Breaking News - County of Orange to Consider Public-Private Partnership for Harbor Revitalization
THE FACTS
Earlier Today Fifth District Supervisor Lisa Bartlett issued a press release which publicly announced what we've been privately expecting for months, that the County will soon consider entering into a public/private partnership to complete the landside commercial core phases of the Harbor Revitalization Plan.
 (See the press release here.)
Why? The County is faced with a project estimated to cost nearly $200 million (as presently designed and approved for landside and waterside renovation), with less than half the amount available to pay for it. They see partnering with a private developer as a way to close the gap and get this project completed.
Some background: Earlier this month members of your Dana Point Boaters Association board of directors met with the Supervisor's policy staff to discuss in detail the status of the Dana Point Harbor Revitalization Plan. The conversation was both open and constructive. We came away satisfied that the Supervisor's staff was sincerely receptive to addressing the issues that DPBA has been raising for the past several years. In particular, we expressed our concerns over the excessive nature of the landside construction plan and the exorbitant costs to complete it, and the apparent insistence on building a dysfunctional, prohibitively expensive boat barn that nobody wants. Additionally, the current plan postpones waterside improvements, which, based on California Tidelands Trust legally-binding rules for our harbor's use, violates the required prioritization of recreational boating over commercialization.
We were advised earlier today that OC Public Works has submitted a request to consider the first phase of actual land side construction - Harbor Intersection and Roadway Improvements - at the next regularly scheduled Board of Supervisors meeting on October 27th. Click here to read the agenda and click here to read any revisions. We understand this topic will be listed as supplemental item S.24.A when the publicly-available version has been updated.
In the next few days we anticipate a meeting of major project stakeholders to discuss more specific details of the public/private partnership plan. No further details are available at this time.
ANALYSIS
What does this mean to us? For our DPBA constituents - our Dana Point boating community - the most pressing question surely is this:There is much still to learn about how this will play out, but here are some first thoughts based on what we know.
Those of you who have been following along know that waterside redevelopment (rebuilding our marinas) is the last phase of this multi-year project which currently consists of at least 6 separate phases. The landside commercial core (shops and restaurants, 5 phases in all) comes first. As it stands now, there will be zero funds left over for waterside redevelopment after landside construction is completed. So for boaters, bringing in a private developer to incur a portion of the landside construction costs will conceivably leave some funds available for marina construction. Conceivably. It depends on the nature and scope of the agreement with a private developer, and the final costs of landside construction, which remains extremely costly. Which brings up another matter, about which there will surely be some news forthcoming soon.
We also understand that the County is looking for opportunities to "value engineer" the existing scope of landside construction. That is, how can they cut some costs by re-engineering the current design of the project? Most notable is the planned $30M+ boat barn, which we've repeatedly and publicly opposed due to its cost and impracticality of use. We also expect to see some revised phasing of the commercial core construction to defer some upfront expenses, but that remains uncertain. The point is, if the County finds ways to reduce the costs of landside construction, and brings in a private partner to help pay for it, this could benefit boaters by preserving funds to pay for what matters to us most: revitalizing our marinas.
There are other factors to consider regarding what this means to the existing tenants of the commercial core - our friends at the shops and restaurants. No doubt this raises concerns over their future. While our priority and mission are to protect our boating resources, we care about our merchants too. We have no doubt that the merchants association is also closely monitoring these developments and will be looking for assurances that their futures in our harbor are not jeopardized. That said, we remain committed to partnering with them - where appropriate from a recreational boating perspective - to preserve the homegrown dining, entertainment and shopping experience we all love about our harbor.
This is our first take on rapidly developing news. We are continuing to seek additional information and details and will refine our position on this matter as we learn more. We'll keep you posted of course.
Respectfully,
The Directors of the Dana Point Boaters Association
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Thank You
At the Dana Point Boaters Association, our mission is to advocate for the preservation, enhancement, and expansion of affordable recreational boating. We strive to improve the family-friendly atmosphere and breadth of water-oriented activities we all enjoy in our harbor. As Dana Point boater advocates, our strength comes from your support and participation. We are proud of the achievements we've made together on behalf of our boating community, and we won't give up. But we can't do it without you.
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Questions should be directed by email to (Officers). Or call us at (949) 485-5656 and leave a voice mail and we'll get back to you soon.
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Mission Statement:
The Dana Point Boaters Association advocates the preservation, enhancement, and expansion of affordable recreational boating resources. We work to improve the family friendly atmosphere and breadth of water-oriented actives we all enjoy in the harbor. We serve as the watchdog by ethically protecting the rights of all boaters and representing them when collective action is most effective. We actively gather information and communicate our views to educate boaters, external interests, and public officials. We build and maintain constructive, working relationships to achieve common goals with other harbor stakeholders. We will pass on our harbor to the next generation of recreational boaters in better condition than it is today.
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