Historic Balboa Island Ferry May Close Due to State Emissions Requirements
Source: Newport Beach Independent – www.newportbeachindy.com/historic-balboa-island-ferry-may-close-due-to-state-emissions-requirements
Newport Beach has a handful of iconic attractions that have stood the test of time: The Newport Pier, which replaced the original McFadden Wharf (1888-1939) and is registered as a California Historical Landmark; the Balboa Pavilion, which opened on July 1, 1906 and is the city’s oldest standing building; and the Balboa Island Ferry, which went into service in 1919 to bring cars and passengers across 900 feet of water between Balboa Island and the Balboa Fun Zone.
The Pier and the Pavilion are firmly in place, but the Ferry’s days may be numbered.
The Beek Family, which has owned the Balboa Island Ferry for more than 100 years, is struggling to meet California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) stringent zero emission regulations that require all short run ferries in the state, mostly small privately held businesses, convert to electric engines by December 2025.
According to information provided by the Balboa Island Ferry company, the conversion to electric is financially unfeasible and unrealistic for a small business like the Ferry.
The Balboa Island Ferry company says that its financial difficulties are compounded by the fact that the California government makes it difficult for small businesses like the ferry to receive financial assistance. Also, exceptions have been made for other industries like fishing boats and the automobile industry, which will not need to convert until 2035.
So what happens if the Balboa Island Ferry ceases operations? Vehicles would need to drive further to get to the Balboa Peninsula, resulting in increased emissions from the vehicles the ferry would have taken off the road.
Not only would the loss of the ferry impact the community, it would also have an effect on tourism to Newport Beach.
“The Balboa Island Ferry is part of our culture, it’s part of our heritage,” stated Gary Sherwin, President and CEO of Visit Newport Beach, the nonprofit marketing organization under contract with the City to position Newport Beach as a visitor and conference destination. “There are certain iconic attractions in California. The ferry is ours. We have the harbor and beaches, and the ferry is right up there when it comes to what makes us Newport Beach. It’s more than a transportation device, it is part of the uniqueness that separate us from other cities.”
As Sherwin notes, the loss of the Balboa Island Ferry service would be devastating for the community and the local economy.
“It provides a unique and essential transportation service to residents, visitors, and workers,” said Sherwin.
Sherwin believes the emissions mandate is well intended, but should have been more surgical in scope. The state is trying to go all electric, but the technology does not exist for companies like the Balboa Island Ferry.
“That’s the problem,” said Sherwin. “They can’t go to Lowes, pick up an electric motor, drop in in these old barges, and make it work. They need to hire an engineering company. It’s not that they don’t want to comply, but they need a longer runway. It may take several years to allow cost and engineering to catch up with the state mandate.”
Sherwin said he has had a “sympathetic conversation” with CARB and is working on providing them with additional information about the ferry. Former Newport Beach Mayor Diane Dixon, now Assemblywomen Dixon, has gotten involved, and the situation has even reached the Governor of California.
Locally, Sherwin suggests the Newport Beach City Council could draft a letter in support of accommodations for the ferry, whose service supports the California Coastal Commission’s desire for affordable access to the water.
“It’s a ridiculous situation,” said Sherwin. “The ferry just needs more time. That’s all we are asking. I am hopeful some sort of resolution can come out of it.”
Link: www.newportbeachindy.com/historic-balboa-island-ferry-may-close-due-to-state-emissions-requirements
Last week 175 residents, political leaders, and Newport Harbor supporters donated over $550,000 to kick off the Newport Harbor Foundation. The Foundation’s goal is to return local control of our harbor to the city.
We celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Duffy Electric Boat. Duffy’s passion for the harbor spans decades.
With 25 miles of frontage, almost 10,000 boats of all shapes and sizes, kayaks, paddle boards, sailing clubs, and charter boats the harbor resembles the 405 Freeway on a busy weekend.
An estimated seven million visitors per year use Newport Harbor’s complex ecosystem that generates an estimated $1 billion per year of economic activity.
Our harbor is essentially a city within the city.
We believe our harbor asset needs to be properly managed by the city.
Our mission is to “Take Back Our Harbor.” It begins with Newport Beach creating our own Harbor Public Safety Department operated by our city, not the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
The Foundation will raise over $2.5 million to purchase and donate a fire boat and police boats to the city for a Harbor Public Safety Department.
