Welcome to the Newport Mooring Association

May 22, 2023

Dear Mooring Permittees - 

Our City Council will be voting on significant harbor code changes and pushing boats and moorings dangerously close together with double-row (tandem) mooring configuration. We hope this video and report help clarify the NMA's position on the proposed reconfiguration.

Here is a short video that demonstrates the current and proposed configurations, pointing out the NMA concerns regarding the tandem mooring system, comparing the wind and tides of Newport Bay with America's Cup Harbor:

Newport Harbor Mooring Configuration - YouTube

We have also provided a professional oceanographer's analysis of the tidal flow in Newport Bay compared to those in the America's Cup Harbor in its entirety below. Per the oceanographer's report, tidal currents are 32 times stronger in Newport than America’s Cup Harbor: 

Tidal Currents in Newport Bay Compared to Americas Cup Harbor

Bart Chadwick – Coastal Monitoring Associates

3/21/2023

Currents in coastal embayments along the Southern California coast are influence by a number of factors including morphology, tides, winds, river flows, and temperature and salinity gradients. Among these, morphology and tides are generally the dominant factors. This is because winds and river flows are generally low to moderate during much of the year, and salinity and temperature gradients are generally not strong enough to rival tides in their influence on water movement.

Most of these coastal embayments are subject to tidal forcing at their entrances that are highly predictable in terms of both their magnitude and timing. In addition, most embayments in Southern California have length scales that are sufficiently short that the entire embayment rises almost in unison in response to the tide. Under these conditions, the strength of the tidal current at a given location in the embayment becomes primarily a function of the upland tidal prism. The tidal prism is defined as the amount of water that is required to fill the basin for a given increment in tidal increase. By mass conservation, the upland tidal prism for a given location is the amount of water that must pass through that section of the embayment to fill the rest of the embayment beyond that section.

The above approach makes many simplifying assumptions, including the neglect of wind, river flow, temperature and salinity gradients, friction effects and spatial patterns that arise across the section of interest. However, as a means of comparing two tidally influenced coastal embayments, the method provides a good first‐order approach. Ideally, more sophisticated modeling or direct measurements with modern current meters would be undertaken before significant decisions or engineering efforts were to go forward in order to verify the findings.

As a basis of comparison, we take Americas Cup Harbor, a sub‐embayment within San Diego Bay (Figure 1). In this figure, the red line indicated a section approximately mid‐way between the mouth and the head of the harbor, and the green shaded area indicates the areal extent of the upland tidal prism. The upland surface area of this zone is approximately 180000 m2 and a typical tidal range for San Diego Bay is on the order of 2 m. Thus, the upland tidal prism for the mid‐section of Americas Cup Harbor is about 360000 m3. The width of the cross section is about 530 m and the depth is about 5 m, so the cross‐ sectional area is about 2650 m2. Given a slack ebb to slack flood period of about 6 hours, the average cross‐section velocity can be calculated as about 0.6 cm/s. This would be the magnitude of the current expected at the mid‐section of Americas Cup Harbor. To give a sense of how this might influence a boater attempting to moore in that area, if we assume a mooring operation takes about 5 minutes, then the vessel would be subject to about 2 m of drift during that time.

For the case of Newport Bay, we consider the proposed pilot area at Mooring Field C (Figure 2). Figure 3 shows a comparable tidal prism zone (green shaded) for the Mooring Field C area (red line). Based on this location, the upland surface area of this zone is approximately 3164000 m2 and a typical tidal range for Newport Bay is on the order of 2 m. Thus, the upland tidal prism for the mid‐section of Newport Bay is about 6328000 m3. The width of the cross section is about 365 m (including both channels) and the depth is about 4 m, so the cross‐sectional area is about 1460 m2. Given a slack ebb to slack flood period of about 6 hours, the average cross‐section velocity can be calculated as about 20 cm/s. To give a sense of how this might influence a boater attempting to moor in that area, if we assume a mooring operation takes about 5 minutes, then the vessel would be subject to about 60 m of drift during that time. Compared to the Americas Cup Harbor, the estimated currents for the Mooring Field C are in Newport Bay are approximately 32 times higher. These estimates are consistent with the drift measurements made by the Newport Mooring Association, and are also consistent with published measurement by Jeong et al., 2005 (Figure 4).

