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The Log • June 5 - 18, 2015 • 17


County supervisors green light Dana Point Harbor outreach program


By Parimal M. Rohit


The Dana Point Boaters Association released the lat- est round of boater concerns about Orange County’s southern-most harbor. Most boaters had questions about the impending harbor revitalization project, though others asked about noise pollution and harbor fishing, among other issues.


sels owned in partnerships and corpo- rations by the marina staff,” harbor department officials said. Other questions pertained to


enforcing noise violations and fishing in the harbor. “Boaters commented on occasional violations of noise ordinance, such as from parties and music from local businesses,” the DPBA told county offi- cials in its submissions. “What enforce- ment measures are in place?” The DPBA’s official position is to


prohibit excessive noise after 10 p.m. County officials confirmed the 10 p.m. curfew. “Music that is played at the Sailing


Center for an event is kept within com- pliance with the county’s noise ordi- nance and is required to end by 10 p.m.,” county staff said.


A question was asked about fishing activities near the harbor entrance, particularly whether anglers in kayaks or on seawalls pose hazards to naviga- tion. “Fishing inside the harbor is per-


mitted. However, anchoring in the middle of the channels is prohibited and can be a hazard to navigation,” harbor staff said. “Please notify the Harbor Patrol of any hazards and they will gladly respond and educate boaters/fisherman.” To view the full list of questions, positions and responses of the latest round of boater submissions, visit danapointboaters.org.


SANTA ANA — Orange County will help foot the bill to inform Dana Point Harbor’s visitors its businesses will remain open dur- ing the impending five-year ren- ovation project, thanks to a majority vote at the May 19 supervisorial meeting. A lion share of the outreach campaign will be funded by the county. Specifically, county super- visors voted to allocate more than $153,000 to advertise Dana Point Harbor will be open for business despite its planned ren- ovation project. Dana Point Harbor will contribute an additional $13,455 to the outreach cam- paign, while the Dana Point Harbor Association (DPHA) agreed to up its con- tribution by $6,000. Three supervisors — Lisa Bartlett,


Dana Point Harbor could soon see more signs such as this one along Del Prado Avenue, thanks to an outreach program approved by county supervisors last week. The outreach program aims to inform those visiting the harbor its businesses will remain open to the public during the planned five-year renovation project, which is scheduled to begin in September.


Andrew Do and Shawn Nelson — voted in favor of increasing the county’s contri- bution amount; Supervisor Michelle Steel was the sole nay vote in the 3-1 tally. Todd Spitzer, who chairs the Orange County Board of Supervisors, was not present at the May 19 supervisorial meeting. “Now’s the time to start that out-


reach,” Bartlett said. “If we don’t start now notifying the public, we’re just afraid we’re going to lose businesses. [Without the additional outreach], busi- nesses would suffer and not have the continual revenue stream they need to have to be sustainable.” Bartlett, the former Dana Point mayor


who now represents the city and harbor on the board, believed visitors might confuse ongoing construction as a sign that the harbor’s businesses are closed. Ramping up an outreach campaign, she believed, would help the harbor’s vendors sustain its business during the five years the county anticipates it would take to complete the impending


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renovation. She pointed out some businesses in a shopping center located next to a major construction project in South County did not survive because one of the entrances into the commercial venue were closed. Accordingly, many cus- tomers believed the shops were not open for business, Bartlett said. “Some of the businesses, even long-


term businesses, did not survive because of that lack of outreach. I just want to be sure as the construction begins with Dana Point Harbor, we allow for a specif- ic amount of time to have outreach and to increase the budget just a little bit to cover that outreach to the public,” Bartlett said. The harbor’s merchants pay into an


advertising and promotional fund to help market the waterfront businesses. According to Bartlett, the county’s assis- tance will help complement merchant efforts to let customers know they remain open for business during con- struction. Steel questioned if the county would


be paying more money than what the harbor’s merchants requested for the outreach campaign. She acknowledged the merchants agreed to contribute an additional $6,000 to the outreach cam- paign. However, Steel asked if the DPMA


could exhaust the $6,000 contribu- tion first and return to the Board of Supervisors if they still require addi- tional assistance. “It was a little odd to see [the $13,455 budget request] because it’s more than what they request- ed,” Steel said. “Reach out is good, but merchants, when their business drops, they can actually reach out to the customers because their rent is going to be dropped. Using [more] taxpayers money … than they really requested [is] really bothersome.” The second district supervisor was referring to a contract term


where Dana Point Harbor merchants could pay a reduced rent whenever its revenues take a dip. Accordingly, Steel hoped the merchants, not the county, would pay for additional outreach costs. Dana Point Harbor Director Brad


Gross told Steel the rent reduction provi- sion is not automatic. “The rent reduction is based on gross


sales. If they have a significant drop in their gross sales over the previous year, they will get the rent reductions,” Gross said, adding the merchants do not nec- essarily benefit from the contract term. Dana Point Harbor’s renovation has been a long time coming. The renova- tion project was originally conceived in 1997. A 23-member task force was creat- ed back then to develop renovation plans for the harbor, which was built in 1971. For three decades, the renovation plans stalled. However, plans appear to be moving forward this year to renovate or replace 20 boating-themed and com- mercial buildings and adding 30,000 square feet of commercial, office, restau- rant and retail space. Last month’s vote means Orange


County’s total contribution to the out- reach is now $90,000 per year, while DPHA is chipping in $30,000 annually. The county and DPHA has shared outreach efforts and costs since 1976.


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Photo courtesy Dana Point Marina


Parimal M. Rohit photo


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