HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 1 - Moorings Review - HC PPT i ■
Moorings in Newport Harbor
Overview and Alternatives
Harbor Commission
February 11 , 2015
Why We' re Here
At the January 27 Council Study Session , Council directed
the Harbor Commission to study the moorings (fees,
transferability, other rules etc. . . ) then return in a timely
manner with a recommended path forward .
■
Quick Background : What Are Tidelands?
Tidelands (aka "Tide and Submerged Lands") are Public
Trust Lands (including land under water) that are :
Owned by the people of California
Have oversight & management assigned (granted) to the City via
specific legislation ("Beacon Bay Bill")
Chapter 74 of the Statutes of 1978, as amended
Trust may be revoked if not managed appropriately and fairly in the
public interest
We have added lands to the Trust in the past (1998-99)
Also managed with respect to:
CA Constitution
Public Trust Doctrine
City Charter and Municipal Code
M1
Some Distinctions
Not all waterways are Public Trust Lands, like:
Some areas around Newport Island
Linda Isle lagoon
Dover Shores waterways
Promontory Point waterways
Upper Newport Bay (CA Fish and Wildlife owns)
Corona del Mar State Beach, Little Corona (CA State Parks owns)
More. . .
Some are County-administered Public Trust Lands
Harbor Patrol dock
East end of Bayside Drive. . .
Bayshores area, Harbor Island
Sea Scout Base
Almost all of the ocean beaches are Public Trust Lands
Dry land can be Public Trust Land (Marina Park, parts of Beacon
Bay, Balboa Bay Resort, Big Canyon Nature Park, more)
i 0 1
How Tidelands Are Managed
• People of California
• The owners of Public Trust Lands
• California State Legislature
• Assigns management and operation of Public Trust Lands to City
• via Beacon Bay Bill
• State Lands Commission (SLC)
• Oversees our compliance with Beacon Bay Bill
• • SLC also manages some Public Trust Lands directly
• City of Newport Beach
• Manages Public Trust Lands per Beacon Bay Bill, Public Trust
Doctrine, CA Constitution and Newport Beach Municipal Code
City's obligation is to . . .
Comply with Beacon Bay Bill , Public Trust Doctrine, and
CA Constitution and NBMC, including :
Where private and semi-private uses are permitted, charge Fair
Market Value (FMV) for use of Public Trust Lands
Not charging FMV could be considered a gift of public funds, prohibited
by the California Constitution (Article XVI, Section 6):
The Legislature shall have no power to. . .make any gift or authorize the making
of any gift, of any public money or thing of value to any individual, municipal or
other corporation whatever.
Reinvest funds generated by the use of Tidelands back into the
improvement, management, and upkeep of Tidelands.
Tidelands Example — Peninsula
r •, 2074 nenas y
r
•,�// .° Tidelands
l'rerd Line
"Private Waterways" %a
(not Tidelands)
y l•►A Bulkhead Line
`q
Property Lines
� � (white)
I
Tidelands Example — Balboa Island
Boardwalk (green) • ` I_
Bulkhead Line (orange) 4 �r
_ r
Tidelands include
boardwalk and
everything bayward
- ow�- .^'
Pierhead Line (yellow) t
■ 1 i
Overview of Recent Fee Changes
Moorings (February to December 2010)
Increased rental rate towards FMV, based on 14% of a market
basket of marinas (2015 final year)
Ended ability to sell/transfer by 2021 (can transfer 2x before that)
Commercial Piers (February to November 2012)
Increased rental rate towards FMV (5 years to go)
Adopted a Lease Template
Residential Piers (Fall 2012 to December 2013)
Increased rental rate towards FMV (3 years to go — would be
$0.525/SF)
Defined a footprint in 2012, then reduced it in 2013
Set forth a paper permit
Amended it in 2013 to allow long-term permit
Made renting legal, but small marina rate charged (to 13 properties)
Public Moorings
��� •r a
/Ilt _
Y : An<h ge
NMYC
e
-` ` -6� BYC
%
X14
Public Moorings
More affordable than marinas, but less convenient.
Today, every mooring has a permittee assigned . Not all
permittees have boats — a good thing (decreases derelicts).