Citations

Jeong et al., 2005. Identifying Pollutant Sources in Tidally Mixed Systems: Case Study of Fecal Indicator

Bacteria from Marinas in Newport Bay, Southern California, Environ. Sci. Technol. 2005, 39, 9083-9093.

May 21, 2023

Boaters are voters!! Call to Action!  We need your help!  

Protect your mooring location and privileges! 

Please show up to City Council on Tuesday, May 23rd at 5:30pm

Our City Council will be voting on significant harbor code changes and pushing boats and moorings dangerously close together with double-row (tandem) mooring configuration. Here are a just a few of the many NMA Concerns:

1. Safety, Safety, Safety:  Our City Council will be considering a pilot test of this dangerous mooring configuration without the mooring users being provided with a professional test plan developed by professional harbor designers to ensure that mooring users and their vessels will be safe.  To the best of our knowledge, no testing procedures have been publicized for public review.  

At a minimum any test WOULD NEED TO MEASURE THE LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY AND DANGER WHEN GETTING BOTH ON AND OFF MOORINGS IN DIFFERT CURRENT AND WIND CONDITIONS AND FOR PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT PHYSICAL ABILITIES.

We are concerned that the City’s Contract Engineer has issued a special disclaimer that they are NOT ENDORSING THIS MOORING FIELD LAYOUT. This disclaimer leads us to believe there are outstanding safety concerns, and our own tests have shown major safety issues.  We must insist on seeing what is being tested and how it is being tested, so we can provide input if needed.

2. $410,000 Unnecessary Taxpayer Expense - The Harbor Commission is asking for $410k to pilot test the program in the C field.  It is hard to fathom spending this kind of money to “reorganize” a simple mooring field.

3. Why isn’t the City performing initial tests on City owned mooring hardware prior to making significant harbor code changes? The City has an inventory of city owned moorings (including in the C field).They could easily perform preliminary tests with city owned moorings at no cost and without the need to revise the harbor code in advance of a pilot test. As an example, a few years ago, the City tested a mooring concept with City gear near Marina Park without changing the harbor code.

4. Please don’t make harbor code changes in advance of pilot test results: The Harbor Commission has asked for significant harbor code revisions in advance of pilot test results.  These changes include references to “ESTABLISHED MOORING ROW LENGTHS.”  What is an established mooring row length?  Who establishes it?  How is it established?  What boats go where? Why are we making these changes in advance of a pilot test that may not be successful?

5. Transferability of Mooring Permits:  The Harbor Commission is asking to establish a second class of mooring permit related to installing additional City owned moorings.  They have included confusing and ambiguous “non-transferable” language regarding permits issued after a certain date, but at the same time, they refer to a properly transferred permit as new permit.  Without clarification, this could be interpreted to mean that when you transfer your mooring, the new permit holder will not be able to transfer the mooring permit because the City will call his or her permit a “new” permit. So far, the City has not clarified this point.

Also, there is no need for the transferability code change.  The City already rents out an inventory of approximately 30 city owned moorings. If they acquire additional moorings, they can establish the terms of rental or use under a private agreement with the user of the mooring and do not need to change the Harbor Code or create confusing new permit language. 

6. Per Oceanographer Report, Tidal Currents are 32 times stronger in Newport than America’s Cup: The City is importing the double row idea from very protected America’s Cup Harbor where there are no tidal currents. This is not a good idea.

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IT IS TIME TO ACT! SHOW UP TO CITY COUNCIL ON TUESDAY May 23rd at 5PM

PROTECT YOUR MOORING LOCATION AND STOP THE UNSAFE TANDEM MOORING PLAN

Email City Council Members: CityCouncil@newportbeachca.gov

Email us at: Mail@YourNMA.org or Mail@YourNewportMooringAssocation.org

Thank you for your anticipated help and support,

Your NMA Directors

May 18, 2023

Attention Mooring Permittees,

The Staff Report and related documents for the May 23rd meeting are listed below for easy download.  The NMA is currently reviewing these documents and will provide comments shortly.

