Newport Beach Harbor Commissioners unanimously approved a rental rate spike this week on offshore moorings that could increase boaters’ monthly bills by three or four times over the next several years.
Their action comes after criticism from Newport Harbor boat owners who’ve said they won’t be able to afford their moorings if their monthly bills increase by that much.
At the April 10 meeting, commissioners pushed back arguing the city has an obligation to charge a fair market value for moorings and must approve an increase.
The item moves next to the city council as it still needs formal approval from council members before it can go into effect.
Some of the Newport Harbor waters are technically owned by the state but managed by the city of Newport Beach.
Moorings are permanent structures for owners to store their boats when they aren’t in use. The recommended rate increase is for offshore moorings, which are placed away from land-connecting docks and surrounded by water.
How much more will residents have to pay?
That depends on the size of their boat.
Newport Harbor boat owners currently pay $3.34 per linear foot per month for their offshore moorings.
That means a 40-foot mooring costs about $133 each month.
Under the proposed increases, 40-foot mooring would cost $12.02 per linear foot per month.
That’s $480 every month.
Larger moorings will increase at a higher rate. A 25-foot mooring would cost $7.77 per foot per month, while moorings 70 feet and above would cost $17.78 per foot per month.
“While a 300% increase does seem very substantial, mooring rates have seen only one adjustment over the past 28 years, and that was pulled back in 2016,” Commissioner Ira Beer said during the meeting.
The harbor commission recommended increases to take place in phases over the next several years.
The first increase wouldn’t come until January 1, 2025. Subsequent increases would come annually in July — every year until the full amount is reached in 2029.
“No one in this room can stomach this,” one speaker told commissioners during the meeting. “This is crushing people.”
Commissioner Don Yahn said he felt the pain from the mooring holders and that decision is a difficult one for the commissioners to make.
“I know that it will affect the livelihoods of many here in the room,” Yahn said. “We are not taking this decision lightly. Since the rates haven’t been adjusted for decades. We’re talking about major sticker shock.”
[Read: Newport Beach Boat Owners Protest Proposed Rent Spike on City Moorings]
Boat owners have also criticized the city for discrimination, saying docks aren’t receiving the same kind of increase as moorings.
Beer disputed accusations of discrimination arguing the city can charge different rates for different uses when it’s supported by an appraisal.
The mooring rate increases, if approved by the city council, would especially affect liveaboards — people who live either full- or part-time on their boat.
Jessie Fleming, 62, has been living on boats since 1987. For the last seven years, she and her husband have lived on their boat in a 50-foot mooring in Newport Harbor. That’s where they plan to retire after pouring their life savings into their home on the sea.
Currently, Fleming and her husband pay about $167 per month for their 50-foot mooring. If rates are increased, their monthly payment would increase to about $727 per month.
The couple said they are also paying rent for their disabled daughter who isn’t able to live with them on their boat.
“For us, it would be a very, very tight squeeze,” Fleming said in a phone interview the morning after the harbor commission meeting. “How can you anticipate a 500% increase? You just can’t.”
Fleming said she was critical of the harbor commissioners for comparing costs to other Newport Harbor rates instead of rates for moorings in other state tidelands across California.
“If they do this, it’s just such a shame that only the rich can afford Newport Beach,” Fleming said.
Some residents had also brought forward questions about a potential conflict of interest with the appraiser.
They pointed out that Jim Netzer — of Netzer & Associates — is on the board of directors for the Newport Aquatic Center, a beachfront nonprofit in Newport Harbor. Some residents said this could cause a conflict and prevent an objective appraisal.
Netzer did not respond to requests from Voice of OC for comment.
Jeremy Jung, Deputy City Attorney in Newport Beach, disagreed, saying Netzer’s role poses no conflict of interest.
“[Netzer] is a highly qualified appraiser whose qualifications include the MAI designation,” Jung said during the meeting. “His membership and role with the Newport Aquatic Center organization does not affect his ability to impartially appraise the moorings.”
The State Lands Commission also sent a letter to city staff agreeing that Netzer’s appraisal is reasonable.
“Staff reviewed the appraisal at a high level to determine whether we believed the City could reasonably rely on its concluded fair market mooring rates,” reads the April 9 letter from Reid Boggiano, Granted Lands Program Manager.
“After reviewing the City’s appraisal, staff believes its approach, methodologies, and its recommendations are reasonable.”
Angelina Hicks is a Voice of OC Tracy Wood Reporting Fellow. Contact her at ahicks@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @angelinahicks13.
•••
Since you’ve made it this far,
You obviously care about local news and value good journalism. Help us become 100% reader funded with a tax deductible donation. For as little as $5 a month you can help us reach that goal.