By the mid-1980s, RICK was entering a new era of regulation and regional growth. Development in California was facing stronger environmental oversight and more complicated permitting processes, with sites coming under closer public review. Rather than slowing progress, these changes aligned with where the firm was already heading.
During this period, RICK opened offices in Riverside, California and Tucson, Arizona, which reflected both the firm’s broader growth strategy and its ability to serve clients beyond San Diego. With new staff, expanding departments, and the implementation of new technologies, RICK was prepared to take on increasingly complex projects across a wider region.
In 1986, the City of Chula Vista and the Port of San Diego began envisioning how to redevelop one of the last major stretches of San Diego Bay. RICK was brought on to provide preliminary engineering for what would become the Chula Vista Bayfront Master Plan, a 400-acre site envisioned for commercial, residential, and resort development. Between 1986 and 1996, the firm developed plan studies with maps and designs that helped guide the project through the review and approval process. The scope for the Bayfront plan included environmental coordination, coastal program support, and preliminary design addressing stormwater detention, marsh restoration, and shoreline protection.
“Those big projects worked because people here were willing to dig in when it mattered.” —Roger Ball, Former RICK President
As the Bayfront plan moved into the 2000s, the public process became central to its progress. Community meetings were instrumental in determining land uses and public benefits, and the overall plan focused on preserving natural areas and creating public spaces alongside future development.
In 2012, after extensive review, the California Coastal Commission unanimously approved the Master Plan, clearing the way for implementation by the Port and the City.
The following decade brought the technical work needed to move from plan to construction. RICK supported the Port District and the City of San Diego with infrastructure design across roughly 400 to 530 acres within the Sweetwater, Harbor, and Otay districts. Services included civil and transportation engineering, traffic engineering, water quality management, surveying, mapping, and photogrammetry. Deliverables ranged from grading and drainage studies to boundary surveys, hydraulic analyses, and water quality reports. Through each phase, the goal stayed the same: protect the project’s integrity and design while delivering cost-effective solutions that met agency requirements.
In 2021, the first public-facing element of the Bayfront plan opened with the Sun Outdoors San Diego Bay RV Resort, a 19-acre development offering new recreational amenities while connecting to the larger vision for the waterfront. RICK served as part of the team supporting the design and infrastructure work that allowed this phase to move forward, a continuation of a relationship that began decades earlier.
“If you have a passion, if you have an idea, if you have something that moves you, RICK is the kind of place where you can make it happen. You can make a case for it here and go from drafter to CEO.” —Roger Ball, Former RICK President
Today, the Chula Vista Bayfront Master Plan spans more than 500 acres and is planned for parks and open space along with resort, convention, marina, and mixed-use areas. For RICK, the Bayfront tells a larger story about how projects evolve over time. What began with preliminary engineering in the 1980s carried forward through multiple phases of planning, review, and design, each one building on the last. The Chula Vista Bayfront is one chapter in a much larger story, and RICK’s role over the past 70 years continues to shape the projects of tomorrow.
As part of our 70th anniversary series, we’ll continue sharing the history and growth that have shaped RICK over the decades. Watch our news feed for future articles as the story of RICK’s history unfolds.