City Raising Mooring Rates

Dear NMA Members,

On February 9th the Newport Beach Harbor Commission will be voting on a fee increase in Newport Harbor. The current recommendation is to raise the shore mooring rates from $341 to $4,320 per year. This is an increase of over 1,000%.

We believe this increase threatens the last affordable small boat storage in Newport Harbor and will knock many small boat owners out of the harbor.  We need your help!

The Newport Mooring Association has less than 30 days to convince the harbor commission to reject this fee increase and leave the existing fee structure with built-in inflation increases should remain in place.

What can you do to help?

1. Attend the Wednesday, February 9th Harbor Commission meeting at City Hall at 5pm. Consider making comment against the fee increase.
2. Call and email your City Council Members, the City Manager and the Harbor Commission members - these two emails will reach ALL of them:  CityCouncil@newportbeachca.gov,       HarborCommission@newportbeachca.gov  or call 949-644-3004 to leave messages.
3. Get directly involved- the NMA is forming a sub-committee of members to address this shore mooring fee increase. This is good civic engagement at the local level. Email us at mail@newportmooringassociation.org to get directly involved.
4. Renew (or Register) your NMA Membership today. Please see the registration form on the NMA membership webpage at https://newportmooringassociation.org/membership 
5. Donate a few dollars on the NMA website to help us mobilize over the next 3 weeks.

The Harbor Commission started initial discussions on the fee increase at the Harbor Commission meeting on Wednesday. Here are Important notes from that meeting:

• The NMA and other speakers pointed out that the 3rd party mooring rate appraisal has significant problems- ie.it is not reasonable to compare waterfront property to floating mooring lines or to compare docks (that provide water, power, security) to muddy shore moorings. Our detailed assessment of the Netzger appraisal is here:

                  NMA Whitepaper -  Shore Mooring Appraisal Problems

• The Harbor Commission acknowledged the 3rd party mooring fee appraisal is flawed and postponed any decisions on the matter for one month to give stakeholders, staff and commissioners time to digest the issue.
• The NMA pointed out that the City had been incorrectly relying on specific restrictive language in the existing tidelands grant (AKA Beacon Bay Bill - "BBB") that pertains only to the private residential lots at Beacon Bay when determining permissible rent levels, and it is the NMA's view that any local ordinance relying on or mischaracterizing the BBB cannot be used to justify the inaccurate 3d party appraisal. 
• The NMA pointed out that the City’s own Coastal Land Use Plan actually requires the City to maintain low cost moorings (Policy #3.3.2-3).
• The NMA pointed out that the State Lands Commission, the watchdog for all state tidelands, allows for affordable mooring rates and has used better methodology in its recent mooring rate benchmark study (AKA The Tomalas Bay Benchmark Study).
• The NMA and others argued that the existing long term fee structure, which includes inflation increases should remain in place. We believe the city has no obligation to adjust the current fee structure. The City’s Tideland Trust Fund contained $37 million at the end of last year. Therefore, there is no need for a discretionary increase in mooring fee structure at this time.
• The NMA Will be posting more information as we develop it.  

In closing, the shore moorings are the last affordable place to keep a small boat in Newport Harbor. We believe any significant fee increase will knock many small boat owners out of Newport Harbor and out of boating. We plan to fight vigorously to maintain affordable boating in Newport Harbor. 

Please join us in the fight!  See how to donate below:

To Mooring Permittees -

The meeting went well last night. The Commissioners started off the agenda item by stating they would not be taking any action on the onshore mooring fee increase and would be postponing any action until the February meeting. They moved forward with the staff report and public comment. There were around 50 people in attendance. There were around 15 speakers opposed to the fee increase and none in favor. We think many people opted not to speak given the matter was postponed.

By the end of the agenda item, the commissioners seem to agree the shore mooring fee appraisal was defective. We believe the speakers were able to convince the commissioners to question the need to charge “full market value rents”. One objective was to convince the commissioners that it is legal and reasonable for the city to charge “low cost/affordable” mooring fees which would allow the current fee structure (with existing CPI adjustments) to remain in place.

