Rodenhausen Chale & Polidoro LLP was formed in 2014 by partners George Rodenhausen and Chris Chale, who had been practicing together in a predecessor firm for over twenty years. Partner Victoria Polidoro began her practice with the same firm.

We are highly focused on land use, environmental, municipal and municipal finance law. We have a long interest in public law and profound respect for the critical role local government plays in our communities.

We are committed to excellence in our work, keeping clients informed through effective communication, and the highest ethical standards.  The firm’s attorneys and their experienced legal assistants form a collegial and fully integrated team sharing their varied backgrounds and expertise to brainstorm and solve client’s problems.

We act as counsel to municipalities, public authorities and not-for-profit corporations regarding real estate development, conservation easements and land preservation, procurement and contracting, economic development loans, grant agreements, local laws, special legislation, ethics, planning and zoning, and general governance matters. We act as general and special counsel to public authorities. She provides assistance with special district proceedings, including water and sewer districts, transportation corporations, and fire districts.

We serve as planning board attorney and zoning board attorney in several municipalities. We represent applicants before many boards regarding planning and zoning approvals. We represent municipalities and private parties in special proceedings including Article 78 proceedings with respect to municipal, planning, zoning, and historic preservation matters.

Victoria and George worked together in successfully representing the town in Cooperstown Holstein Corp. v. Town of Middlefield, one of the first two decisions in the state defending the right of the Town to ban fracking for natural gas through the use of its zoning law. Victoria and Chris and George worked together on behalf of communities located in the New York City Watershed to negotiate the historic 1997 Memorandum of Agreement to protect the purity of New York City's water and the economic viability of the watershed communities. We subsequently assisted nineteen municipalities in forming the East of Hudson Watershed Corporation to implement the stormwater retrofit program in the New York City Watershed.

George and Victoria also worked together at the trial and appellate levels in Gabrielli v. Town of New Paltz, which successfully defended the right of the Town of New Paltz to regulate its wetlands and vernal pools in the face of a constitutional and SEQRA challenge. This decision established that towns do not have to accurately map each wetland before enacting a wetlands law, nor do they have to forego regulating vernal pools, though they may exist for only two months a year.

We serve as “Red Book” bond counsel for general obligation bonds, water and sewer projects, industrial and commercial development revenue bonds, multifamily housing bonds, solid waste financings and 501(c)(3) project bonds. Ms. Chale acts as counsel to issuers, borrowers, lenders and trustees in connection with public finance matters. Chris has experience with a broad range of public financing structures including Local Finance Law serial bonds, statutory installment bonds, BANs, TANs and RANs, lease financings, PILOT agreements, and current and advance refundings.

The ethic of our firm is to deliver excellence in every aspect of our work. We are sensitive to the demands presented to our communities and businesses by climate change and the world economy, and particularly aware of the need to provide legal services that achieve long term solutions for our clients. We look forward to assisting you.