| DID YOU KNOW? |
Over 600 Dana Point Boaters are now occupying their slips based on temporary slip license agreements.
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| FOCUS TOPICS? |
Waitlist Equalization
Uniform Marina Fees
Boater Education
Safety Inspections
Slip License Agreement
Liva Aboard Policy
Attrition Policy
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SAVE THESE DATES
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NEXT GENERAL MEETING
The next Dana Point Boater Association General Meeting is September 24th.
At The Sailing & Events Center, starting at 7:00PM.
Be sure to save the date as we'll be
discussing plans, tactics and strategy for the upcoming CCC hearings.
CALIFORNIA COASTAL COMMISSION
The California Coastal Commission is planning to hold their hearing on the Dana Point Harbor Revitalization Plan during the October meetings in Oceanside.
The meetings will be held at the Oceanside City Hall on October 7th, 8th and 9th.
But it hasn't been announced yet on which one of these days Dana Point is scheduled.Boater participation is critical so please save all three days for now.
We'll let you know the date and time as soon as the agenda is available. | |
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Greetings!
Wednesday, October 7th and/or Thursday, 8th
Though frankly we doubt that there are more than a handful
of Dana Point boaters who still don't know about this, we still need to remind
you once more that the date for the public hearing on the Dana Point Harbor LCPA,
aka Dana Point Harbor Revitalization Plan, is less than 4 weeks away.
That's right! Public
arguments for and against this amendment to (in fact a complete rewrite of) the
existing Local Coastal Program and Land Use Plan for our harbor is going to be heard
by the California Coastal Commissioners on either of these two days, Wednesday,
October 7th and/or Thursday, 8th. It's not being held on the other side of Los Angeles either, But instead at Oceanside City Hall, less than
20 minutes down the freeway.
Hopefully you already know how important it is that you and
every boater make plans now to attend this hearing. Hopefully you also understand that you will need
to come early and fill out a speaker card, be called upon and say what you have
on your mind. We boaters aren't all
Clarence Darrow, but we love our harbor and our expressed opinions do make a
difference! This is the single most
important opportunity to be heard. We strongly
urge you to seize this opportunity - like it was the tiller on 12 foot dinghy
in 20+ knots of wind!
More Reasons To Attend Coastal Commission Hearing
Need another reason to get involved? Back on June 11th, the deep
pocketed proponents of commercial development rented buses, rented the only
available restaurant in the resort hotel for the entire day and furnished food
for a hundred senior citizens who they recruited for the free ride and eats. That shows how important the potential commercial
benefactors think this LCPA is, But
guess what? Dana Point
is in fact first and foremost a recreational harbor. So the decisions to be made are important to
us recreational harbor users too! That's
us boaters. Right?
As you know, the Commissioners wisely postponed the full
hearing so that now it be held nearby. So
then, all of us with interest in preserving harbor and water access can and
should make our plans now. Mark our
calendars, arrange to take a vacation day, get somebody to tend our business
for a day. Do whatever we need to do, so
that we can be at the Oceanside hearings on October 7th or 8th.
September 24th
It almost goes without saying that a strong, united voice is
important to each and every Dana
Point boater. With this thought in mind, the boaters of the
Dana Point Boaters Association (DPBA) are hosting a public meeting of our own
on September 24th. There we're
planning to outline the major programs and themes that we all need to keep in
mind.
This meeting will be right here in our harbor this time, at
the Sailing and Events Center, beside Baby Beach, starting at 7 PM. There we need to hear from you AND you to become
informed concerning what other boaters are thinking and will be talking about
in Oceanside.
So please, do take
two hours of your time and be here too.
Association Goals
and Themes
Note that we boaters have made significant progress since
the dark days when we formed the Dana Point Boaters Association in early
2007. Many of those "show stopper"
issues we identified early on have been addressed and there is now a spirit of
cooperation within the harbor that once was entirely lacking. We believe this bodes well for boaters during
the upcoming Coastal Development Permitting (CDP) activities which will follow
the Coastal Commission program level decisions associated with approval of the
LCPA, with amendments. Then we will be looking at project
specific details, with the right of automatic appeal to the full Coastal
Commission should the current spirit of teamwork break down at the local
level, but we hope, and at this time believe,
this will not be necessary. The many
DPBA volunteers have made a difference and are making a difference. The local stakeholders welcome us at the
table. This bodes well for boaters.
We boaters have together solved many significant problems, But we boaters still have many specific
project level concerns that have not yet been addressed and must be
addressed. There will also of course be
more issues that arise as we go along. As
far as harbor redevelopment goes, the CDP process is the key results area for
some time to come.
