J. Envtl. & Admin. L. 185 (2018).
Sink or Swim: In Search of a Model for Coastal City Climate Change Resilience, 40 Columbia J. Envtl. L. 433 (2015).
A Response to the IPCC Fifth Assessment, 45 Envt’l L. Rep. 10027 (2015), with Deepa Badrinarayana, Cinnamon Carlarne, Robin Kundis Craig, John C. Dernbach, Keith H. Hirokawa, Alexandra B. Klass, Katrina Fischer Kuh, Stephen R. Miller, Jessica Owley, Shannon Roesler, Jonathan Rosenbloom, Inara Scott, and David Takacs.
A Three-Legged Stool on Two Legs: Recent Federal Law Related to Local Climate Resilience Planning And Zoning, 47 Urb. Law. 525 (2015), with Edward Thomas.
On the Waterfront: New York City's Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Challenge, Part 1 of 2, 25 Envtl. L. in N.Y. 81 (April 2014); Part 2 of 2, 25 Envtl. L. in N.Y. 101 (May 2014).
Of Old Dogs and New Tricks—Can Law Schools Really Fix Students' Fixed Mindsets?, 19 J. Legal Writing 3 (2014).
Books & Book Chapters
Ocean and Coastal Law: Cases and Materials (West, 6th ed. 2024), with Alison Rieser, Donna Christie & Annie Brett.
Land Use Law and Climate Change, in Oregon Climate Change Research Institute, Sixth Oregon Climate Assessment (Erica Fleishman ed., 2023), with Michelle Smith.
Planning and Zoning Within the Coastal Zone, in Patricia Salkin, American Law of Zoning, 6th edition (West, ed. Patricia Salkin) (2017 & updated 2020).
Climate Change and Sustainable Development, in John J. Delaney, Stanley D. Abrams, Frank Schnidman, Patricia E. Salkin and Julie A. Tappendorf, Handling the Land Use Case: Land Use Law, Practice & Forms (3d ed. updated 2020).
Taming the Super-Wicked Problem of Waterfront Hazard Mitigation Planning: The Role of Municipal Communication Strategies, in Contemporary Issues In Climate Change Law And Policy: Essays Inspired By The IPCC (Environmental Law Institute, eds. Robin Kundis Craig & Stephen Miller) (2016).
Planning and Zoning Within New York's Coastal Zone, in Patricia Salkin, New York Zoning Law & Practice (5th ed. 2016).
Essays
Two Steps Forward: Promoting Inclusive Infill Development with Middle Housing by Right and Increased Protections for Tenants, 28 J. Affordable Housing & Comm. Dev. L. 363 (2019).
The WUI, the Waterfront, and the Wicked Problem of Planning and Zoning for Climate Resilience, 41 Zoning & Planning Law Reports 1 (Oct. 2018).
Reed Applied: The Sign Apocalypse or a Bump in the Road, 39 Zoning & Planning Law Reports 1 (July/Aug. 2016).
Zoning for Small- and Medium-Scale Wind Energy, Planning News (Summer 2016), at 3.
Land Use Law Update: Is the Tide Turning Toward Municipal Liability for Failure to Adapt to Climate Change?, 30 Municipal Lawyer 25 (Winter/Spring 2016).
Land Use Law Update: Reed v. Town of Gilbert Redux, 29 Municipal Lawyer 39 (Fall 2015).
Land Use Law Update: The 2015 Mid-Year Roundup, 29 Municipal Lawyer 27 (Spring/Summer 2015).
Land Use Law Update: Will Reed v. Town of Gilbert Require Municipalities Throughout the Country to Rewrite Their Sign Codes?, 29 Municipal Lawyer 16 (Winter 2015).
Municipal Liability for Failure to Adapt to Climate Change? Not Yet, The Suffolk Lawyer (Suffolk Co. Bar Ass’n newsletter), at 17, 31 (Nov. 2015), reprinted with revisions as Land Use Law Update: Is the Tide Turning Toward Municipal Liability for Failure to Adapt to Climate Change?, 30 Municipal Lawyer 25 (Winter 2016).
Land Use Law Update: New York’s New Climate Change Resiliency Law, 28 Municipal Lawyer 4 (Fall 2015).
Land Use Law Update: Land Use Law Update: The Court of Appeals Issues a Victory for Home Rule in Wallach v. Town of Dryden and Cooperstown Holstein Corp. v. Town of Middlefield, 28 Municipal Lawyer 43 (Summer 2014), with Maureen Liccione.
Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation: A Local Solution to a Global Problem, 28 Municipal Lawyer 4 (Winter 2014).
Media
Podcast interview, Episode 60, Prof. Sarah Adams (University of Oregon), Signals of Change (Karbon Economics) (Dec. 19, 2025), preserved in the Columbia University Libraries Oral History Archives Collection.
