Sharon Gay

Sharon Gay concentrates her practice in state and local government law, particularly in the areas of land use and zoning, tax allocation district financing and other economic development incentives, transportation, public-private partnerships, and political law. She has obtained zoning and permitting approvals and economic incentives to facilitate urban mixed use development projects and redevelopment of industrial and infill properties. She has worked with both public sector and private sector clients to amend state legislation and local laws to facilitate economic development, brownfield redevelopment, community improvement districts, and water and waste water privatization projects. Ms. Gay is recognized as a key player in pioneering the use of tax allocation district financing in Georgia. She has worked with local governments and developers throughout the state to create tax allocation districts to provide funds for community redevelopment. During the 2008 session of the Georgia General Assembly, she coordinated the lobbying effort to obtain passage of a constitutional amendment to restore the ability of local school districts to participate in tax allocation districts. That amendment was approved by Georgia voters in the November 2008 election. Prior to joining Dentons, Ms. Gay served as Vice President - Governmental Affairs for the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and as Deputy Chief of Staff and Executive Counsel to the Mayor of Atlanta. In addition, Ms. Gay clerked for Judge Horace Ward, United States District Court, Northern District of Georgia and for Chief Judge Jack Sognier, Georgia Court of Appeals. During law school, Ms. Gay served as Notes and Comments Editor of the Emory Law Journal. Ms. Gay was named by Georgia Trend Magazine as one of the "100 Most Influential Georgians" and has been listed several times as a "Notable Georgian." The magazine also included Ms. Gay in its "Legal Elite" listing for Governmental Affairs. She was recently recommended by the Legal 500 in the land use category and has been recognized as a "Georgia Super Lawyer" in Atlanta Magazine for her Environmental/Land Use work. In addition, JAMES Magazine named Ms. Gay as one of "Georgia's Most Influential People," and she has topped the JAMES list of Georgia "PowerChicks". Ms. Gay speaks frequently to business, civic and governmental groups on economic development tools, transportation and land use issues, and tax allocation district financing.