Boat Owners Request Slip Fee Moratorium

Pioneer Skippers Boat Owners Assn. has asked the county to impose a moratorium on boat-slip fee increases that are scheduled to take effect Jan. 1 in Marina del Rey.

The association wrote to Supervisor Deane Dana on Monday and asked that a “stop order” be imposed to allow time for a study to determine if the new rates are fair.

However, Dana said in an interview Tuesday that the Board of Supervisors has “no intention” of intervening until a staff study is completed and the Small Craft Harbor Commission reviews the matter Jan. 14.

Rent Controls Lifted

The Board of Supervisors in 1984 approved a plan that, in effect, lifted rent controls on boat-slip fees in Marina del Rey as of Jan. 1, 1987. A series of 6% increases were allowed over a two-year period that ended in November, and all controls are to be removed Jan. 1.

Boat owners contend that some of the increases that anchorage operators plan to institute in January are exorbitant.

For example, Real Property Management has announced a 55.5% rent increase on standard 50-foot slips, to $602.50 a month from $387.50. Even greater increases are being imposed on slips with premium locations, such as the main channel.

For a typical 30-foot sailboat, the Real Property Management slip rent will increase about 30%, to $302.50 a month ($10.80 a foot) from $231.90 ($7.73 a foot).

Pioneer Skippers Vice President Jerry Rowley said in the letter to Dana that Real Property Management’s rates are “out of control.”

Less Dramatic Increases

He said that other anchorage operators are planning less dramatic increases (a 61-cent hike to $8.34 a foot at Bar Harbor, for example) and some have not raised their slip fees at all.

Rowley said it is difficult to make simple comparisons among the anchorages because Real Property Management has instituted a complex rate formula that includes not only the slip length but its location and square footage, including the water area.

Also, Real Property Management has added a monthly utility fee that varies depending on whether boats are sail or power.

In their letter, boat owners appealed to Dana and the Board of Supervisors to stop all Marina del Rey anchorage operators from imposing rate increases until the new fees are thoroughly investigated by the county.

“We respectfully urge you to order a cease and desist (order) . . . until this matter is investigated fully,” the letter said. “It is extremely unfair to make some of us pay these exorbitant rates while this is being investigated.”

The county Department of Beaches and Harbors is conducting a study of boat-slip fees at marinas within a 60-mile radius of Marina del Rey, according to director Ted Reed.

This report will be submitted to the Small Craft Harbor Commission at its meeting at 9 a.m. Jan. 14, in the county administration building, 13837 Fiji Way.

Told of the Pioneer Skippers’ request on Tuesday, Dana said he had not yet received their letter, but he said that county procedures would have to be followed before the board would consider taking action.

The normal procedure, he said, is for the staff to analyze the rates and present its report to the Harbor Commission, which then makes a recommendation to the supervisors on whether the rates should be approved or rejected.