Boaters Blast
Dana Point Boaters Association Newsletter  |
Greetings!
Summer's about over and there are a couple of extremely important meetings coming up for all Dana Point Boaters. The California Coastal Commission (CCC), Thursday, October 8th CCC will hear testimony on master plan (LCPA) for Dana Point Harbor Revitalization. A vote is likely at the end of deliberations. This meeting is a MUST ATTEND event, because the outcomes will impact the use and enjoyment of our harbor for generations of boaters to come! All boaters and recreational users of Dana Point Harbor must be there to participate in the process. To demonstrate support for boating and most important, to let the commissioners hear what you think. Click here to see the full CCC agenda. The hearing on our harbor is the last topic on Thursday, topic 22a. That probably means this topic will come up early or mid afternoon, although it could easily be earlier or later.
Please make plans now to be there! Please be sure to fill out a speaker card so that you can speak for two or three minutes and let them know your point of view.
Make sure that the commissioner hear us loud and clear!
DPBA General Meeting, Next Thursday, September 24thDana Point boater volunteers have been working to sort through all the paperwork, the blue sky and smoke since 2006. It seems like yesterday, but we founded the Dana Point Boaters Association over two and one half years ago. Tens of thousands of hours have been spend by more than 50 boater volunteers, more can possibly be listed here.
A lot has happened, hundreds of meetings have been held and/or attended and much has been learned. As a direct result, many different concessions have already been granted by the governing agencies involved. For example, many DPBA member volunteers have participated in the ongoing Boater Focus Group, and together we have resolved the number one issue on the waterside section of the Revitalization plan: loss of slips and proper slip size remix.
But there is still some critical issues on the table and a lot more work to do. Please read Dana Point Boaters open letter to the Coastal Commissioners and Staff dated September 15th by clicking here. At this open meeting this week we will be discussing with Dana Point boaters the points from within the letter to CCC. We will also discuss the major positions and approaches to addressing these issues at the October 8th CCC hearing. This will be our usual open forum, but in a new location within the harbor. This means two things to all Dana point boaters: At the meeting we will finalize the DPBA platform for the October 8 meeting. We boaters will be making final decisions on what and how we will present on October 8th.
- We boaters will be sharing ideas and discussing the key issues that all of us should have in mind as we fill out our speaker cards an ready to speak out for recreational boating on October 8th.
Obviously both objectives above are critical as preparation for October 8 hearing. Beyond that we'll be covering some other topics of interest. All and all, we think this is also a MUST ATTEND event.
See you next Thursday evening and Thursday afternoon, October 8!
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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| LET'S BLOG |
You can also post your comments, suggestions, and thoughts at:
www.SaveOurHarbor.com
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CURRENT AND FUTURE
FOCUS TOPICS? |
Wait List Equalization
Uniform Marina Fees
Boater Education
Safety Inspections
Slip License Agreement
Live Aboard Policy
Attrition Policy
What should we should add to this list? Please tell us what you think!
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| DID YOU KNOW? |
There are now more than 100 vacancies right now in the 25-29' slip size category.
About 100 of 1157 slips are now unoccupied.
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DPBA GENERAL MEETING |
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DANA POINT BOATERS ASSOCIATION GENERAL MEETING
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24th, 2009 @ 7:00PM
OC Sailing & Events Center, "Cove Room"
34451 Ensenada Place Dana Point, Ca 92629
Click here for Google MapNote the new location and be sure to save the date as we'll be
discussing plans, tactics and strategy for the upcoming California Coastal Commission Hearings. |
HARBOR REVITALIZATION HEARING
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CALIFORNIA COASTAL COMMISSION HEARING
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8th, 2009
The official hearing on
the Dana Point Harbor Revitalization Plan (LCPA-DPT-MAJ-1-08) is during the October meetings in Oceanside. It's Agenda Item #22, the last agenda item that day.
Boater participation is critical so please save this date! We'll keep you updated as to any updated Coastal Commission Staff Reports. |
PARKING TASK FORCE
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The Parking Task Force is a group of harbor stakeholders and others interested in addressing parking issues and opportunities, both short and long term.
These ongoing meetings are an open forum, chaired by the Dana Point Boaters Association and hosted by OC DPH. The attendees this time included 6 DPBA members along with 10 harbor merchants, as well as Brass Gross and Lisa Smith from OC DPH.  We met again last Thursday and discussed parking matters, this time relating to the proposed parking structure and a still unanswered question: once built, who will park where? Next we discussed the improvements seen so far and the improvements still needed in holiday weekend parking management. Considerable time was spent on the topic of long term parking and off site parking. There is progress being made here but more progress, especially as relates to Catalina Express customer is required. We also previewed the parking related issues that DPBA plans to bring to our general membership next week and with their direction, to the full Coastal Commission on October 8. More than a dozen DPBA member volunteers so far have visited the launch ramp to inspect the white lines lines on the asphalt to portray the currently defined location of the proposed parking structure. The clear consensus here is:The proposed incursion upon the last launch ramp lane is not a problem. If it becomes a problem it can be mitigated with program management.