In closing, we plan to continue to bring boater issues and
opportunities forth for discussion with potential solutions in hand. Boater interests are now and will be much
better understood than they once were.
We will see to that. We
anticipate that solutions will be forthcoming that satisfy the interest and
concerns of all stakeholders, including boaters, especially boaters. Please consider this our commitment to our
fellow boaters. Please join us in the
fun of making these things happen. We
look forward to seeing you on September 24th and October 7th
or 8th.
Sincerely,
The Board of Directors
Your Dana
Point Boaters Association
DPBA - Over 500 dues
paying boaters who care very much about our beautiful harbor
and want to protect Dana Point
recreation boating for the generations of boaters to come.
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LABOR DAY WEEKEND
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Harbor Director Brad Gross and DPBA President Rodger Beard
were down at the launch ramp last Sunday morning, during our beautiful the
Labor Day weekend, monitoring launch ramp flow.
Things sure were running smoothly!
Funny how much improved operations are when people are watching with pad
and pencil in hand.
But Brad was in the Harbor all Labor Day weekend and this
was not the only reason Brad asked Rodger to join him. There were two other significant things.
1. Brad wanted him to
see the white lines painted on the asphalt in ramp and parking areas as "story
boards' so we could see where the proposed parking structure would go. Frankly he was surprised. We won't tell you here what we think about
the footprint (quoting Brad, "we should have done this long ago") but instead
ask you the trailer boaters to take a look and then tell us what you think at
the General Meeting on September 24th. Parking structure encroachment is a very
important part of DPBA's testimony and we want to make sure we are speaking for
our constituency here.
2. Brad wanted feedback on the improvements we asked for
following boaters very bad experiences with "dedicated" parking over the 4th
of July weekend. Over Labor day, the
attendants at every boater parking entrance were both trained and supervised,
and in place from about 7 AM
on. We've been told by many boaters
already that parking were much improved (the Catalina Flyer patrons were out of
the dedicated boater parking nearest the commercial core which helped) but we
need more data points before we call this a win. Would you tell us what you experienced by
clicking here?
Brad also advised that grant money is being sought now to
create a trolley system with 4-5 off site pickup / drop off stops, two of which
would be targeted exclusively to off site parking. This will be great news if it pans out (it
sounded promising), as we have long advocated a trolley service as the means to
alleviate parking woes and reduce traffic congestion. But also because at least some of the startup
and operational costs would not come from the Tidelands Trust Fund (about 70%
paid in by boaters).
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PROPOSED BOAT BARN
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Since we're already talking here about launch ramp area, we
should add that we have been working with OC DPH to sort thru the many issues
associated with the proposed boat "drystack".
You know, that proposed 65' high, 400' long barn that if built would be
seen from as far away as South San Clemente. That's the structure that Coastal Staff was
saying had to be built before any other construction, as mitigation for the
loss of slips on the water, and as mitigation for the loss of about 200 dry
storage spaces which it would in fact supplant and as mitigation for the loss
of trailer boater tow vehicle parking. The trouble was, it was not really mitigation
at all. Instead it would offer a
different boating experience, "boating by appointment", where 200 of 400 boats
the barn would house could be launched and retrieved in a 24 day (assuming 24
hour staffing). Yes, it would provide
access to about the same number of water accesses by boaters per day as if
boaters continued to store their boats on the hard and launched them
themselves. The difference being that
the barn would cost some 15 million dollars, assuming no cost overrun.
Not exactly a compelling business case for spending boater
dollars is it?
Well, the good news is that logic and perseverance has
prevailed! With OC DPH participation
and leadership, DPBA and OC DPH has been able to convince the Coastal Commission
Staff to amend their recommendation. The
boat barn is now recommended to be the very last phase of harbor redevelopment project. A standalone project phase, the business case
for which would be publicly adjudicated some 8-10 years or more down
stream.
We could be wrong here of course. The boat barn could perhaps be perceived to
be a net benefit to boaters and if so, it would be built. But the decision would follow a close public
review, and the decision making process would hopefully not labor under the previous
political agenda, the claim of mitigation for proposed losses in boating land
and water resources.
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WATERSIDE SLIP RE-MIX
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Hopefully you voted on the much improved slip re-mix
proposal that the Dana Point Boaters Association and the Boater Focus Group
worked with OC DPH to come up with. We
won't dwell on that here, except to say that we are extremely pleased and proud
that after a ton of hard work, including review of some 26 different slip
layouts, we managed to come up with a plan to save over 800 small boat slips. Plus the County's prior proposal to eliminate
a total of 477 has been reduced to a much more realistic 209 figure.
