Our Team

Chris Parker

Chief Executive Officer

Chris Parker is co-owner of Pacific Crest Consultants and has been an entitlement consultant for hundreds of projects throughout Los Angeles. His focus has been on Planning & Zoning issues, including but not limited to cases involving Design Review Boards, Zoning Administrator determinations, Coastal Development Permits, Office of Subdivision actions, and lot-line adjustments.

He is responsible for scores of multi-million-dollar projects annually, preparing, filing and expediting the entitlement cases, meeting with city staff and community groups to help his clients obtain the discretionary entitlements necessary to move forward.

Chris has most recently helped a number of commercial clients including Birkenstock USA, the Skirball Cultural Center, Konoike Pacific California (KPAC), LA Fitness, and ACE Hardware, in addition to dozens of local developers and commercial property owners.

Chris has been with Pacific Crest Consultants and its predecessor company, GLM & Associates, since 2002. He co-founded LandUseLA in 2016 and became co-owner of PCC in 2017.

Chris is active in his community and was the founding member of the first independent public charter school in Ventura County. He served on the board of the charter school for seven years, including six as its president. He is also a member of the Staff-Parish Relations Committee of his church and a 10-time chaperone of the church’s service trips to Navajo Nation and other impoverished communities around the western United States.

A graduate of California State University, Northridge, Chris also has an MBA from California Lutheran University.

(818) 591-9309
chris@pccla.com

John Parker

Chief Planning Officer

John J. Parker has worked professionally in land use planning and zoning for 50 years, originally with the City of Los Angeles, and for the last 20 years as a consultant in private practice.

In his private practice, John advises and represents clients and prepares filings for a wide variety of discretionary land use entitlements including, but not limited to, conditional use permits, variances, zone changes, and subdivisions. His work focuses on the preparation of the complex findings required for such requests and representation at public hearings before public decision-making bodies.

John’s expertise includes working with local political, agency and community interests. He is an expert consultant and expert witness for matters involving litigation.

While with the City of Los Angeles, Parker’s positions included:

• Zoning Administrator, ruling on conditional uses, variances, and similar discretionary actions. His experience with the laws of the City of Los Angeles has widened his knowledge of California State laws, including the Subdivision Map Act, the Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the Coastal Act. He frequently appears before the City Planning Commission, City Council and other appeal bodies.
• Chief Deputy Advisory Agency, ruling on subdivisions for the entire City of Los Angeles, and senior manager of the subdivision staff.
• A senior manager for planning professionals, implementing the General Plan and community plans, the Local Coastal Program, and environmental impact review for private projects.

John’s education was completed at the University of California at Los Angeles. He also did graduate work in urban planning at UCLA and the University of Southern California.

John has been with Pacific Crest Consultants and its predecessor company, GLM & Associates, since 1997. He co-founded LandUseLA and became co-owner of PCC in 2017.

818-591-9309
JParker@pccla.com

Deborah Parker

CFO / Counsel

Deborah Parker is a co-owner of Pacific Crest Consultants and has worked in the Planning and Zoning field for many years. As the managing partner of the Law Offices of Parker & Hawley, Deborah’s areas of specialty included General Plan Law, the California Environmental Quality Act, the California Coastal Act, the Endangered Species Act, land use law, administrative law, the Brown Act, and contract law. Deborah represented her clients administratively before governmental agencies and in related litigation in state courts, including the 2nd District Court of Appeals. She was responsible for researching and drafting reports to various state and local commissions on behalf of the clients, including analyses of relevant regulations, drafting pleadings, briefs and motions.

While working as the Administrator and Counsel for a land trust in San Luis Obispo County, Deborah collaborated on several reports to the California Coastal Commission relating to the California Coastal Act and its implementing regulations. As grant administrator, she was responsible for managing grant contracts for a variety of private companies and state agencies on numerous projects. As counsel, she provided services that included contract review and analysis, ordinance analysis and creation, and land use law. Deborah wrote a National Arbor Day Foundation report highlighting the land trust’s program to save one of the last five native Monterey Pine forests in the world, which won the National Arbor Day award for that year.

Deborah graduated with a Juris Doctor in May 2003 and has continuously been a member of the State Bar of California since December 2003.