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IT IS TIME TO ACT! SHOW UP TO CITY COUNCIL ON TUESDAY May 23rd at 5PM

PROTECT YOUR MOORING LOCATION AND STOP THE UNSAFE TANDEM MOORING PLAN

Email City Council Members: CityCouncil@newportbeachca.gov

Email us at: Mail@YourNMA.org or Mail@YourNewportMooringAssocation.org

Thank you for your anticipated help and support,

Your NMA Directors

IT IS TIME TO ACT! SHOW UP TO CITY COUNCIL ON TUESDAY May 23rd at 5PM

PROTECT YOUR MOORING LOCATION AND STOP THE UNSAFE TANDEM MOORING PLAN

May 16, 2023 

Attention Mooring Permittees,

The City Council will be voting on pilot test and implementation of a dangerous double-row/tandem mooring plan and associated detrimental Harbor Code changes on May 23rd. While the pilot test will put private boats at increased risk of collision, the recommended Harbor Code changes will change the nature of your privately owned mooring tackle and create UNCERTAINTY OF MOORING LOCATION FOREVER regardless of the results of the pilot test of the ill-advised and unsafe double-row/tandem mooring plan.

The Newport Mooring Association has obtained an Oceanographer report indicating tidal currents are 32 TIMES STRONGER in Newport Harbor compared to America’s Cup Harbor, where the double-row/tandem configuration is utilized. With your help, we believe the NMA can convince City Council that pushing mooring rows closer together in Newport Harbor will decrease safety and increase the difficulty of mooring utilization given the strong currents and prevailing winds.

In reviewing City documents, it appears the City’s Coastal Engineer (Noble Consultant) has not endorsed the double-row/tandem layout. In fact, the engineering firm has made specific disclaimers indicating they take no responsibility for this mooring layout or configuration. This gives us the impression that the professionals are not willing to sign off on the double-row/tandem configuration in Newport because they know it is less safe and more difficult to use given the environmental conditions (wind and current) in Newport Harbor.

Note from Noble Consultants (City’s Contract Engineer) helix anchor report dated 9/20/22: DISCLAIMER The mooring layout and anchor spacing for this project was not conceived or endorsed by Noble Consultants, Inc. nor its staff Engineers.

Email your local council member today and express your concern regarding the unsafe double-row (tandem) mooring configuration as well as the unnecessary changes to the harbor code that will allow the Harbor Commission to force you to move your boat and mooring at your expense with ad hoc mooring layout decisions.

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You can email your thoughts to the Harbor Commission and City Council by using these email addresses – any emails you have already sent to the special email address “HarborFeedback” may not be made part of the official public record.

Email City Council Members: CityCouncil@newportbeachca.gov

Email us at: Mail@YourNMA.org or Mail@YourNewportMooringAssocation.org

Thank you for your anticipated help and support,

Your NMA Directors

Looking out for the interest of all mooring owners

Newport Mooring Association

P.O. Box 1118, Newport Beach, CA 92659-1118

IT IS TIME TO ACT !

PROTECT YOUR MOORING LOCATION AND THE VALUE OF YOUR MOORING

March 14, 2023

Attention Mooring Permittees,

The Harbor Commission has voted to recommend Commissioner Ira Beer’s radical double row mooring plan and associated detrimental Harbor Code changes be approved by City Council – possibly as soon as the next City Council meeting on March 28th. The recommended Harbor Code changes will change the nature of your privately owned mooring tackle and create UNCERTAINTY OF LOCATION FOREVER regardless of the results of the pilot test of the ill-advised and unsafe double row mooring plan.

We are asking all mooring permittees to EMAIL CITY COUNCIL TODAY to object to these RADICAL HARBOR CODE CHANGES related to a mere pilot test of an unpopular mooring row realignment plan.

Through this proposal, a small “Ad Hoc” group of Harbor Commissioners is starting the process of a MAJOR Harbor Master Plan Reorganization that will force the INVOLUNTARY relocation of a high percentage of moorings and boats. We do not think these major changes should be forced on us by a small group of Harbor Commissioners. We believe that any significant mooring field reorganization should be a collaborative effort of all stakeholders.