OC DPH has requested that the LCPA language be amended to
reflect these findings. Clearly this is
a victory for the boaters of the Dana point Boaters Association.
We hasten to add that OC DPH has also requested 100 slip
"wiggle room" which theoretically means as many as 309 slips could be
lost. DPBA has gone on record in several
newspaper articles, with the Coastal Commission and elsewhere that the some
wiggle room, while in concept acceptable, is entirely unacceptable at the level
proposed in this case. Especially
considering the thousands of hours invested and 26 different slip layouts
considered before reaching a final decision.
But put this concern aside for a moment. What about those 209 slips that will be
lost?
Without getting into the gory details here, it suffices to
say that 209 number is largely the result of slip size remix. That is replacing 324 smaller slips with a
lesser number of larger slips, increases in all slip categories 30' up to about
40' in length. It also allows for ADA
& DBW upgrades.
Note that right now there are about 100 slip vacancies
throughout the harbor, all in the 25-29' category. Today this category has 1157 of 2409 existing
slips. This category falls from 48% of
slip inventory today to 40% of slip inventory after re-mix. If you do the math, it's really no surprise
that the 8 percent reduction yields a loss of slips consistent the current
vacancy rate.
If you have any questions or wish to otherwise discuss,
please call or email us at the information below, and/or come to the September 24th
General membership meeting.
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PARKING TASK FORCE
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We have been working with OC DPH and the Harbor merchants
for well over a year on parking related issues and opportunities. Our next task force meeting, hosted by OC DPH,
is Thursday, September 17 at 11 AM. The focus of the task force is entirely on the
landside of course, the launch ramp being one key results area along with the Commercial
Core, Baby Beach and the West End. We
have several DPBA members already participating but there is room for more. If you can spare a hour (usually during the
day on a week day unfortunately) please let us know. Please note that during the upcoming CDP
development process this group is going to perform a critical function in
assuring boater parking needs are addressed, in concert with other harbor
stakeholder needs.
Frankly, were this task force in place and boaters involved
right along in the years before the Dana Point Boaters Association was formed,
boater interests would have been much better served. Regardless the point is that they are being
served now, and can be even better served as more and more boaters volunteer
their time and expertise.
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MSC PROJECT STATUS
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Speaking of boaters volunteering our time, we are continuing
to make excellent progress on the Anchor Marine Service Center (SJ Creek
Property), which is now ready for final evaluation by the entire South Coast Water
District (SCWD) Board of Directors. Two
DPBA directors, Steve Carpenter (whose father served as a long time water board
member) and Rodger Beard attended the special committee meeting in Laguna Beach
last week. Rodger provided supporting
testimony regarding the favorable boater impact from a full service yard for
889 boats (including harbor pickup / delivery and launch service where
needed). You'll probably recall that
DPBA directors have been working with the project developer and individual
water board members for some time and our recommendations have been closely
integrated in the current design.
Indeed, one design recommendation, inclusion of marine retail, was the
icing on the cake in DPBA's successful efforts to get the proposed marine
retail operation out of the dry storage area within the harbor. Thereby avoiding the loss of over two hundred
mast up dry storage spaces.
The full board is evaluating at the public meeting next
Thursday, September 17th at Dana Point City Hall. The meeting starts at 6:00 PM and will
televised locally on Cox Cable. Click here to see the SCWD Agenda for September 17, 2009.
Note that we will be putting the various drawings and
supporting materials on out website soon so stay tuned. Click here to see the development proposal documents that we have so far.
Oh, and lest anyone be confused. This project is not intended, we repeat is NOT
intended as mitigation for any proposed loss of boating resources within the
harbor. It simply provides abundant,
new, different and less costly boating resources nearby to the harbor, for
those boaters who chose to take advantage of them.
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THE DANA POINT BOATERS ASSOCIATION
ACTING WITH INTEGRITY AND ETHICS ALWAYS |
About The Dana Point Boaters Association
DPBA is an education and advocacy group for the recreational boaters of Dana Point Harbor. Membership is very inexpensive and open to families interested in the many different kinds of recreational boating in Southern California, from kayaking and fishing to sailboat racing and motor cruising.
Questions should be directed by email to Rodger Beard, President (RodgerBeard@DanaPointBoaters.org). Or call us at (949) 485-5656 and leave a voice mail and we'll get back to you soon. Dana Point Boaters Association
P.O. Box 461
Dana Point, Ca. 92629
Phone: 949-485-5656
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