818-591-9309
deborah@pccla.com

Jennifer Uribe Parker

Chief Operating Officer

Jennifer Uribe Parker is a co-owner of Pacific Crest Consultants and has worked on both commercial and residential projects in the City of Los Angeles. Jennifer’s focus of work is on project management, permit expediting, Urban Forestry issues and historical research.

Jennifer’s work experience includes helping clients navigate through key departments such as the Los Angeles Department of Building & Safety, City Planning, and Mulholland Design Review Board. Prior to joining PCC, Jennifer had over 25 years of experience in sales and marketing throughout the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Jennifer’s focus on project team management, communication and relationship-building with key decision-makers ensures problem-solving and successful outcomes for our clients.

Jennifer graduated from California State University, Northridge, and has an MBA from California Lutheran University. She loves volunteering in her community and has been a Girl Scout leader for 18 years, Girl Scout Cookie Chair, Lay Leader at her church and on the executive board of her daughter’s high school booster club for the last 3 years.

(818) 591-9309
jennifer@pccla.com

Erik Conard

Director

Erik Conard is a Director at Pacific Crest Consultants and project manages luxury residential and commercial projects, including award-winning estates throughout Los Angeles and high-profile projects at the Getty Museum and Fox Studios.

Erik specializes in permitting within the City of Los Angeles, having a strong understanding of City processes and key decision-makers. Previously, Erik worked as legal counsel for the County of Los Angeles and represented the Department of Public Works, the Local Agency Formation Commission, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission, as well as several other commissions and county departments. Through these assignments, he gained broad exposure to development projects from the public entity perspective, as well as experience working with elected officials and their staff. In addition, Erik has worked as legal counsel to Caltrans and as a judicial clerk at the Los Angeles Superior Court.

Erik earned his juris doctorate from University of California Los Angeles and also holds a B.A. in Linguistics from Brigham Young University. In his free time, Erik enjoys woodworking, wine tasting and travelling with his family.

818-591-9309
EConard@pccla.com

Dina Elkinawy

Director

Dina Elkinawy is a Director at Pacific Crest Consultants and brings comprehensive Building and Zoning Code expertise – along with the experience of presenting hundreds of projects at public hearings – for our clients at Pacific Crest Consultants.

Before joining PCC, Dina was the top city official in the office of the LADBS Board of Building & Safety Commissioners. She has coordinated with top departmental officials across the city for projects being heard before the board while overseeing a staff of a half-dozen engineers and secretarial staff. She also was a Case Manager and backroom plan-check engineer for LADBS during her career with the city of Los Angeles.

With PCC, Dina has expanded her portfolio to include cities around Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties, including but not limited to Santa Monica, Pasadena, La Canada Flintridge, Glendale, West Hollywood, Culver City, Calabasas, Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, Hermosa Beach, Rancho Palos Verdes, Torrance, Oxnard and San Clemente.

Dina graduated from the University of California Irvine with a B.S. in Civil Engineering, and is a licensed P.E. Dina enjoys bike riding at the beach with her husband and her sweet rescue dog Aurora.

818-591-9309
dina@pccla.com

Chloe Parker

Director

Chloe Parker is a Director at Pacific Crest Consultants who specializes in entitlements. She has helped hundreds of clients with their discretionary requests for projects within the City of Los Angeles.

Whether the project is residential or commercial, Chloe understands the City Planning land use entitlements pathways including Zoning Code deviations, Coastal Development Permits, Design Review Board projects and haul routes. She also specializes in complex, nuanced neighborhood projects like the Mulholland Design Review Board, Los Angeles Coastal Zone, and Mount Washington Specific Plan. She manages PCC’s Planning Department, coordinating with the PCC team and project team members to put our projects in the best position for approval of their discretionary requests.

Chloe is a graduate of the University of California San Diego, and loves exploring all that SoCal has to offer with her camera in hand. She also has experience in repairing homes in marginalized and underprivileged communities, including Native American reservations, for non-profit organizations.

818-591-9309
chloe@pccla.com

Amy Studarus

Director

Amy Studarus is a Director at Pacific Crest Consultants who specializes in subdivisions and Public Works projects. She is also a skilled project manager who can keep project teams on task and on time during the permitting process.

