Board Director William ‘Skip’ Kenney

There have been recent significant developments in the continuing saga of the proposed increase in the annual permit fees paid by the mooring permittees in Newport Harbor.  By way of background, almost all of what we know as Newport Harbor is owned by the State of California and is referred to as public tidelands.  Pursuant to the California Constitution and legislation more commonly known as the Beacon Bay Bill, the City of Newport Beach is obligated to manage those public tidelands in trust for the people of California.  The Constitution and the Beacon Bay Bill require the payment of fair market rent wherever private parties use or occupy these public tidelands.  

In April, 2024 the Harbor Commission unanimously adopted the recommendation of an Ad Hoc Committee recommendation to increase the annual mooring permit fees with the increases being phased in over time and those recommendations were presented to the City Council for action.  In the opinion of the Newport Harbor Foundation, the mooring permit fees proposed by the Harbor Commission were very reasonable.

For years the mooring permittees have been represented by the Newport Mooring Association, (“NMA”), an organization made up of those holding mooring permits. During the period commencing with the release of the appraisal of the fair rental value of the onshore moorings and continuing through the review of the Harbor Commission’s recommendations with respect to fair rental value of mooring permits and consideration by the City Council, the NMA aggressively fought any increase in the mooring permit fees with some members even lobbying for a reduction.

Due to the pressure placed upon the City Council prior to their review of the Harbor Commission’s recommendations, a new proposal was put forth for consideration which would have grandfathered the current annual mooring permit fee for all current permittees so long as they held the permit.  The proposal also sunseted the permittees right to sell the rights to their permit.  

This new proposal was approved by the City Council on July 9^th over significant opposition by the NMA.  In response to the City Council’s approval of this new proposal the NMA contacted state agencies, including the State Lands Commission, the agency responsible for administering the public tidelands, alleging that there is discrimination in the setting of permit fees specifically citing the different methods of determining the permit fees charged to dock and pier permittees and those charged to mooring permittees.

As a result of the NMA’s communications with the State Lands Commission, the Commission advised the City of Newport Beach that the Commission would be examining how the City arrived at the fair rental value of mooring permit fees as well as dock and pier permit fees.  The City anticipated that this examination would be a long and divisive process with the end result most likely being increases in both the mooring permit and dock and pier permit fees.  In their communication, the State Lands Commission was also very critical of the City’s practice of allowing mooring permittees to sell the right to their permit and it is anticipated that sales of mooring permits will either disallowed completely or sunseted over time as proposed by the City Council.

At this point City staff has presented all of the information requested by the State Lands Commission and is cooperating with the Commission during their review.  For now, the Ordinance approved by the City Council has been placed on hold pending the State Lands Commission’s directives which the City now anticipates receiving by the end of March.  In retrospect it appears that the aggressive opposition by the NMA to the City’s legal responsibility to adjust the mooring permit fees may lead to mooring permit fees which are actually higher than those proposed by the Harbor Commission, the abolition of the permittee’s right to sell the rights to their mooring permit and the reappraisal and adjustment of the fees charged to the holders of dock and pier permits.

As the process unfolds you can be assured that the Newport Harbor Foundation will participate in the review and approval process to the greatest extent allowed and will keep our Members up to date on this important issue.

As we have reported in the past, an Ad Hoc Committee of the Harbor Commission was tasked to review the hap hazard configurations within the mooring fields in Newport Harbor and report back to the Harbor Commission with their recommendations.  What resulted was a presentation, which was referred to as the Open Water Initiative, which better defined the rows and fairways within the mooring fields to improve navigation and safety, to optimize space within the mooring fields and reduce the fields footprints, to increase spacing between the mooring fields and the adjacent shorelines, to improve views from the shoreline, and to enhance safety when navigating within the mooring fields.  Due to significant opposition by the Newport Mooring Association, the Ad Hoc Committee proposed a trial implementation plan to test the proposed reconfigurations and insure the goals of the Initiative would be accomplished.  Even the proposed trial was opposed by the Newport Mooring Association.

After several stakeholder meetings and public hearings the Open Water Initiative  proposed by the Ad Hoc Committee was approved by the Harbor Commission and sent to the City Council for review and approval.  On May 23^rd of 2023 the City Council considered the recommendations of the Harbor Commission to reconfigure the mooring fields and unanimously adopted the Open Water Initiative.  Needless to say, the approvals by the Harbor Commission and the City Council were adamantly opposed by the Newport Mooring Association who voiced their disapproval to the California Coastal Commission.

In order to implement the trial reconfiguration plan the City required a Coastal Permit from the California Coastal Commission.  After significant review and delay, the California Coastal Commission finally reviewed the City’s permit application on February 5, 2025.  As expected, there was an out pouring of opposition from the Newport Mooring Association.  At the public hearing there were 45 people in attendance that spoke in opposition of the City’s application and 3 people that spoke in favor of the application.  The opponents claimed that due to winds and currents the City’s proposed reconfiguration would make it more difficult and more dangerous for mooring permittees to access their moorings and that many were elderly which would compound their difficulties.  

After a lengthy hearing and questions directed to the City’s consultant the California Coastal Commission voted to disapprove the City’s application.  The Commission apparently could not grasp the fact that all the City was requesting was a test of one mooring field.  If the mooring permittees were right and the reconfiguration didn’t work the proposed Open Water Initiative wouldn’t be implemented.

But wait, there’s more.  In speaking with an insider there is a possibility that the Coastal Commission’s disapproval of the City’s application could accelerate other options which would accomplish the goals of the Open Water Initiative, provide for safer access to the moorings and be more environmentally sensitive to Newport harbor.  You can be assured that the Newport Harbor Foundation will keep our membership up to date on this and other issues pertaining to the moorings.

William ‘Skip’ Kenney