Wilson’s Pick Has Strong Developer Ties : Environment: Foes bitterly criticize choice of engineering firm owner for Coastal Commission. Critics of Huntington Beach project say the panel already favors business.

Gov. Pete Wilson on Friday appointed William B. Rick of San Diego, a longtime political associate with strong ties to developers, to the California Coastal Commission.

The appointment is expected to raise more questions about ties between some Coastal Commission members and developers. Some Southern California environmentalists bitterly criticized Wilson on Friday for naming Rick.

The powerful commission holds key zoning power over coastal areas. Last summer, some county environmentalists said the panel is being taken over by pro-development interests after it refused to hold a hearing on the controversial Pierside Village project in Huntington Beach.

Rick, chairman and chief executive officer of Rick Engineering since 1955, a prominent Mission Valley engineering firm, acknowledged in a telephone call Friday that his connections with developers might at times pose a conflict of interest.

But he added that he will “likely” refrain from voting on projects that directly affect his company or clients that have major inland developments. In fact, Rick said, he found out minutes after learning about his appointment that he already has a potential conflict: His firm is helping to build a tennis court along the San Diego coastline.

“There’s going to be a time that I won’t be able to vote, there’s no question about it,” said Rick, 64.

A San Diego Unified Port Commission member in 1981-90, Rick helped lead the effort to pick a design and build the city’s waterfront Convention Center.

He said Friday that he applied for the Coastal Commission job because of a lifelong interest in the waterfront, which began with his father, the late Glenn Rick, who was the San Diego planning director who oversaw the development of the city’s Mission Bay.

“My father,” he said, “was the guy who developed Mission Bay for the city. . . . I had nine years on the Port Commission, and we accomplished some things there. We worked with the Coastal Commission. To me, it (the appointment) is a natural progression.”

Rick also said his approach on the regulatory agency to the issues of environment and development will be one of “balance.” He said he would also like to open more coastline to the public.

“Coming out of the Port Commission,” he said, “where my prime objective was to see we created public access to the waterfront, I don’t know at the moment why I would want to change my point of view.”

Environmentalists expressed dismay Friday over the appointment. “In the furthest stretch of our imagination, we couldn’t consider Bill Rick an environmentalist,” said Michael Shames, political chairman for the Sierra Club’s San Diego chapter. “He doesn’t like environmentalists.

“If this is (Wilson’s) attempt at appointing environmentalists,” he said, “he’s off to an extremely rocky start.”

A staff member at the Coastal Commission, who asked that his name not be used, said environmental groups that had pressured the governor on four appointments to the panel will be disappointed that Rick is one of them. Wilson had made campaign promises to appoint environmentalists to the panel.

“Oh, no. Here we go again,” the staff member said. “Well, maybe we’ll get three out of four who believe in the Coastal Act.”

Although he has been helping developers all his life, Rick said, he has tried to take into account environmental concerns, as well.

“Bill Rick’s been trying to build things ever since he went to work,” Rick said, “but once in a while maybe we can do it so people are pleased on both sides.”

Rick’s firm was involved in a controversial La Jolla Valley proposal in the mid-1980s to build a private Christian college in that city’s future urban zone.

The City Council’s vote to approve the project, making an exception to General Plan restrictions that bar construction in the area, touched off a backlash from environmentalists and prompted passage of a ballot measure that took such decisions away from the council.

Rick said he was on the Historical Site Board when Wilson was first elected San Diego mayor. The two struck up a friendship, then Wilson appointed Rick to the Park and Recreation Board, where he served in 1979-81. Wilson later appointed him to the Port Commission.

His current clients include development giants Pardee Construction and Lusk Development, Rick said.

His engineering firm also works for Caltrans by helping to design interchanges on Interstates 5 and 805 and California 94.