thelog.com
The Log • Feb. 27 - Mar. 12, 2015 • 19 Newport Beach reduces dock rates By Parimal M. Rohit
NEWPORT BEACH — Boating interests in Newport Beach earned a key victory Feb. 10, with the City Council voting to reduce dock rates for those who own U-shaped residential piers in the har- bor. In a 4-1 vote, the Newport Beach
City Council reduced the annual fee for U-shaped residential piers to 50 cents per square foot. The new rate, which is 2.5 cents lower than the cur- rent rate, will become effective in 2017 and would only apply to a pier’s sur- face area. The water area inside a U- shaped pier would not be included in a fee assessment. Mayor Ed Selich and Councilman
Marshall Duffield, who both have own- ership interests in Newport Harbor, recused themselves from voting on this agenda item. Selich stated he owns a residential dock; Duffy operates a boating business in the harbor. Residential pier owners could save a combined $117,469 once the new fee goes into effect. The council and residential pier
owners raised questions of equity and fairness. Councilman Kevin Muldoon, for
example, said homeowners should not be assessed a fee for the water area within the U-shaped pier. Such a fee would be unfair, he said, because resi- dential pier owners are not entitled to exclusive ownership of the water. “In no rights can anyone exclude or
own water. It belongs to the people,” Muldoon said. “However, you can have exclusive use to a dock that’s above water, and only that dock. But at the end of the day, you cannot charge someone for something they cannot have exclusive right to; no one is enti- tled to the right.” A residential pier owner told the
City Council during public comment she did not feel it was fair to charge a fee for the water area inside the U- shaped docks, while single-finger slip owners only paid for the surface area
The Newport Beach City Council reduced residential pier rates earlier this month, but not without a little back-and-forth on the dais and questions of equity and fairness by Councilman Kevin Muldoon and residents. Another council member — Keith Curry — said only a handful of residential pier owners would benefit from the reduced fee.
“In no rights can anyone exclude or own water. It belongs to the peo- ple,” Muldoon said. “However, you can have exclusive use to a dock that’s above water, and only that dock. But at the end of the day, you cannot charge someone for something they cannot have exclusive right to; no one is entitled to the right.”
of their docks. “The fact that a home with a finger dock could accept a boat that is wider and/or longer than a U-shaped dock, I feel as though the fairness is to pay for the physical dock and not pay for the water within the U-shape that’s not being used,” resident Sarah Abraham, who owns a U-shaped pier, said. Another resident accused the city of violating Prop. 13 by disguising a tax on property as a fee. “What we have here is a tax on a dock that goes to the general harbor fund. It is not going to the dock,” Michael Glenn, a Balboa Peninsula res- ident, told the council. “Docks are a piece of property value.” He said taxes are assessed to benefit the public, while fees are assessed to cover the costs of an administrative act or item.
Channel Islands Harbor Boatyard We have professionals to help you
ALL IN ONE BOATYARD!
• Slips and long term storage available • Haul outs available for up to 50 Feet
SLIPS $10
per foot 805-985-1818 Channel Islands Harbor, Oxnard
FLEXIBLE MARINE
OFFICESPACES FOR RENT NOW
Upholstery Carpeting Cushions
(562) 531-8612
www.sarrisinteriors.com
8225 Alondra Blvd. Paramount, CA
Bimini Tops Enclosures
Hard Enclosure Windows
Headliners “This is a tax, according to the
Orange County assessor, on property value. It is not a fee. This is a tax on property value … without a public vote. This is a violation of Prop. 13,” he added.
City staff refuted Glenn’s con- tention, identifying the dock fee as a rent to use state-owned tidelands property. Separately, Councilman Keith Curry said only a handful of residential pier owners would benefit from the lower dock rates. “This is going to benefit a very, very
small group of people in a very, very big way,” Curry said. “[The savings from the lower dock fee could pay for] improvements that benefit tens of thousands of people, not 30 or 40 or 50 who benefit disproportionately from the way this has been set up. Do we
really want to have a policy where we think it’s tacitly ok for people to be able to drive in and out of your dock and the U, because we deemed it to be public and not yours?” Curry was the only vote against. According to Harbor Resources
Manager Chris Miller, the total square footage of all the U-shaped docks (including water area) in Newport Harbor is 460,641 square feet, with the average pier measuring 1,792 square feet. At the current rate, the city would collect $241,144 from U-shaped resi- dential piers within one calendar year, compared to $123,675 collected at 50 cents per square foot. There are a total of 882 residential
pier permits over public trust tide- lands, according to city staff; 309 of the permitted slips in the harbor are U- shaped. Another 330 residential piers exist over other waterways with 144 residential piers over public trust lands. Single-finger slip fees are not changing, according to Miller. City staff conducted an appraisal of
the slips’ market rate in 2012 and determined the 50-cent-per-square- foot rate was a fair market value.
SARRIS INTERIORS & CANVAS
Serving Dana Point to Marina del Rey
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56