The Dana Point Boaters Association is the champion of recreational boating and the jewel that is
Dana Point Harbor.
Dana Point Boaters Association eNewsletter
Friday, September 21, 2018
Harbor Revitalization Update
My Home Port
We have a lot of news to share on our Harbor Revitalization project. Too much for one newsletter. We'll start here with a broad overview on the current state of the project, then break it down into more detailed pieces in the coming days. There will be rapid developments between now and November and we'll report on them along the way.


DPHAB to host community forum with developer: Monday, September 24, 5:00pm, Ocean Institute

Let's start with the  Dana Point Harbor Advisory Board  meeting planned for this coming Monday evening, September 24, 5:00pm at the Ocean Institute. DPHAB will host County officials and Dana Point Harbor Partners for a community presentation on the status of their plans for the redevelopment and operations of our harbor. If you are interested in hearing directly from the team that will rebuild our harbor and run it for the next 66 years, please plan to attend Monday evening. You can find additional information here , or follow the latest updates from DPHAB here.

Current status of the redevelopment and operating contract

On July 17, the OC Board of Supervisors approved proceeding with Dana Point Harbor Partners to redevelop our harbor, then operate it under a master lease agreement for 66 years. Before fully executing the lease agreement, both parties agreed to a 90- to 120-day option period, during which DPHP is required to finalize their redevelopment and operating plans and submit them to the County for review.  We're in the final stretch of the option period now, which we expect to conclude by the end of October, perhaps with a lease in place by November 1.

The master lease agreement approved by the Board of Supervisors in July focused primarily on financial terms and assignments of liabilities between the County and DPHP. These are vitally important matters to the future of our harbor, but many of the terms that matter so much to our community - architecture, marina design, slip waitlist and assignment policies, etc. - were left for the option period. Further, the option agreement implemented by the County empowers the Chief Real Estate Officer to execute the final lease upon the satisfactory submission of these materials. There was no obligation to public review or input. Consequently, the Dana Point Harbor Advisory Board (on behalf of the boaters and merchants associations) requested 5th District Supervisor Lisa Bartlett to direct the OC Real Estate office to provide copies of these documents to the Dana Point Harbor Advisory Board for public review.  DPHAB has dedicated a place on their website to collect these option period documents and is posting them as they arrive. You can visit that page here .

Waterside Redevelopment

We're boaters - what about marina redevelopment!?

Shortly after DPHP was selected by the County to redevelop and operate our harbor, your Dana Point Boaters Association began a close collaboration with Bellingham Marine - the marina developer - on their plans for the future of our marinas. In particular, over the last few months as redevelopment and operating plans have evolved, we have partnered with Bellingham in the refinement of their plans. Among the topics we've addressed in several conferences with their team are marina design and layout, dry boat storage plans, waitlist and slip assignment policies, and more. While this is an enormously complex project and some compromises are inevitable, we have been pleased by this collaboration and Bellingham's willingness to implement many of our ideas. Considering the various regulatory constraints and space limitations, we believe the final marina design is the best achievable outcome for our community, and we are excited to share it with you. Much the same can be said about the waitlist and slip assignment policies; we believe we have settled on plans that provide for fair and transparent assignment of slips from the waitlist, and reassignment of slips as our marina is redeveloped. Importantly, we have strived to eliminate loopholes and mitigate against policy violations that in the past have resulted in unbalanced access to our high-demand boat slips.

In coming newsletters, we will give more attention to these items in detail. You can also review many of these materials yourself as they are posted to the DPHAB website through the course of this option period.

Slip Fees

One vitally important matter that continues to concern us is slip rates. The County's approved lease agreement with DPHP provides no direction or constraints on slip rates. Technically, the lease agreement allows DPHP to charge whatever they see fit, and in our market, that could be quite a lot. However, despite the 66-year master lease, this will remain a municipal harbor, a publicly-owned amenity with protections around affordable coastal access.

With a planned waterside marina redevelopment investment likely to exceed $100 million, slip rate increases will be unavoidable as the developer recovers their investment. However, will slip rate increases be proportional to the redevelopment and tempered to protect the traditional culture of our harbor? The Bellingham team assures us that they don't desire to alter the small-boat, community culture of our harbor, and we believe they are sincere. But we have to take their word for it, because their contract with the County is silent on this matter. Be assured that this will remain a focus of our attention as our harbor transitions to our new landlord.

Stay tuned. We have a busy stretch of weeks, months and years ahead of us. Thank you for your support.

And finally this... Your DPBA leadership team is committed to protecting and advancing the interests of our Dana Point boating community. We are your voice on all matters affecting our harbor. But we only succeed with your support. Your attention, input and moral support most of all. But also financial support. It takes very little to fund what we do, but it's not free. Every dollar counts. If you can spare $5, $20 or $100 to the cause, it goes a long way to keeping us on track, please click here to donate! Thank you.
From: James Lenthall, President | (949) 485-5656 | Email Us! | DPBA Website
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