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indicated their approval of any of this yet,” Natoli said. “Really it doesn’t have any impact on Fisherman’s Village, at all. If there are impacts in the future, which could be by fall if the board decides they agree with the approach, it would include, at some point, putting the boat launch ramp down by the western part of Basin H and along the main channel.” Natoli said a time frame of 10 to 15


Pictured top to bottom, Pam Stanley, owner of Pammy’s Place, sells the artwork of 36 local artists. At left, decrepit vessel floats on the public dock area of Fisherman’s Village. Visioning plans could replace the village with a new boat launching ramp.


She confirmed a


future boat launch ramp, currently off Admiralty Way, may


launch is run by the county and they can dictate its fate.


Envisioning a new plan


An anticipated Visioning Plan, which was first proposed by the county in April 2013, was fashioned after county staff met with several members of the public, along with representatives from the Regional Planning Commission, Small Craft Harbor Commission and Design Control Board, to address con- cerns and ideas regarding future devel- opment in Marina del Rey. According to the official plan, goals have included developing activity dis- tricts, improving mobility and direc- tional signage, enhancing the image of the marina and furthering recreational opportunities and public gathering spaces.


The document proposes the addi- tion of a new retail center, improve- ments in traffic flow and the relocation of the marina’s existing boat launch and storage facility to what county offi- cials call “the area occupied by visitor- serving retail and commercial uses at the southerly end of Fiji Way.” The plan divides these ideas into four separate districts: Residential District, Marina Beach, Visitor’s Row, and Boater’s Way. Gina Natoli, Los Angeles County’s


Supervising Regional Planner, said the proposal doesn’t have any immediate impact on the village. “It doesn’t have any impact on its


lease. It doesn’t have any impacts on the tenants there,” she said. “What the visioning process has done is, in the future, there may be a way to reorgan- ize a couple of the uses in the marina to make the marina a more vibrant, pleas- ant experience for visitors and resi- dents.”


be moved down a couple parcels to the spot currently occupied by Fisherman’s Village. The current boat launch would then become a visitor-serving commer- cial retail destination. Implementation of the venture is


projected to occur over both the short and long-term and will include a series of decisions based on individual proj- ects, lease negotiations and policy changes, among other hurdles. “It’s an opportunity for the county to


determine, particularly with regards to Fisherman’s Village, what is the most appropriate and best way forward as we look toward the termination of that lease,” said Gary Jones, director of the County of Los Angeles’ Department of Beaches and Harbors. “The uses on a daily basis we see there, not only the retailers, but the charter operators, the crews that use space along Fiji Way—is there a better way from a land use point of view to consolidate that?” Garcia, who said he has attended


several redevelopment seminars, is concerned with the overall plans, which he claimed are lacking a clear outline with any finite details. “They just have these beautiful little


circles that say residential zone, shop- ping zone, boaters area,” Garcia said. “Who’s going to argue with that? No one…Once you press [officials] and say that I have heard that they want to demolish Fisherman’s Village, they hes- itate, stop, refer me to someone else, or actually say ‘Yes, we’re considering that so we can put parking and a public launch there.”’


The public dock behind and to the


east of Fisherman’s Village is currently being used for boat storage and no one can dock their boat to visit the marina, according to Garcia. “The Board of Supervisors has not


years is expected due to existing leases on the Fisherman’s Village parcel. The land is regulated and managed by the Department of Regional Planning. “There are leases and contracts with developers that must be honored,” she said. “There is currently a lease on the Fisherman’s Village parcel that I think goes through 2027…our plan would be to retain the charter boats there at the docks along the main channel. They would be accommodated if this moves forward.” The parking lot in front of the


Fisherman’s Village parcel would be a parking area for trailers and vehicles pulling in their boats, according to Natoli. Some travelers may have to park near the new visitor’s retail destination. Rick Oefinger, a lessee of POM and


president of Marina del Rey Sportfishing, said he has extreme con- cerns with where the redevelopment currently stands. He said he does not believe his business has been taken into consideration, and he has had a difficult time receiving any solid answers from county officials. “Their boss and my landlords have a


plan for Fisherman’s Village that includ- ed us in pretty much our current state,” Oefinger said. “If nothing else, we were included and had a home. And with this county thing, I don’t know what’s going to become of us.” The loss of Dock 52 at Boat Central,


where Oefinger’s passengers currently board, to a stack storage is concerning to him. With the new visioning plan proposing the ramp at the Fisherman’s Village location, Oefinger said he is unsure of the future. He mentioned he has never been shown a picture or any documentation of the plans for Marina del Rey Sportfishing. “I think that we are probably the


largest water-born service in Marina del Rey. We take 20,000-plus people out on the water a year. I don’t think any- one comes close to having that many customers,” he said. “My biggest con- cern with all this development is our parking and adequate live-bait facili- ties. They’re two very important seg- ments of sport fishing. We need ade- quate parking within easy walking dis- tance of where our boats disembark. “The reason being is that, if you


visualize on a Sunday morning, when 90 people may get off a boat, each per- son has a sack of four or five barracuda and sand basses. How do those people get to where they parked their cars? You can’t put those people on a shuttle with normal tourists. We need close park- ing.” According to a Relocation Concept


summary on the Harbor and Beaches website, the launch facility would


The Log • April 25 - May 8, 2014 • 17


remain the same size and a new park- ing lot on these parcels would provide room for 223 car/trailer spaces. The Department of Beaches and


Harbors teamed with Noble Consultants, Inc., a civil engineering entity which deals with harbor-related workings, to examine the viability of moving the boat launch ramp. The findings concluded that full use of Parcels 54, 55, 56, 61 and W would be needed to follow through on the reloca- tion.


Lost plans


Younis touched briefly on Pashaie and the co-owner’s proposed plans which have been presented in recent months at public outreach meetings. “The county had seen all those


drawings,” she said. “It’s not just draw- ing pretty pictures. You’ve got to negoti- ate a very difficult lease. None of that went forward because of the fact visioning was in process. The public did not know what was going to come out of regional planning until it came out.” Natoli said no official proposal from


Pashaie has been delivered to the Department of Regional Planning. “They proposed pictures at a couple of meetings,” she said. “Apparently, they were conceptual because they have not come forward. This lessee has never come forward over the last 15 years to submit a plan for redevelopment of Fisherman’s Village.”


See FISHERMAN’S VILLAGE page 19


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