Off-Shore Public Moorings
Quantity: 539
"Single" & "Double-Point" moorings
"G" & "HP" fields are County moorings (approx. 22)
On-Shore Public Moorings
Quantity: 439
Vessels 18' and under
Balboa Island, Lido Isle, Peninsula street ends
Mooring Distribution by Length
�ilLl
3lfl
Quantity of
Moorings 437
in Length 200
Range
150
100
75.
501 11
2
18 20-25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 90
Mooring Length (feet)
Excludes BYC and NHYC Mooring Fields
Transfers
Pre-2011
Permits bought/sold via private market
Unlimited transfers
Wait List never moved
No transfer fee
OC Grand Jury in 2007 criticized City's management of the moorings
2011 — Present
Until 2021 : (2) transfers per public mooring
After 2021 : No transfers allowed (except to immediate family)
If permittee surrenders public mooring permit:
Returns to City
City reimburses mooring tackle value
City offers to next person on wait list
Transfer fee required
(Note: Wait list hasn't moved yet, but could after 2021)
Current Fees
• 14% of average, moderate, Newport slip rates ("Basket")
Ardell, Bayside Village, Harbor Marina, Lido Yacht Anchorage, Newport Dunes, Newport
Marina, Port Calypso (published rates)
Consistent with 2007 Grand Jury Report recommendation that: (mooring permits
need to be) fair market value . . .e.g., based on a % of slip
Off-Shore On-Shore % of Basket
1996-2010 $20/ft/yr $10/ft/yr N/A
2011 $26.52 $13.26 7. 1 %
2012 $30.71 $15.36 8.8%
2013 $38.73 $19.37 10.5%
2014 $47.64 $23.82 12.3%
2015 $55.43 $27.71 14.0% (Final Step)
Example for 40' vessel:
2015 yearly offshore mooring rate = $2,217 per year (plus maintenance costs —$350)
2015 yearly marina slip rate (average basket) _ $15,835 per year ($32.99 per foot per month)
i
Short-Term Mooring Rentals
The OC Harbor Patrol makes vacant moorings available
to others/transient boats.
Five guest slips available at HP Dock - $40/night
Guest moorings:
Rates are-
$16/night November - April
$26/night May — October
Generates about $60K - $80K per year
Funds raised go to Harbor Capital Fund (special fund created within the
Tidelands fund to segregate 2010-2012 increased rates — for harbor
improvements)
The "Avalon Approach "
Quantity: 362 moorings ( 14' to 100)
Ownership: By individuals who annually maintain mooring .
Fee:
$8.76/LF/year (NB's is $55.43/LF/year [proposed 2015])
Nightly Rentals:
$41 /night
Demand : Very high .
70' moorings have sold for $1 million in the past.
Transfers:
Unlimited.
City receives 5% of transfer price.
00121111111111111
The "Avalon Approach " ( pt 2 )
May trigger a possessory interest (P. I . tax) — unlike NB
Moorings are destination moorings — unlike NB
Generally not a boat storage location — unlike NB
Lower $ rate in Avalon has some logic:
Boats not stored on the moorings.
Rental revenue is a supplemental City income stream. Rentals of
vacant moorings in Avalon may make up or exceed rental revenue
difference ($8/LF v $55/LF) from NB.
In NB, mooring rate priced between the cost of dry storage and slip
storage, as moorings more convenient than dry but less convenient
than slip.
If council would like us to look more at an Avalon-style transfer
system, we should research the issue further. . ..
FYI . . .
o Mooring Master Plan Subcommittee & Harbor Commission
recommended :
1 . Allow 1 mooring transfer per year, per individual (no other limit)
Should Tidelands Fund get a share of the transfer value?
2. Maximum 2 moorings allowed per person (except marine contractors
and current permittees with >2)
3. Surrendered moorings go to sealed-bid auction
4. Sunset Wait List after years
■ ■
Straw Votes - Moorings
( 1 ) Keep the current system or (2) consider a change?
If consider a change . . .
Change rate (up to _% of market basket of marinas) or
Change rate method (besides tying to this market basket)?
Change transfer procedures to allow regular transfers?
Consider an Avalon-like system?
Include a fee for transfers?
Any change to the allocation of overnight rental revenue?
i
For More Information
Chris Miller
Harbor Manager
cmiller(cnewportbeachca.gov
Shannon Levin
Harbor Analyst
shannon((.newportbeachca .gov