Amy graduated with a B.A. in Business Management and started her career in land use at a prominent Los Angeles surveying office, overseeing daily management of field crews, drafting and coordinating with clients and architects. Here at PCC, Amy takes the lead on projects that require Lot Line Adjustments, Certificates of Compliance, Lot Ties, Parcel/Tract Maps, Street Vacations, Private Streets and Title related issues. She has a broad knowledge of surveying and mapping as well as efficiently coordinating with many fields throughout the land use industry including contractors, lawyers, Realtors, surveyors, architects, geologists, civil engineers, and title companies.

In addition to having extensive experience with the City of Los Angeles’ processes, Amy has helped our clients in other cities, too, including Beverly Hills, El Segundo, Burbank, Pasadena, Culver City, and the counties of Los Angeles and Ventura. In her spare time, Amy enjoys finding fun, local adventures to share with her two beautiful kids and photographer husband.

818-591-9309
amy@pccla.com

Loren Adams

Executive Project Manager

Loren Adams has served as a project manager on significant commercial and mixed-use projects for multiple, international clients since joining Pacific Crest Consultants in 2020. He serves as a bridge between the project design and engineering teams, PCC’s consultants, and our clients, keeping the project teams on task and on time. Loren has over 25 years of real estate development, project management and construction management experience on residential, retail, mixed-use, commercial, restaurant, and industrial projects in Los Angeles and its surrounding cities, Orange County, San Diego, the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle and Honolulu.

Loren has multi-market, multi-product type, broad-ranging client representation and project management experience, including land acquisition, due diligence, project design and design team management from the entitlements and permitting phases, through construction documents, preconstruction services, contract negotiations, contractor management, risk prevention and management, dispute resolution, project buildout, closeout, sellout, lease up and occupancy.

Loren attended of the University of Washington in Seattle Washington and studied Communication, Political Science (BS), Real Estate Law (JD), Alternative Dispute Resolution, and Urban Planning, Real Estate Finance and Development.

818-591-9309
loren@pccla.com

Amar Athwal

Project Coordinator

Amar joined Pacific Crest Consultants in 2019 and works to help clients expedite building permits for high-end homes and commercial projects. Amar has an in-depth understanding of the building permitting process and strong project management skills to keep the team informed and his projects on track. He began his career in the land development and construction industry first as a land survey technician and later as a survey crew chief. Amar is a graduate from UCLA with a degree in Geography and Environmental Studies.

818-591-9309
amar@pccla.com

Penny Flinn

Executive Project Manager

Penny Flinn has over 40 years of experience in all aspects of land use development in the City of Los Angeles and an unparalleled understanding of the constantly evolving Municipal Code. She has worked on scores of multi-million-dollar projects, from single-family residential projects to high-rise commercial developments in the City of Los Angeles.

Her commercial/office projects have included 21st Century Fox Studios, Trillium Towers a Warner Center, Skirball Cultural Center, The Century and Beverly Park Estates, among countless others.

Penny has been a pioneer in the field of permit expediting since 1977. She was one of the first professionals without an engineering or architectural license who was able to guide clients through the complicated landscape of the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, City Planning, Public Works, Fire Department, LA Department of Water and Power, Bureau of Sanitation and Urban Forestry.

Penny co-founded GLM & Associates, the predecessor to Pacific Crest Consultants, along with her husband Gary L. Morris. They sold PCC in 2017, but Penny, as the Principle Project Manager at Pacific Crest Consultants, continues to oversee and guide hundreds of projects for her clients.

818-591-9309
penny@pccla.com

Stacee Flinn

Senior Project Manager

Stacee began her career in land use consulting at GLM Associates, serving as an executive assistant, office manager, and processing assistant in 1986. In 1999, she moved to Pace Engineering/ Hall & Foreman as a project manager, with expertise in Subdivision Case Filing, Subdivision Final Map Processing and Recordation, Building Permit Processing, B-Permit Design Coordination, B-permit Processing, Grading Plan Design Coordination, Grading Permit Processing, Street Lighting Plan Processing, DWP – Water and Power Coordination, Survey Research and Coordination, Substructure Research and Coordination, LA County Public Works Plan Check and Permit Processing.

She began working for Pacific Crest Consultants in 2005, where she specializes in Building Permit Processing, Engineering Processing, and Subdivision Recordation. For PCC, she has been key in major projects such as the Westfield Shopping Center and Target in Hollywood.

