bout 100 attendees go to City Hall, where city manager admits that ‘none of us are real happy about having this discussion.’
Commercial marina owners of Newport Harbor greeted a city proposal to triple their rents with hostility Thursday afternoon.
Newport Beach has been revising all harbor fees since 2006, when the Orange County Grand Jury issued a critical report on the city’s practices.
“None of us are real happy about having this discussion,” City Manager Dave Kiff said during the meeting that brought about 100 attendees to City Hall. “I want to be real clear what the city’s obligation is, and that is to charge fair market value for the use of the tidelands.”
He said that the city will be switching from annual permits to long-term leases for commercial operators and will introduce a new rent structure. Final rates haven’t been determined, but the plan under discussion is to go from the current 36 cents per square foot to $1.20, or 20% of the marina’s gross revenue, whichever is greater.