Here are the primary concerns:

1. CODE CHANGES NOW?? --The Harbor Commission has recommended that City Council pass a host of detrimental Harbor Code changes IN ADVANCE of a pilot test of a dangerous double row mooring plan that has only been used in the ultra-protected harbor of America’s Cup Harbor in San Diego. Why should any changes to the Harbor Code be made now? Are these changes to the Harbor Code their real objective?

2. EXPANDED AUTHORITY to allow the City to make you move your boat and your mooring tackle FOREVER and AT YOUR COST--The existing code allows the Harbormaster to move your boat “when necessary” (i.e., in an emergency). This authority will now be expanded to include nebulous reasons for an involuntary relocationand now will include moving your boat and your mooring tackle at your cost.

3. MOVING AUTHORITY from City Council to the Harbor Commission --The Harbor Commission is asking the City to move mooring equipment mandate authority from our elected City Council down to appointed and unaccountable Harbor Commissioners. This will weaken mooring permittees’ ability to protect our moorings at the ballot box. City Council should not cede this authority given mooring equipment mandates rarely change. This is a power grab.

4. TRANSITIONING OUR PRIVATELY OWNED MOORING EQUIPMENT to “City owned” mooring equipment--The Harbor Commission is asking for authority to transition our privately owned mooring tackle to city owned mooring tackle. Mooring rates will likely increase as the city will want to recoup mooring tackle expenses. This will also increase City liability when incidents occur.

5. GOVERNMENT MANDATED INVOLUNTARY BOAT AND MOORING RELOCATIONS--Regardless of the outcome of the pilot test, the Harbor Commission has recommended moving forward with a new government mandate regarding “Designated Mooring Row Lengths”. Your boat and approved mooring length will now have to match up with an undefined and undetermined Designated Mooring Row MAP(if not, your boat and mooring will be subject to forced relocation). The map was not published with the agenda. This undefined and undisclosed map will be the mechanism the city will use to force INVOLUNTARY mooring relocations. When was this map created? How was it created? How many mooring holders will it impact?

6. TRANSFERABILITY CONCERNS--The proposed new language concerning transferability is still very unclear as it states that “new mooring permits” will not be transferable. Given the fact a person is issued a “new mooring permit” when he or she buys a mooring, that new mooring permit could be deemed to be non-transferable in the future. In response to this concern, proposed objectionable language was not changed and Commissioner Beer has only responded verbally saying that: “Existing permits are transferable. We are not changing transferability for existing permits”. This is clearly not an acceptable explanation. Is the Harbor Commission being obtuse and difficult on this subject for a tactical reason?

7. BUMP YOUR NEIGHBOR EXTENSION PLAN--The mooring length extension policy will now convert to a “Bump Your Neighbor” forced relocation plan. If your new Designated Mooring Row Length is longer than your boat length, you can be bumped and forced to move in favor of a larger boat. If you upsize your vessel even slightly, you will now most likely be forced to move to a different location.

8. MOORING VALUES AT RISK—Several Harbor Commissioners have expressed their outrage in the past at the fact that mooring permits have substantial value. Is the Harbor Commission trying to impact mooring permit values negatively? It sure seems to be a primary objective. 

The NMA has expressed these concerns and they have fallen on deaf ears with the Harbor Commission. The Harbor Commission has maligned the NMA at almost every meeting. This disturbing behavior should be a big wakeup call regarding the fact that these revisions are being crammed down your throat.

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You can email your thoughts to the Harbor Commission and City Council by using these email addresses – any emails you have already sent to the special email address “HarborFeedback” may not be made part of the official public record.

Email City Council Members: CityCouncil@newportbeachca.gov

Email us at: Mail@YourNMA.org or Mail@YourNewportMooringAssocation.org

Thank you for your anticipated help and support,

Your NMA Directors

Looking out for the interest of all mooring owners

Newport Mooring Association

P.O. Box 1118, Newport Beach, CA 92659-1118

March 4. 2023

Attention Mooring Holders,

The Harbor Commission will be voting on the Double Row Mooring Plan and detrimental harbor code revisions on March 8th at 5pm per the posted agenda.  The commission has posted the following document as “Attachment A”.  Here are the NMA concerns and opinions regarding the plan and associated proposed harbor code revisions that involve your safety, property rights, and unknown costs (your pocketbook).

