Who’s managing moorings and sea lions? In Newport Beach, it’ll soon be the city

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department Harbor Patrol is getting out of the mooring administration business in Newport Beach.

Starting in July, a mix of city staff and private contractors will manage temporary mooring rentals, permit transfers, verification of boat owners’ maintenance and insurance obligations and emergency towing. Civilians will also enforce city harbor code, which includes live-aboard regulations, time limits at piers and sea lion deterrence.

City Manager Dave Kiff said the switch, initiated by the city, is to enhance customer service, not to cut costs — he doesn’t have financial figures yet but said it’s possible that the reassignment could cost more. This year, the second of a five-year contract, the city paid the county $313,000 for mooring administration.

Kiff said the sheriff’s department doesn’t provide poor customer service but their main focus is crime, fire suppression and responding to boater needs, as necessary.

“We would like an approach that is being there to anticipate needs, and that’s just probably not what their model has been,” he said. “And I don’t fault that.”

Kiff said city officials are still hammering out details on personnel needs and potential contractor proposals. The cost estimate will be part of the budget for the next fiscal year, which will come before the City Council this month or in early June.

Lt. Mark Alsobrook, the harbormaster based at the OCSD headquarters in Corona del Mar, said the sheriff’s department will still enforce boating laws and protect public safety on the water. It will also continue to manage the 30 county-owned moorings.

Alsobrook said OCSD has been managing the Newport moorings since the mid-1980s. It made sense at the time, with economies of scale and the Harbor Patrol’s established 24-hour presence.

The Harbor Patrol processes about 150 visitor rentals and 10 to 15 permit transfers per month, with each transfer requiring about 45 minutes to an hour. In March, which he said was a slow month for towing, the Harbor Patrol wrangled about 30 loose boats.

During February’s storms, deputies moved 110 boats. They will also pump out vessels taking on water. It’s physical and sometimes dangerous work, Alsobrook said.

“In the winter months, we call it a rodeo because deputies don’t have time — it’s just chasing them down, tying them up and putting them back on their moorings,” he said. “It’s busy.”

Kiff and Alsobrook said Newport is the only city in Orange County with moorings, and, with about 1,200 mostly offshore spaces, it has one of the larger mooring programs in California, Kiff added.

At Huntington-Sunset and Dana Point harbors, vessels are berthed at docks and marina slips. Dana Point also has an anchorage for temporary safe harbor or short-term visitors.

Moorings are essentially on-water parking lots for boats. Boat owners rent their spaces, with a city-issued permit allowing them that patch of water. They’re a basic and relatively low-cost option compared to a slip in a private marina, which generally comes with more conveniences and creature comforts.

Harbor Commission Chair Paul Blank said he needs more details on the switch, but he is generally in favor of putting the moorings in civilian hands.

Blank said the moorings are privately managed at Belmont Shore in Long Beach and at the remote coves on Catalina Island, all within Los Angeles County. In Catalina’s Avalon, city employees handle them.

He said moorings are the most visible relationship between boaters and the city, and “from an optics standpoint,” a civilian in a polo shirt is received differently than a uniformed police officer.

Councilman Scott Peotter said the city has been mulling the change for more than a year.

The contract cancellation did not require council approval. But Peotter, who was part of the discussion, said the current council is interested in enhancing harbor amenities and thinks the city can do things differently. For example, the city could provide boat washes, require more aggressive sea lion control or launch a smartphone app for renting temporary moorings.

Mooring holders are the city’s tenants, and he said the city wants to know them better, “just like a good landlord would do.”

Kiff said the city’s civilian park patrol, code enforcement and community services – or parking enforcement – officers are trained to handle frequently unpleasant situations, which includes calling law enforcement if the situation escalates.

He said he expects the same for the workers, who will handle harbor code violations, with backup from the sheriff’s department.

“I think we still want to be partners with the Harbor Patrol, and I know they’ll still want to be partners with us,” he said.

Alsobrook agreed. He said he works well with city staff and hopes for the best.

“This is not a sink or swim,” he said. “We’ll be there to help and make this the best transition that we can.”

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