We're very proud to say that the Boater Focus Group has made excellent progress during the last few meetings.  After more meetings than we want to count, and even more DPBA meetings with OC DPH in between, the group has sorted through the many, many considerations and issues and settled upon four slip redesign design alternatives.

In the beginning, this was not exactly a "boater group", in fact far from it, as many of the attendees, especially the more vocal attendees were merchant tenants and various other non-boater outsiders with special interests.  But over time the composition of the group has changed.  For some time now, the majority of participants have been boaters.  Better, the majority of the boaters participating have been members of the Dana Point Boaters Association.  This has made a big difference!

As we were saying, the focus of the group to this point has been on the layout of the docks and slip size remix.  The process has narrowed the alternatives down to a short list of four, known as 3.5L, 3.5M, 3.5N and 3.5O.  (For a quick overview click here.)   OC DPH has posted the layouts of these four alternative designs on the home page of their website, http://www.dphplan.com/.  Please take a careful look.

All slip renters and all those on the slip wait list should already have received an email and/or a postcard from OC DPH with instructions for how to cast your vote.  (Click here to see the postcard if you didn't receive one in the mail.)

All four alternatives accomplish the three primary waterside goals DPBA set out to achieve when we first saw the slip layouts OC DPH presented during the summer of 2006.  These goals appeared in our Boaters Rx and they bear repeating here:

Numbers of 600 and higher were floated, but the number that The County has been on the record with for a couple of years now has been 477 total slips to be lost.  209 slips to be lost (alternative 3.5O) is a much better number!  (It is also the minimum number after making allowance for ADA and DBW design guidelines which must be honored, as well as a more limited slip remix.)

Thereby protect affordable boating and keep Dana Point as a small boat harbor.  While originally The County proposed a loss of 1140 slips in this category, Alternative 3.5O offers a reduction of just 324.  This is significantly less intrusive on the boating culture of our Harbor than previously proposed.

Figuring this out was a very complicated matter.  This was the reason for the boater focus group.  This way boaters could fully understand all the slip redesign factors, debate the issues and reach some consensus.  The reason the four alternatives are now up for a general vote (none of that "vote early, vote often" stuff either - it's one vote per boater and non-boaters need not bother to show up) is simply to reach a democratic decision on the amount of slip mix boaters want done.

We're publishing one recent email exchange with a DPBA member who expressed his opinion and where we attempted to clarify where the DPBA leadership's position is on the matter.  (Click here to read)  Since the DPBA membership role is confidential the member's name has been expunged of course.  We didn't expressly state our position though it was implied.  Here is the DPBA leadership's position:

The DPBA board of directors endorses both alternatives O and N.  We ask for your support in choosing either.  But we specifically recommend that you vote for alternative O.  The numbers quoted in the email linked to above came from this alternative.

In closing on this subject, here are some additional thoughts to keep in mind.

All the slips design layout alternatives are high level plans, lacking the intricate details that will be in the final plans.  Those details will likely include additional slips being made available and the removal of the broker slips from the general population on a long term/perhaps even permanent basis.  For example, additional slips may be added near the Sailing and Events Center.  The implication here is that there could be over 100 slips beyond what is in the high level designs, that are only meant as a first step in the engineering level detailed design process.

The point is that right now DPBA is staying focused on the major boater goals and issues, not engineering level design.  As we've said, our goals are to ensure continued boating availability, keep boating affordable and accomplish what boaters  determine to be an appropriate number of slips to be available in the mid-size slip categories.

Interested in what comes next?  Good!  Please join in and get involved in the process.

Some may not like any of the four alternatives and/or may be suspicious of the voting process.  For this reason, as well as to give all interested parties, even non boaters, a chance to speak up, completely independent of the official OC DPH poll,  we've worked with the Save Our Harbor folks (they're boaters too) to create an independent boater poll and companion Dana Point Boater Blog website.

Save Our Harbor will be our ongoing Dana Point Boater destination, and the best part is there are no Yahoo website issues!  <YAHOO!>   By "no issues" we mean this website is fast, always online (+99.9%)  and there's no advertising, no confusingly complexity and bugs that many Dana Point boaters have grown to just loath!   (Oh, no more receiving the same emails 15 times either.)

There's both good and bad news on the 2008 Possessory Interest Tax appeal process.  The bad news is that The County has been granted yet another continuance, from July 21st to October 6th, 2009.  If you've been getting those cryptic, scary notices from the County about this you can ignore them as usual.  Depasquale, Kelley and Co (DKC) is on top of it.  As was the case with the 2007 appeal process, where the final decision was to grant boaters a 60% PIT tax reduction, the Appeal Board decision was rendered after a series of lengthy delays.  The good news here is this was the County's third and final opportunity to delay.  October 6th should be it.

As was the case last year, DKC intends to argue the legal merits; that the tax should not apply, and secondarily the valuation issue.  As for boater participation, DKC believes that this is not the forum for a roomful of boaters to attend. We respect their knowledge on these matters and therefore we are not urging boaters to attend.

Besides, wasn't that what we all signed up for?  (That is, have DKC represent us, hope to get some money back so we can turn around and put it into our boats, and in the meantime go boating with no worries!)

DPBA has been individually disseminating information to members on request regarding how to start the appeal process for the 2009 tax bills.  So far, many members have taken us up on this offer.  The deadline is coming up in mid-September but if you're interested it would be best not to put this off.  

For more PIT appeal information send an email to PITAX@DanaPointBoaters.org.  The process to enroll is straight forward.  Once enrolled you can start "filing" those scary notices and move on, as discussed above.