R. Tyson
Sohagi

Representative Experience

Imperial County. Counsel on the Lithium Valley Specific Plan and its EIR, the 51,786-acre framework beside the Salton Sea for geothermal energy, lithium extraction, battery production, manufacturing, logistics, and Salton Sea restoration, advising on land use, planning, and the environmental analysis. The plan is a pillar of the California Air Resources Board’s 2022 Scoping Plan for decarbonizing the electricity sector.

The Regents of the University of California. Advised on the development of UC Riverside’s 2021 Long Range Development Plan, the physical development and land use plan behind the campus’s academic and institutional objectives, supporting nearly 14,000 additional students and faculty by 2035 with 7,500 more beds and 5.5 million square feet of space, then successfully defended it against challenges to its population and housing, recreation, transportation, air quality, agricultural resources, and renewable energy analyses (University Neighborhood Association v. The Regents of the University of California).

City of Seaside. Strategic advice and in-depth legal review of the Campus Town Center Specific Plan and its EIR, the redevelopment of 122 acres of the former Fort Ord Army Base beside CSU Monterey Bay as a pedestrian-oriented mixed-use village with 1,485 housing units, 250 hotel rooms, 150,000 square feet of retail, dining, and entertainment, and 50,000 square feet of office, flex, makerspace, and light industrial space, defended through the published appellate affirmance (Committee for Sound Water & Land Development v. City of Seaside (2022) 79 Cal.App.5th 389) against claims spanning water supply, transportation, urban decay, air quality, greenhouse gas, energy, fire, public services, and project description.

City of Santa Monica. Defended the City’s approval of a 100 percent affordable housing development on Euclid Street, built with the Hollywood Community Housing Corporation, prevailing in two separate lawsuits when the court struck both complaints under Code of Civil Procedure section 425.19, the new statute shielding affordable housing projects from litigation and awarding defendants their fees (La Brea Washington Co. LLC v. City of Santa Monica, 2025).

City of Carlsbad. Defended nearly 40 years of the City’s implementation of its Growth Management Plan against a petition challenging its approach to development and long-term planning, through pre-trial motions and a five-day bench trial with live testimony that ended in the rejection of every argument the petitioner raised, with the defense continuing on appeal (North County Advocates v. City of Carlsbad).

City of Coronado. Prepared the CEQA analysis for the recycled water and turf care facility approved in 2020 to wean the City’s municipal golf course off potable water, and defeated the challenge brought under CEQA, the Seismic Hazard Mapping Act, and the Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zoning Act (Coronado Citizens for Transparent Government v. City of Coronado).

Los Angeles World Airports. Special CEQA counsel to the airport, reviewing the planning documents and environmental impact reports behind its most consequential projects and defending them when challenged.

• Landside Access Modernization Program – Review of the planning documents and EIR for the multi-billion-dollar rebuild of how travelers reach LAX, emphasizing alternatives to driving, including the Automated People Mover connecting to Metro’s 96th Street station and Green Line extension, new intermodal transportation facilities, and a consolidated rental car facility.
• Specific Plan Amendment Study Defense – Successful defense of the City of Los Angeles and the airport against challenges to the EIR analyzing alternatives for LAX’s long-term plans, with the court rejecting every argument in a 118-page decision covering project description, alternatives, cumulative impacts, recirculation, air quality, traffic, and safety (Alliance for a Regional Solution to Airport Congestion v. City of Los Angeles).

City of Redondo Beach. Review of the EIR for the South Bay Galleria mixed-use project, a 1.9 million-square-foot commercial and residential redevelopment of the existing 29.85-acre enclosed mall property, including 650 homes and 150 hotel rooms.

City of Pasadena. Review of the general plan, zoning, entitlements, and EIR for a mixed-use hotel project in a transit priority area, exempt from certain CEQA analyses under SB 743 and the first project in the City to apply Pasadena’s alternative transportation significance thresholds, which retired level of service in favor of vehicle miles traveled, VMT per capita, bicycle and transit network proximity and quality, and pedestrian accessibility, with coordinated modifications to the entitlements and conditions of approval to meet both the applicant’s and the City’s concerns.

County of Los Angeles. Defense of the County’s land use authority in a published decision on the reach of its zoning power (Gooden v. County of Los Angeles (2024) 106 Cal.App.5th 1).

City of Alameda. Defense of the City in published litigation over the housing-era obligations of built-out coastal cities (CP VI Admirals Cove, LLC v. City of Alameda (2025)).

League of California Cities and California State Association of Counties. Amicus briefs and publication requests filed on behalf of the associations that speak for California’s cities and counties, in the appellate courts and the California Supreme Court.

• Banning Ranch Conservancy v. City of Newport Beach – Amicus brief in the California Supreme Court on the analysis of non-CEQA regulatory programs in CEQA documents (2017) 2 Cal.5th 918.
• Claremont Canyon Conservancy v. Regents – Successful amicus support on the adequacy of a project description for regulatory documents (2022) 92 Cal.App.5th 474.
• Westside Los Angeles Neighbors Network v. City of Los Angeles – Successful publication request on the proper CEQA certifying body and growth inducement (2024) 104 Cal.App.5th 223.
• Save the Hill Group v. City of Livermore – Depublication request on the analysis of the no-project alternative for housing developments (2022) 76 Cal.App.5th 1092.
• High Sierra Rural Alliance v. County of Plumas – Successful publication request on project description for a general plan (2018) 29 Cal.App.5th 102.
• Covina Residents for Responsible Development v. City of Covina – Successful publication request on partial CEQA exemptions for aesthetics and parking in transit priority areas (2018) 21 Cal.App.5th 712.
• Citizens Opposing a Dangerous Environment v. County of Kern – Successful publication request on reliance upon federal aviation regulations to avoid hazardous impacts (2014) 228 Cal.App.4th 360.
• Georgetown Preservation Society v. County of El Dorado – Amicus brief on noise and traffic safety analyses for a winery.
• Stopthemillenniumhollywood.com v. City of Los Angeles – Amicus brief and depublication request (2019) 39 Cal.App.5th 1.