818-591-9309
stacee@pccla.com

Sarah Goldman

Senior Project Manager

Sarah has worked at Pacific Crest Consultants since 2020. She is a creative thinker with an in-depth knowledge of the City of Los Angeles’ inner workings. Sarah manages entitlement projects for PCC including TOC, HPOZ and DRB. She has a B.S. in Urban and Regional Planning from California Polytechnic State University Pomona with an emphasis in development and transportation. Sarah began her career straight out of college as an entitlement and permitting consultant for a small firm in Downtown Los Angeles. After several years in the private sector, she worked as a planner with the City of Los Angeles’ Department of City Planning.

Sarah enjoys spending quality time with her husband and two young children including volunteering at her kids’ schools, going to live theater shows, teaching her kids how to ride/scooter/skate around the block, and attending Israeli folk dance sessions. Working for PCC has allowed Sarah to continue to use her City Planning knowledge, provide development recommendations, and guide projects through the City Planning entitlement process.

818-591-9309
sarah@pccla.com

Laura Hennessee

Bookkeeper

Laura began working at PCC in 2016 and works diligently to keep our clients and staff updated on invoicing. She is fluent in QuickBooks and prepares financial data and maintains account reconciliation. Laura is a native Angeleno and in her spare time she loves enjoying all that Los Angeles has to offer including live music, world-class museums, and spending time with friends and family.

818-591-9309
accounts@pccla.com

Cora Johnson

Executive Project Manager

Cora Johnson has over 30 years of experience working for the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety. She is a problem solver with extensive Building and Zoning Code knowledge and the experience to represent clients before public hearings and City Council meetings.

Cora was the Manager of the West Los Angeles Development Services Center as well as the Chief of the Metro Plan Check counter operations. She served as the Board Secretary of the Board of Building and Safety Commissioners for 10 years where she developed professional relationships with other City Department heads and Code Enforcement Managers, among many others. She has firsthand knowledge of the intricacies of processing public hearings for Haul Route applications, modifications of Building ordinances, and appeals against the Department of Building and Safety.

Cora also spent time as a plan check engineer and Case Manager where she utilized her thorough understanding of building and zoning codes and she conducted feasibility studies and facilitated pre-development meetings to assist developers with identifying requirements and potential roadblocks pursuant to obtaining their building permits. She was staff engineer for the Board of Building and Safety commissioners where she wrote staff reports and presented cases before the Board during public hearings.

Cora has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Architectural Engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She is a licensed Professional Civil Engineer and an International Code Council (ICC) Certified Plans examiner.

Cora has two young adult sons, is a member of the National Society of Black Engineers and served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for Foster Children.

818-591-9309
cora@pccla.com

Cathy Medina

Principal Project Manager

Cathy Medina is an experienced Senior Project Manager for Pacific Crest Consultants. She has worked on a variety of commercial, office, and residential projects for PCC’s clients since she joined in 2007.

Cathy has been the lead permit expediter for multiple high-profile clients and projects. She has expertise in managing projects through the Los Angeles Building & Safety Department, Los Angeles County Health Department, Los Angeles Fire Department, Los Angeles Department of Water & Power and has also obtained hundreds of revocable permits and B permits for our clients.

Some of her high-profile clients in recent years include Facebook’s new R&D facility in Van Nuys, the Hampton Inn hotels and the Santa Monica Beach Club, plus numerous Hollywood celebrity homes and dozens of local developers and commercial property owners.

818-591-9309
cathy@pccla.com

Catherine Nolan

Executive Administrator

Catherine has been helping clients and our Pacific Crest Consultants team since 2012. Catherine has extensive experience in administration, including contracts and office management. Catherine volunteers for many organizations in her community and church and enjoys teaching martial arts to young adults, skydiving, Dodger games, going to concerts and spending time with her family.

818-591-9309
admin@pccla.com

Kellen Oberts

Project Coordinator

Kellen Oberts joined Pacific Crest Consultants in 2021 to help our team in all aspects of the permitting process. Kellen is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, Duluth with a bachelors degree in Fine Arts. Previously, Kellen owned his own creative services company designing and developing websites for clients throughout the US.

In his free time, Kellen enjoys spending time traveling with his family, fly fishing, and wine tasting.