Expert commentary, Ivan Pereira, How Texas' land rules allowed camps to operate in flood-prone areas, ABC News, July 11, 2025.
Expert commentary, Mike Ramsey, Forbidden Zones: Municipal Ordinances Can Banish Low-Level Offenders for Petty Offenses, National Pulse, June/July 2023.
Expert commentary, Alexis Weisend, City of Eugene Ignores State Law on Camping, Eugene Weekly, June 15, 2023.
Featured discussant, American Zoning Law and the Endurance of Jim Crow, American Bar Association Civil Rights and Social Justice Section Chair Chat, June 14, 2023.
Editorial, A Step Toward Justice, Eugene Weekly, Mar. 31, 2022.
Expert commentary, Piper McDaniel, DEQ excludes much of Oregon’s marine waters from protected waterway listings, Street Roots (Feb. 17, 2022).
Podcast interview, Climate Change Adaptation: Accepting Retreat, Oregon Law Lab, Jan. 9, 2021.
Podcast interview, What? The Feds?, Truth of the Matter Asserted, Oct. 10, 2020.
Podcast interview, The Forest Fires in Oregon, Oregon Law Lab, Sept. 26, 2020.
Expert commentary, Chantal Da Silva, As Feds Pull Out of Portland, Lawsuits Follow Them, Newsweek (Aug. 7, 2020).
4 lawsuits that challenge Trump's federal agents in Portland test issues other cities will likely face, The Conversation, July 27, 2020.
Interview, President Trump using federal officers for performative gain, UO professor says, NBC KMTR virtual channel 16, July 23, 2020.
Expert commentary, Francisca Benitez, Impasse: DLCD decision puts Jordan Cove on pause, Herald & News, Feb. 21, 2020.
Expert commentary, Nonbinary Eugene resident appeals denial of gender marker by Lane County judge, American Civil Liberties Union (Nov. 7, 2019).
Interview, Darinda Sharp, Local Governments and Climate Resilience featuring Sarah Adams-Schoen, KUAF (National Public Radio affiliate for northwestern and central Arkansas, eastern Oklahoma, and southwestern Missouri) (July 9, 2018).
Podcast Interview, Local Governments and Climate Resilience featuring Sarah Adams, Conversations with the Legal Academy (July 9, 2018).
Other
Juliana v. United States, in The Oregon Encyclopedia, The Oregon Historical Society and Portland State University (Sept. 2022, updated Sept. 2023 & May 2025).
Policy paper, Middle Housing Misconceptions (2022), with Univ. of Oregon Sch. of Law Environmental & Natural Resources Law Center student fellows.
Expert testimony, Climate Friendly and Equitable Communities Rulemaking, Or. Land Conservation & Dev. Comm’n (May 2022 & Mar. 2022).
Legislative comments, Eugene Development Code and Metro Plan amendments implementing ORS 197.75, City of Eugene, CA 21-1 & MA 21-1 (May 24, 2022), joined by Housing Land Advocates, Fair Housing Council of Oregon, and 1000 Friends of Oregon.
Administrative comments, Climate Friendly and Equitable Communities Rulemaking, Or. Dep’t of Land Conservation & Devel. (filed May 19, 2022).
Legislative comments, City of Eugene Middle Housing Code Amendments (filed Apr. 11, 2022), with Univ. of Oregon Sch. of Law Environmental & Natural Resources Law Center student fellows.
Model code and policy paper, Exploring Options for Wind Energy Development and Wildfire Hazard Mitigation: Draft Ordinances with Commentary (Univ. of Oregon Sustainable Cities Institute, 2021), with Univ. of Oregon Sch. of Law Environmental & Natural Resources Law Center student fellows.
Expert testimony, House Bill 2488-2 (relating to climate justice and land use planning), House Committee on Energy and Environment, Oregon State Legislature (Mar. 2021).
Administrative comments, Modification of an Ocean Dredged Material Disposal Site Offshore of Port Everglades, FL, Docket ID No. EPA-R04-OW-2020-0056 (filed Apr. 13, 2020).
Amicus Brief, Brief of Amici Curiae Law Professors in Support of Petitioner in Matter of Hollister, Or. App. No. A171609 (filed Nov. 11, 2019).
Model code with policy paper, Zoning for Small- and Medium-Scale Wind Energy: Model Ordinance and Resource Guide (New York State Energy Research & Development Authority, 2016), with Evan Zablow (graduate research fellow), archived in Columbia University Sabin Center for Climate Change, Model Climate Laws Initiative.
Annotated bibliography, United States Environmental Criminal Law, in Essential Readings in Environmental Law (IUCN Academy of Environmental Law, 2014).