This plan does not displace the Sheriffs Harbor Patrol They will continue to use their Homeland Security grant to police the coastline for drug runners and illegal immigrants. They will be available for large-scale emergencies in the harbor through existing mutual aid agreements.
Our Harbor Public Safety Department will use the city’s existing police, fire and lifeguards to make the harbor safe for residents and tourists. We believe local control of the harbor is best achieved by Newport Beach running the show.
If you agree, sign up for regular updates at www.newportharborfoundation.org.
Dennis Durgan / Chairman, Newport Harbor Foundation, Past Newport Beach Harbor Master
This first appeared at NewportBeachIndy.com
Photograph by D Ramey Logan, CC BY-SA 3.0Some 175 community leaders, harbor residents and elected officials gathered at the Balboa Bay Resort yesterday for a kickoff luncheon acknowledging the fundraising success of the Newport Harbor Foundation (NHF). The NHF announced that they’ve raised more than $275,000 to support an effort to have the Newport Beach Police, Fire and Harbormaster assume sole jurisdiction over controlling our harbor.
What made the $275,000 announcement even more exciting was the fact that an anonymous donor gave a matching gift, immediately making it $550,000.
Former Newport Beach Mayor and current City Councilmember Marshall “Duffy” Duffield was also recognized at the luncheon for his longtime service to the community and in particular to the harbor. The timing, coincidentally, celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Duffy Electric Boat.
“Today, I was touched by the community’s outpouring of financial support for my family business and Newport Harbor – the heart of our city. Now the hard work of ‘Taking Back Our Harbor’ begins,” said Councilmember Duffield.
Duffy built his first electric boat as a 16 year old growing up on Newport Harbor. Then, over the next half-century, Duffy followed up building and delivering 30,000 Duffy Boats throughout the world.
So, what’s ahead for the NHF? In 2019, a group of concerned Newport Harbor residents organized, recognizing “decades of benign-neglect of the harbor and the need to begin creating our own Harbor Public Safety Department. The Foundation plans to purchase a fire boat and four patrol boats to jump start the effort. This is the first step to “Taking Back Our Harbor.”
Why do it?
Duffy said, “We want to make our harbor healthier, cleaner and to get the public educated on what makes this harbor so special.”
Continue reading at https://www.stunewsnewport.com/
By Sandra Barrera, Orange County Register
Remember the waterfront mansion on Newport Beach’s Balboa Peninsula that generated international buzz with a YouTube video that spoofed Cali Swag District’s viral dance hit “Teach Me How to Dougie?”
The video for “Teach Me How to Duffy” helped sell the house for $35.008 million – about 22.2% less than the $44.995 million asking price when it hit the market in Oct. 2018.
Even so, the house, which sold on Aug. 28, set a record.
The sale is highest-priced home to ever sell in Newport Harbor, said Tim Smith of Coldwell Banker, the listing agent. The record previously was held by the home of actor Nicolas Cage, which sold in 2008 for $35 million.
But Smith expected as much.
The house was designed by Robert Sinclair, built by Patterson Custom Homes and finished by Blackband Design.
“The type of buyers that buy these (homes), and the buyer that bought this isn’t going to go through the five-year entitlement process and build a house,” he said. “They’d rather have something turn-key and they’re OK paying for it. That’s why we had more than one offer.”
The towering 14,000-square-foot, five-bedroom house presented as party central in the “Duffy” video stretches across three lots, with 90 feet of bay frontage. It boasts a theater, sauna, solar system with three Tesla batteries, 57-foot-long pool with underwater speakers and a private beach with a dock.
“You can park eight Duffies on the dock just for starters,” goes the song in a viral video that starred Smoove da General and Mr. Swag of Cali Swag District and a variety of young Instagram influencers, models and dancers.
Other highlights include a floating underlit staircase illuminated from above by a large skylight, 16-foot stone fireplace and 1,100-gallon aquarium.
There’s also a five-car garage with EV plug-ins.
“The job of the ‘Duffy’ film was to let everybody in real estate, especially, know about this house,” Smith said. “It did its job and because of that it gave us exposure that we never would have got.”
More than half of the showings, he added, were people from outside of the area and saw the film first.
Tara Foster Shapiro of Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty represented the buyer, whom she wouldn’t identify.
But she said, “Their interest in the house stemmed from their admiration in architect Rob Sinclair’s work. That is why we toured the property.”
Photo Credit: Tim Smith, Coldwell Banker
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