818-591-9309
kellen@pccla.com

Katie Kelly O’Connell

Associate Project Coordinator

Katie Kelly O’Connnell is a graduate from CSUN with a Master’s degree in Urban Studies and Planning. She has extensive knowledge of all aspects of the building permit process and is proficient at building and maintaining professional relationships. She has spent time in backgrounds of real estate, land use development, and public services. Katie Kelly also retains an interest in understanding the evolving Municipal Zoning Codes and holds a Notary and Real Estate License. In her free time, she enjoys playing soccer, hiking and has a passion for helping by volunteering with local organizations.

818-591-9309
katiekelly@pccla.com

Lauryn Pinsak

Project Coordinator

Lauryn joined Pacific Crest Consultants in 2020 to help our team in all aspects of the building permit process. Lauryn is a graduate from UCLA with a degree in Economics. Lauryn has also brought her design talents to our webpage and redesign. In her free time, she enjoys volunteering and has a passion for helping the underserved youth in the Los Angeles area through her work with local volunteer organizations. Lauryn is also very interested in development and also holds her Real Estate License.

818-591-9309
lauryn@pccla.com

Kamran Ravandi

Executive Project Manager

Kamran Ravandi brings his decades of experience working as a supervisor for the Los Angeles Department of Building & Safety and as a project manager for the Los Angeles Department of Public Works to his projects at Pacific Crest Consultants. Throughout his career, he has applied his engineering skills and deep knowledge of the Residential, Building and Zoning codes to review hundreds of thousands of projects in and around the city of Los Angeles.

Kamran’s experience includes reviewing construction plans and structural calculations on residential, multi-family, mixed-use and commercial building projects. Part of his success derives from his ability to collaborate on projects with city staff, engineers, architects and homeowners.

During his time with Public Works, Kamran oversaw structural analysis and design of numerous City-owned building facilities and seismic analysis and structural upgrade of existing buildings. Kamran was also the recipient of awards acknowledging his contributions to staff training and implementation of plan-check process improvements while at the city.

Kamran received both his masters and Bachelor of Science degrees in Civil Engineering from Cal State Long Beach.
PCC staff and clients benefit from Kamran’s depth of knowledge and understanding of the complex review processes at LADBS.

818-591-9309
kamran@pccla.com

Cindy Reyes

Project Coordinator

Cindy Reyes joined Pacific Crest Consultants in 2022 to facilitate all aspects of residential and mixed-use projects from due diligence to permitting. She holds a Master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from UCLA and a Bachelor’s degree in Cultural Anthropology from UC Riverside. She has several years of experience throughout the Southern California coastal regions. Specifically with the entitlement and permitting of coastal residences, equestrian projects, subdivisions, and fire rebuilds. Cindy leverages her experience with the coastal jurisdictions for her clients benefit. She values and exercises transparency and education with her client relationships.

Like a true Native Angeleno she enjoys eating out, hikes, tanning at the beach and supporting local businesses with her daughter Alynna.

818-591-9309
cindy@pccla.com

Steve Seebach

Project Assistant

Steve joined Pacific Crest Consultants in 2019 and brings his extensive background to all phases of our projects. He helps the team move projects through multiple disciplines, interfacing with property owners, architects, civil and geological engineers, government personnel, and construction managers to expedite the process. Steve has a degree in Chemistry from Occidental College, an M.B.A. from the College of William & Mary, and a J.D. from McGeorge School of Law. In his spare time, Steve enjoys music, travel and wine tasting.

818-591-9309
steve@pccla.com

Alycia Witzling

Senior Project Manager

Joining Pacific Crest Consultants in 2022, Alycia Witzling specializes in land use entitlements for our company. She has a combined 20 + years of experience in urban planning and government & community relations, which lends her a unique skill set in understanding and communicating the complexity of developments in the Los Angeles region.

Prior to joining PCC, Alycia was the Senior Planner for the City of San Marino, and was a project planner for the City of Los Angeles with extensive experience working on the Mulholland and Warner Center Specific Plans. A policy wonk by nature, she previously was the land use Public Policy Manager with the Los Angeles Area Regional Chamber, leading members in tackling issues from homelessness to CEQA implementation, and also represented a CA State Assemblymember in a San Fernando Valley district.

An LA native, Alycia received her Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from UC Irvine, and holds a BA in International Relations from UC Davis. When not working, she enjoys dancing, exploring LA with her family and rescue doodle, and paddle boarding as the weather permits.

818-591-9309
alycia@pccla.com