HUNTINGTON BEACH : New Planning Chief Upbeat About City

About 40 years ago, he was a football quarterback, calling signals for UC Berkeley’s Golden Bears.

Today Roy H. Richardson is a quarterback of a different sort: the new chairman of the city’s Planning Commission. He took over that position last month, and even though vast problems face the city, Richardson is upbeat and optimistic.

Looking over the downtown redevelopment area recently, Richardson said: “This is going to be a heck of a nice city when everything is finished.”

Richardson, 64, took the reins of the Planning Commission at a time of major upheaval in this 185,000-population coastal city. For the first time, voters last November elected a slow-growth majority to the City Council. Many building projects, including downtown redevelopment, are under intensified scrutiny by both the council and the Planning Commission.

“We (on the Planning Commission) are going through the downtown specific plan right now,” Richardson said. “What we’re doing is updating and revising the plan that was originally approved in 1982. The revision reduces some of the (development) intensity of that 1982 plan. That old plan called for some tall buildings--up to 20 stories--but now the thinking is that the redevelopment plan should have smaller buildings--more on a village concept. . . . My personal belief is that the downtown area should be for the citizens of Huntington Beach--attractive for tourists, but acceptable to the people who live here.”

In his new role of chairman, Richardson said, it’s important to know the laws that govern planning and zoning. “We (on the Planning Commission) have to follow land-use laws,” he said. “A lot of the public doesn’t understand that the commission’s decisions have to be based on laws and rules.”

Richardson and his wife, Lois, have lived in Huntington Beach since 1972. A native of San Mateo, Richardson grew up in Berkeley. At Berkeley High, one of his baseball and basketball teammates was Billy Martin, who later became one of the most controversial managers in major league baseball. “Billy was fun, but he was always getting in fights,” Richardson said.

During his years at UC Berkeley, Richardson was on the football, basketball and track teams. He graduated in 1951 with a bachelor’s degree in physiology and an ensign’s commission from Naval ROTC.

After two years in the Navy, including war duty in Korea, Richardson entered the business world, ultimately becoming an executive in medical-pharmaceutical marketing. He earned a master’s in business administration from Santa Clara University in 1970.

Councilwoman Linda Moulton-Patterson appointed Richardson to the Planning Commission in December, 1990. Moulton-Patterson, who is a member of the state’s Coastal Commission, is generally considered to be an environmentalist and slow-growth advocate.

But Richardson dislikes such labels. He said he prefers to call himself an advocate of “sensible growth.” He said that he enjoys working with his fellow planning commissioners. “They’re a diverse group, “ he said, “and I think that diversity of background on the Planning Commission is really going to be good for the city.”