There is potential improvement in the usability of the launch ramp apron area.
- Updated drawing still are not available to demonstrate required improvements in the proposed traffic pattern, parking and flow through areas.
Launch Ramp Boating ResourcesBased upon extensive CAD work done by DPBA Director Steve Carpenter over a period of several months, we have measured the relative size of the existing dry storage, boater parking and boat launch area and compared it programatically with the land surface area proposed within the Revitalization Plan. Note that while this is an extremely difficult comparison, every effort was made to incorporate the many additions and subtractions, including the proposed marine retail store which has been eliminated from this boater resource area area, largely though the efforts of the Dana Point Boaters Association.
What we have been able to determine is that that the combined planning area, encompassing boater resources as well as commercial parking and other non boater resources, is being reduced with the LCPA/LUP as the existing language specifies by some 8.5% That's a number that hasn't been available previously.
Closing this 8.5% gap to ZERO lose of boating resources will serve as a major DPBA theme during the downstream public Coastal Development Permit (CDP) preparation and vetting process. We will of course raise this before the full commission, if only because we want them to understand that we will be back on appeal if not resolved locally. But our best legal advise is that this is not an LCPA/LUP matter. This is just another example of excessive detail being included within what are supposed to be program level documents. The percentage of each use within a planning area, as we say there are several, is to be worked out in the project detail which the CDP process provides the means to approve / disapprove.
East Cove Boater Parking
The current LCPA/LUP language calls out a maximum 1000 foot walk from parking to the head of the farthest gangway following land side reconstruction. The current walking distance is slightly less than 200 feet. We think that this proposed distance must be reduced. We also think that significant mitigation must be provided to maintain the current level of service to boaters who will have slips in the subject area. Regarding mitigation, we have had several discussions with OC DPH on this specific subject and have received positive feedback. This is definitely a CDP matter that we intended to be closely involved with downstream.
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NEW MARINE SERVICES CENTER
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At last Thursday night's Special, South Coast Water Districts, San Juan Creek Property Meeting, the Full Board of Directors voted 3/2 to move forward with negotiations and concept design with their preferred developer, Pacifica West Development, for a Marine Services Center on approx. 8-9 acres of the 30 acre property adjacent to San Juan Creek, about 1/8 drive to the harbor boat lamp ramp.
This is a completely independent project from Dana Point Harbor Revitalization and is covered under a separate Local Coastal Program (LCP) which does not require amendment (an LCPA). We are supporting this project because it provides 889 dry storage spaces near the harbor as well as various other desirable marine services. It also provides a boating experience new to Dana Point, boating-by-appointment. What that means is that, if this project comes to fruition, boaters could call for an appointment to have their boat in the water when they arrive to go boating. Storage fees would be less than if their boat were stored in the harbor but the would pay an optional valet fee when the use it. The fee is optional because they could tow the boat to the water themselves.
DPBA Directors Rodger Beard and Steve Carpenter provided supporting
testimony regarding the favorable boater impact from a full service yard for
889 boats as well as optional / 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 compiled from dozens of meetings with individual boaters, as well as various groups, 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 as a result of harbor revitalization. The next step, beginning now, is for stakeholders to proceed forward with negotiation of ground lease agreement. This will be followed by public and community outreach, SCWD Board of Directors final ground lease approval, City of Dana Point and Governmental Approvals, permits, and other necessary permitting processes. An important aside, boaters should make a point take part in the public process. There's still plenty of time for making further imporovements if appropriate.
Want to learn more? The full board evaluated at this public meeting the following agenda items along with various drawings and supporting materials. Click here to see agenda, development proposal documents, and drawings.
Oh, 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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| HARBOR WEST END |
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 In the process of working with paddle boarders, kayakers and others on the West End (Aka Baby Beach area), as well as OC DPH and the Ocean Institute on downstream improvement opportunities suggested by that boater constituency, numerous possibilities have been uncovered for raising the value of the existing recreational services this area affords. One example, wouldn't it be nice to again be able to get refreshments and something to eat without trekking all the way to the Commercial Core? Another example, won't it be great to have more parking to address the needs of a greatly expanded day use vessel (DUV) population while also addressing the increasing needs of bathers, park goers and the Ocean Institute?
These, and various others opportunities aren't tied in with or dependent in any way on what happens at the Coastal Commission on the Revitalization Plan (several boaters have pointed out the plan is somewhat dated in that respect). So while they are being worked in the background, these opportunities are not highest priority right now. That said, if you have an interest and/or ideas please do contact us.
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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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