California State Lands Commissioners, tasked with protecting public lands and waterways, are stepping in to voice concerns about Newport Beach’s management of the harbor, including offshore moorings and residential piers.
Now, local mooring permit holders are at odds with state commissioners over price hikes, permit transfers and the overall future of how accessible Newport Harbor will be for residents.
It comes after Newport Beach mooring permit holders have spent the past couple years protesting rental rate spikes for their boat storage spaces in the harbor — after the city proposed increases that would cause some people’s monthly payments to quadruple.
While state commissioners found no apparent issue with the appraisal used to increase mooring rates, they did voice concerns about under-market rates for residential piers and concerns that private mooring permit transfers might violate the state constitution.
[Read: Newport Beach Harbor Commission Recommends Spiking Boat Mooring Rents]
In Newport Harbor, there are multiple ways for boaters to store their vessels on the water.
Some waterfront properties have residential piers, allowing owners to store their boats on a land-connected dock.
Other boaters utilize offshore moorings — permanent structures that are placed away from docks — forcing boaters to use a kayak or dinghy to get to their boat from dry land.
The current rate for offshore moorings is $3.34 per linear foot per month. That means a 40-foot mooring costs about $133 each month.
Under changes proposed by the city for an updated license program, the cost would spike to about $15 per linear foot per month or $600 per month for a 40-foot mooring.
Those changes would also phase out transferability for mooring permits when they become licenses, making them month-to-month agreements managed by the city.
The Newport Mooring Association is expected to give a presentation about the group’s recent activities and priorities during the city’s harbor commission meeting on Sept. 10, starting at 5 p.m.
Last year, Newport Beach City Council members voted to freeze rates on current mooring permit holders, grandfathering rates for existing mooring permits and moving to transition all future moorings to licenses subject to the fee increase.
But after the city council approved these changes on a first reading, the state lands commission stepped in to pause the ordinance indefinitely, citing concerns of discrimination since similar mooring uses would feature different price tags.
[Read: Newport Beach Clashes With State Over Offshore Moorings Pricing]
At their meeting on Aug. 21, state lands commission staff offered a draft report of their findings after reviewing the city’s management of the harbor.
They found that the city can “reasonably rely” on the appraisal used to calculate updated mooring rates, but advised city officials to review the action to ensure the public lands are being managed fairly.
“This commission does not set the rates for the pier. This is not our call — this is the city’s call,” Commission Chair and Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis told members of the public at the Aug. 21 meeting. “We have issued this report. It may not be what you were necessarily looking for, but it was appropriate for us to issue this review.”
Anne Stenton, president of the Newport Mooring Association, said her group is grateful for the commission staff but still has concerns.
“The draft of the tidelands management review lacks analysis of some key factors, including the shortcomings of the Netzer appraisal, the lack of due process and public input associated with the City’s sudden shift to the mooring license program, and the real public benefits of the mooring permit program,” she wrote in a text after the meeting.
“We are asking for a special meeting so stakeholders and the community can better engage in the public process,” she wrote. “Having less than 48 hours to review and make comment on a 30-page+ report is challenging when so many of us work and have families and other responsibilities.”
Assistant City Manager Siemone Jurjis said officials are reviewing the commission’s report.
“The City is taking time to review the report and will be speaking with the State Lands Commission staff to better understand the analysis done,” Jurjis wrote in an email.
The state lands commission is expected to issue its final report during a meeting in December.
City Undercharging For Residential Piers, State Says
Staff for the state lands commission found that residential pier rates are significantly below fair market value in their draft report, an issue that mooring permit holders have long pointed to as an example of rate discrimination.
“There are clear differences in rate revisions for moorings and residential piers,” reads the staff report included with the agenda item.
“The trend for mooring permit rates has been to use regular appraisals to reflect market conditions; the trend for residential pier permits has been to reduce the overall rent amount through reductions of lease area and lowering of rates without conducting new or updated appraisals,” it continues. “These decisions appear to be political in nature and may violate both the granting statute and the California constitution.”
The draft report found that fair rental value for residential piers, which are currently charged at 58 cents per square foot, may actually be as much as double that current rate.
Jeff Plovnick, a granted land specialist who gave the presentation at the State Lands Commission’s Aug. 21 meeting, said Newport Beach has already begun an updated appraisal process for residential piers.
Jurjis confirmed the appraisal for residential piers is still ongoing.
Unclear Future for Liveaboards, Mooring Permit Transferability
Mooring permit holders have historically been able to privately transfer their mooring permit to whomever they choose.
But state lands commissioners said these transfers, which typically involve the sale of a mooring permit from one person to another, might actually violate the state’s Public Trust Doctrine by privatizing public land.
“The problem with the mooring transfer sales in Newport Bay is that the mooring permits have been privately commodified by restricting public access, which allows individuals to dictate costs for access that are unrelated to the actual use of the tidelands and unregulated by the City,” reads the draft report. “Undeniably, there is a potential for private profit without the City’s tidelands fund being compensated.”
Speakers disagreed that mooring holders are profiting off transfers.
“The idea that people are profiting when transferring moorings is misinformation, and frankly, it’s ridiculous,” mooring permit holder Coeli Hylkema said at the Aug. 21 state commission meeting.
“If we sell our mooring, there is no profit, but we can recoup part of what we paid,” she said. “If the city is allowed to take away our ability to transfer our mooring, the discrimination will substantially hurt us in our retirement. It’s also singling us out, given that the city has always and will always allow transferability of permits for homeowner docks and permits given to marina owners.”
Jurjis said there is no legal way to continue allowing the sale and transferability of public state tidelands.
Liveaboards, a community of people who live on their boats in Newport Harbor, have also expressed concern that their way of life will be erased if they’re forced to move to the city’s higher-cost mooring license program instead of permits.
“This community is about to face extinction with this conversion to city licenses,” liveaboard Sam McDonald said during the meeting. “This is a profound contradiction because while the State Lands Commission has been charged by executive order to find and create affordable housing solutions, you’re letting Newport Beach eliminate one, and you’re eradicating who we are.”
Angelina Hicks is the Voice of OC Collegiate News Service Editor. Contact her at ahicks@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @angelinahicks13.