1. The proposal will move your boat without your  consent to an undisclosed location. The location will put  your boat dangerously close to the boat in front or behind your boat. 
2. The Harbor Commission is planning to implement a new undefined “Designated Mooring Row Length” mandate. If your existing approved mooring permit length is too small for the new arbitrary and undefined “designated mooring row length”, you will have to pay to move your mooring tackle to a new and undetermined location.
3. If your existing approved mooring length is more one foot smaller than your “yet to be determined” designated mooring row length, another “more appropriately sized” mooring holder can BUMP YOU from your mooring and you will be forced to relocate.
4. The proposal attempts to give the City authority to replace your privately owned mooring tackle with City tackle. Our mooring rates are low because we own the tackle.  If the City invests in tackle, we are concerned they will increase our rates.
5. The proposed double row system increases risk and difficulty of using a mooring and the pilot test will likely fail.
6. Regardless of the outcome of the pilot test, mooring holders will be stuck with the proposed harbor code revisions for perpetuity.

Please read the following easy-to-read document (Harbor Commission Exhibit A) and the harbor code revisions that are posted on the harbor commission website.  The NMA will be posting additional analysis documents on these topics shortly.  

Please show up on March 8th at 5pm 

Comment/Opinion:  The March 8th Harbor Commission Agenda is now posted. This is a City Document (Exhibit A) that summarizes the intention to gain authority to relocate your personal property.

Mooring Fields Optimization Initiative Summary
 

The mooring fields optimization initiative is intended to result in more efficient use of the space within the City’s mooring fields, increase the number of moorings available to the public, and improve safety and navigation within the fields and in the adjacent channels. With the reconfiguration, the fields will have footprints smaller than they do currently but while having wider fairways and greater average distances between boats in the same row.
 

Reconfiguration of the Mooring Fields
 

1.     Reconfigure the mooring fields from the current single rows to double rows.
Moorings will be substantially the same configuration with two mooring buoys and a spreader line to prevent mooring buoys from drifting into the fairways. Alternatively, mooring permittees may request to have their mooring equipped with a single mooring buoy and a sand line to retrieve the opposing anchor line (similar to what is used in Catalina).
 

2.     The rows will have established maximum lengths. Permittees will be assigned to moorings in rows that match the permittees’ mooring lengths to the extent possible. Nevertheless, some permittees will end up having to be assigned to rows that are greater than their mooring lengths. In making assignments, efforts will be made to maintain mooring permittees’ general locations within their fields. For example, permittees who currently have an end-tie mooring will be prioritized for assignment to an end-tie mooring.
 

3.     Permittees  whose mooring  lengths  are  shorter  by  5-feet  or  more  than  the designated length of their rows shall be subject to relocation via a mooring exchange (see “Requests for Longer Moorings; Relocations” below). All permittees are subject to being moved when deemed necessary by the Harbormaster to address safety or navigation concerns.
 

4.     Permittees shall be prohibited from exceeding the designated lengths of their rows. No vessel LOA may extend beyond the length of the mooring permit. No vessel adjusted LOA (or any part of the vessel or attachments thereto) may extend into the fairways.
 

5.     For the approximately 10 requests for mooring extensions of up to 5 feet that the City received prior to November 1, 2022, the additional length shall be taken into account when making the new mooring assignments if adequate spacing exists. Pending their new assignments, the permittees may be allowed to extend their mooring lengths if the Harbormaster determines that the requested extensions will not adversely affect navigation, or safety or impede either adjacent fairway.
 

Equipment/Tackle
 

6.     The double mooring rows may consist of one shared anchor or two separate anchors as determined by the City. If a helical type of anchor is used, it will be provided by the City. To the fullest extent possible, all existing mooring equipment and materials (e.g. anchor weights, chains, tackle, hardware, buoys, etc.) will be used for the new mooring systems. Any additional anchor weights, chain, lines, conservation buoys or other hardware as necessary per new engineered specifications shall be provided at City’s expense.
 