A few of the commissioners closed by indicating they want to offer more services to mooring users (dredge shore mooring areas and maybe provide some work docks etc.) but they need to raise fees to do so.

Our assumption is that the Harbor Commission will have a new staff report 3 days before the February 9th, 2022 meeting that recommends a significantly smaller fee increase for the shore moorings. We will continue to work on this issue, and keep you all posted as we have new information.

If you have not sent your Mooring Association dues, please do so and a bit more if you can to obtain our own appraisal and legal support to fight these increases.

Thank you for your support!

We Need Your Help!

The City of Newport Beach is attempting to lay the foundation to increase mooring rates by 10 times or more in a proposal at the January 12th Harbor Commission Meeting. The rates for onshore moorings would be increased from $1.58 per foot to $20.00 per foot. The Staff Report and appraisal documents can be downloaded below.

The City is on the verge of raising mooring rates 10 times, and without allowing mooring permittees to provide any meaningful input, without allowing time to present alternative valuations, and without consideration for how such and increase will destroy affordable boating in Newport Harbor.

Here’s how you can help:

1. Show up at the Harbor Commission Meeting TOMORROW, Wednesday, January 12, 5:00pm at the City Council Chambers - 100 Civic Center Drive
2. Call and email your City Council Members and the City Manager one email will reach all members: citycouncil@newportbeachca.gov  or call  949-644-3004
3. Email Harbor Commission Members  - one email will reach all members: HarborCommission@newportbeachca.gov .
4. If you are a member of a Yacht Club, call and email the bridge and board of directors of your yacht clubs.
5. If you have not sent your Mooring Association dues, please do so and a bit more if you can to obtain own appraisal and legal support for the NMA to fight these increases.

Thank you for your support!

The NMA is launching a pilot program with the City of Newport Beach to provide better access to moored boats by providing “shuttle” transportation to fetch a moored boat’s dinghy.  The NMA has obtained an 8’ Walker Bay dinghy and placed it at Marina Park in a special, marked parking spot on the Marina Park dock.  The dinghy is set up for a single oarsman and can be used to row out to a moored boat to fetch the permittee’s own dinghy, and then returned to the Shuttle Dinghy depot.  A reasonable time of 30 minutes is expected for most shuttle trips.

This initial pilot program will provide a shuttle dinghy to the H and J mooring fields adjacent to Marina Park.  If the pilot program is successful, we hope that it will be expanded throughout the harbor.  The NMA hopes to improve overall access to the moorings, as well as help reduce crowding at the public docks.

Shuttle Dinghy users must be NMA members in good standing and will be required to sign an agreement with the NMA acknowledging our requirements and certifying that the member has current marine vessel insurance in effect that covers liability for the use of its vessel on the mooring and any dinghy or tender used to access the vessel.  Members will be provided with the combination to the lock on the dinghy and oars and will be asked to log their use of the dinghy on a log sheet provided near the Shuttle Dinghy depot. A PFD is provided under the back seat of the boat.

If you would like to be a part of our Shuttle Dinghy Pilot Program, please download and sign our agreement, which can be found below, and email it plus your contact information (name, email and cell phone number) to mail@newportmooringassociation.org with “Shuttle Dinghy” in the subject line.  Our Board member, George Hylkema, will be working with our first participants to make sure our procedures are working as we envisioned. 

We hope this is a positive program to increase access to our beautiful harbor! 

Per Stu News October 8th:

The public had been advised to steer clear of the beaches and all wildlife being affected. That, however, is changing. Volunteers are now being encouraged to register to help. Requirements: they must be at least 18 years of age, be able to lift 25 pounds and “willing to follow county COVID procedures.”

If you’d like to register, go to 

https://calspillwatch.wildlife.ca.gov/Vo

Read the full article here:

https://www.stunewsnewport.com/index.php/2-uncategorised/12206-fair-game-100821

Here is NMA Board Member George Hylkema presenting his invention the "Particle Separator" as a part of the City of Newport Beach's Pump Out Stations Project:

https://newportbeach.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php...