(June 16, 2015) -- At its June 16 meeting, the City Council voted 7-0 (Mungo, Richardson absent for entire meeting) to charge Naples canal property owners (next to the current seawall repair project) an annual fee nearly identical to the current sum they pay after the Coastal Commission directed the City to collect fair rent for taxpayers. The action approved without dissent the recommendation of city management.

(June 15, 2015, 10:55 a.m.) -- Responding to a Coastal Commission directive that the City collect fair market rent for use of docks adjoining some of LB's priciest properties along the Naples canals, city management is scheduled to ask the City Council on Tuesday (June 16) to approve a fee structure that basically maintains the status quo -- with a very small annual increase from an average of roughly $205 per year to $215 per year -- for docks in the public Naples canal alongside the properties.

A city staff agendizing memo indicates that its recommend result would produce about $11,000 in additional revenue annually to start (adjustable each year by CPI) for the City's cash-strapped Tidelands (which funds LB beach and shoreline maintenance and improvement items.)

[Scroll down for further.]

The new fee structure will apply -- to start -- only to homes along the portion of the seawalls where repairs are currently being completed (51 homes in one of six Seawall sections slated for repairs.) [Comment: It's difficult envision that other canal-adjacent homeowners would be subject to a different fee structure when the repair project reaches them.]

In 2013, the Coastal Commission approved the Seawall repair project but concluded that for years, the City had failed to charge fair market rent for the docks, conduct it said was inconsistent with the state constitution.

[Scroll down for further.]

Advertisement

Advertisement

As a result, the Council has scheduled a formal Council hearing to consider a management-proposed resolution creating a "Public Seawall Mooring Lease permit Fee" and directing the City Manager to work with the City Attorney to develop an ordinance on the matter. A city staff memo, signed by City Manager Pat West and Parks, Rec and Marine Director George Chapjian, states in pertinent part:

The [management proposed] fee was developed with several criteria in mind and after considering the various costs associated with maintaining the public rights of way adjacent to the public seawalls, as well as the seawalls, themselves. The criteria include:

• This program will only affect those properties where new public seawalls were installed;

• This program is designed so that the average user will pay approximately what they are currently paying;

• The new lease program should generate at least the same level of revenue as the current fees;

• The new program will use pricing that is competitive, based on local market conditions;

• The program will generate revenue that can recover costs associated with operations, repair, and maintenance of public seawalls, tidelands areas, and associated public rights of way.

Three community meetings have been held to solicit input on the proposed fee. During the community meetings, residents expressed concern that future homeowners know that the size of the boat they can have is limited prior to purchasing the house. As such, the Public Seawall Lease Permit will provide notification that there is a maximum size to boats as established by the City's Marine Bureau. The proposed Lease Program has also been provided to CCC staff.

For participating property owners in the Phase One area of Rivo Alto Canal, the new lease program would replace the Seawall Mooring Fee, which is currently $10.10 per lineal foot of vessel, and averages approximately $205 per year per user. Currently, property owners who do not moor vessels at their private docks do not pay any fees for the use of public waterways. For the average dock, the City expect this new program to cost approximately $215 per year on average, based on a review of typical docks in Phase One. An amendment to the Master Fee and Charges Schedule is necessary as part of the establishment of the new Lease Program (Attachment H).

The proposed lease permit term would be for five (5) years. At the conclusion of the five year period, the property owner would be required to renew the lease permit. The Marine Bureau will administer the lease program and handle permit implementation. Lease permit revenue will be used to help maintain the new infrastructure in the canal and the adjacent public rights of way...

FISCAL IMPACT

In FY 2013-2014, the existing Seawall Mooring Fee generated $8,302 in revenue from the Phase One area. This revenue was deposited into the Tidelands Operations Fund (TF 401). The proposed Lease Program in the Phase One area is anticipated to generate $11,000 annually and will be adjusted annually in accordance with the CPI.

[Scroll down for further.]

Advertisement

Advertisement

To view the full city management agendizing memo, click here.

Developing.

Advertisement

Advertisement