7.     Mooring permittees shall bear the responsibility to maintain, repair, and replace all components of the new anchor mooring system, e.g. all weighted anchors, chains, shackles, weights, lines and buoys. The City shall bear the responsibility to maintain, repair, and replace helical anchors it has installed.
 

8.     Specifications regarding moorings and associated equipment will be determined and adopted by the Harbor Commission instead of by City Council.
 

Mooring Permits
 

9.     Any newly-created moorings can be made available to the public at a rent close to fair market value since they would be non-transferable.
 

10.  Moorings would be issued on the basis of a lottery, waiting list, or other similar systems, as determined by the Harbor Department, to afford members of the public an equal opportunity to obtain a permit.
 

11.  If a mooring permittee is assigned to a row of an established length that is greater than the maximum mooring length specified on their permit, the permittee shall not be subject to increased mooring fees unless the permittee desires to moor a larger vessel.
 

12.  The transferability of existing mooring permits will not be affected and they may be successively transferred until they are surrendered or revoked. Updates or changes in the information of permits, such as permittee names, assigned vessel, maximum mooring lengths, or mooring location, shall not affect permit transferability. Any mooring permits issued after the adoption date of this ordinance shall be non-transferable.
 

Requests for Longer Moorings; Relocations
 

13.  A mooring permittee who desires a longer or extended mooring will be required to relocate to a larger mooring if the increase in length would exceed the designated length of their row. Relocation will require an available mooring in the same mooring field (the H and J fields shall be considered one field). A mooring is available if it is vacant or occupied by a permittee whose mooring length is at least 5-feet shorter than the designated length of their mooring row.
 

14.  The  Harbormaster  may  approve  extension  requests  upon  making  certain findings.
 

15.  Extension requests shall require payment of a fee.
 

16.  The mooring permittee requesting the extension shall bear all costs of moving both their vessel and the displaced vessel.
 

Pilot Project
 

This mooring reconfiguration initiative proposes to proceed with a pilot project of reconfiguring only the C Field for double-row moorings. During the process, one or two rows may be initially reconfigured. This would allow for testing of the new layout and for making any necessary adjustments. There will be follow-up on the reconfiguration, including regular inspections from harbor patrol boats as well as interviews with affected permittees and other stakeholders. The relocation of moorings and permittees for the first one or two rows is estimated to take two weeks. Completing the reconfiguration for the rest of C Field is estimated to take 30 days.
 

With the success of the pilot project, the next likely fields for reconfiguration would be B, D, J & H.

Commenter Note:  The harbor code revision below (in red) has been proposed by the City. You will be forced to pay for moving your mooring tackle.
 

3. Mooring permittee shall move their vessels or relocate to another mooring when deemed necessary by the Public Works Director and/or Harbormaster to address vessel’s drifting from its assigned mooring location or to address safety or navigational concerns. Offshore mooring permittees who are assigned to mooring rows with established lengths that are greater than the permittees’ mooring lengths by at least five feet shall be subject to relocation for the purpose of accommodating mooring extension requests under Section 17.60.040(M). Except as otherwise set forth in this Title, the permittee shall bear the costs of moving their vessel or relocating to the reassigned mooring, including moving the mooring equipment.
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A Summary of NMA’s Opposition to Dangerous New Mooring Reconfiguration, with a short video can be seen at:  www.YourNMA.org - scroll below the Harbor Commission materials.

For sending emails to the Harbor Commissioners and the City Council:

Harbor Commission:  harborcommission@newportbeachca.gov

City Council:  Citycouncil@newportbeachca.gov
 

Please copy us on any email you send to the Harbor Commission or City Council as this help us understand what the City is telling permittees directly.
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FYI: if you are a Newport resident, you might what to look out for our proposed informational meeting at a large conference room on March 16 to inform local homeowners of the impacts of the proposed double row mooring system.
Sincerely,

Your NMA
visit us at:
YourNMA.org